Monster Jam World Finals IX (also written as Monster Jam World Finals 9) was the ninth annual Monster Jam World Finals, held on March 28th-29th, 2008 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event featured a twenty-four truck lineup, and was broadcasted on the Speed Channel after the event took place. John Seasock in Batman defended his title as world racing champion, defeating Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter. Meanwhile, Adam Anderson in Taz would make history by becoming the youngest world champion in Monster Jam at the age of 22 years old, winning the freestyle championship with a score of 37.
Field of trucks[]
(Note: * indicates a truck/driver's first World Finals appearance).
(Note: ** indicates a truck/driver's only World Finals appearance).
(Note: *** indicates a truck/driver's last World Finals appearance).
- Destroyer - Dan Evans
- Iron Outlaw*** - Kreg Christensen*
- King Krunch - David Smith
- Stone Crusher* - Steve Sims*
- Monster Mutt Dalmatian - Chad Tingler
- Black Stallion*** - Michael Vaters***
- An Escalade - George Balhan
- Team Suzuki*** - Bobby Parr***
- Blue Thunder - Linsey Weenk
- Superman - Chad Fortune
- Taz - Adam Anderson
- Safe Auto Minimizer - Marc McDonald
- Air Force Afterburner - Damon Bradshaw
- Donkey Kong* - Frank Krmel
- Monster Mutt - Charlie Pauken
- Scarlet Bandit*** - Dawn Creten***
- Pastrana 199 - Cam McQueen*
- Avenger - Jim Koehler
- Captain's Curse - Alex Blackwell*
- El Toro Loco - Lupe Soza
- Bounty Hunter - Jimmy Creten
- Maximum Destruction - Tom Meents
- Batman - John Seasock
- Grave Digger - Dennis Anderson
Track layout[]
The track for World Finals IX featured a triple bus jump on the left side, which marked the first World Finals in which this kind of obstacle would be utilized in the event. Meanwhile, the center of the track featured a step-up fountain jump, with the right side featuring a car pad jump with a tanker jump to the right of said obstacle. In front of the two obstacles was a thirty-foot tall trailer.
Special World Finals schemes[]
The paint scheme featured on Avenger this year was similar to that of the design from previous years, but with a lighter shade of neon green. Meanwhile, Team Suzuki featured a special Chevrolet Silverado body style that was used exclusively in the pit party.
Results[]
Qualifying times[]
- Maximum Destruction - 16.13
- Captain's Curse - 16.56
- Batman - 16.62
- Blue Thunder - 16.66
- Safe Auto Minimizer - 16.70
- Air Force Afterburner - 16.75
- King Krunch - 16.78
- Monster Mutt - 16.84
- Scarlet Bandit - 16.97
- Donkey Kong - 17.07
- Black Stallion - 17.18
- An Escalade - 17.25
- Iron Outlaw - 17.29
- Monster Mutt Dalmatian - 17.44
- Pastrana 199 - 17.54
- Team Suzuki - 17.54
- Superman - 17.72
- Grave Digger - 17.78
- El Toro Loco - 17.81
- Destroyer - 18.28
- Bounty Hunter - 25.75
- Taz - DNF
- Avenger - DNF
- Stone Crusher - DNF
Racing[]
(Note: * indicates that the truck knocked a turning pole over or never got the front 2 wheels on the ramp, resulting in a five-second penalty).
Round one[]
Team Suzuki vs. Stone Crusher
Scarlet Bandit vs. Superman
Destroyer vs. An Escalade
Iron Outlaw vs. Bounty Hunter
Monster Mutt Dalmatian vs. Taz
Black Stallion vs. El Toro Loco
Donkey Kong vs. Grave Digger
Pastrana 199 vs. Avenger
Round two[]
Maximum Destruction vs. Team Suzuki
Monster Mutt vs. Superman
Safe Auto Minimizer vs. An Escalade
Blue Thunder vs. Bounty Hunter
Batman vs. Taz*
Air Force Afterburner vs. Black Stallion
King Krunch vs. Grave Digger*
Captain's Curse vs. Avenger
Round 3[]
Maximum Destruction vs. Monster Mutt
Safe Auto Minimizer vs. Bounty Hunter
Batman vs. Air Force Afterburner
King Krunch* vs. Captain's Curse
Semi Finals[]
Bounty Hunter vs. Maximum Destruction (won, but could not start the truck in time due to issues with the RII)
Batman vs. Captain's Curse
Championship race[]
Batman vs. Bounty Hunter
Freestyle order[]
- Monster Mutt Dalmatian
- Pastrana 199
- Destroyer
- Iron Outlaw
- Stone Crusher
- Team Suzuki
- Superman
- Black Stallion
- Safe Auto Minimizer
- Scarlet Bandit
- King Krunch
- Batman
- Donkey Kong
- An Escalade
- Captain's Curse
- El Toro Loco
- Blue Thunder
- Air Force Afterburner
- Bounty Hunter
- Avenger
- Taz
- Monster Mutt
- Grave Digger
- Maximum Destruction
Freestyle[]
- Taz- 37
- Scarlet Bandit- 36
- Monster Mutt Dalmatian- 32
- Blue Thunder- 30
- Grave Digger- 30
- Captain's Curse- 29
- El Toro Loco- 28
- Monster Mutt- 27
- Donkey Kong- 26
- Black Stallion- 25
- Stone Crusher- 24
- Safe Auto Minimizer- 24
- Team Suzuki- 23
- Pastrana 199- 20
- An Escalade- 18
- Air Force Afterburner- 18
- Avenger- 17
- Batman- 16
- King Krunch- 13
- Bounty Hunter- 12
- Superman- 8
- Maximum Destruction- 6
- Destroyer- 5
- Iron Outlaw- 4
Encores[]
A total of three encores were featured in World Finals IX. The first encore featured Randy Brown in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (On the Grave Digger XIX chassis) performing two brief freestyle performances. While the first occurred during the first and second rounds of racing, the second occurred during the freestyle encores. The first encore to occur after freestyle was done by the recently-introduced trucks Spitfire and Backwards Bob, which also marked their debut events. The two trucks performed freestyle performances together, with Spitfire rolling over after hitting Maximum Destruction (which was left out on the track after its freestyle performance). As Backwards Bob continued to freestyle, Brown in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles performed their second encore performance, only to roll over in the process. Backwards Bob eventually ended its run by breaking a spindle. The third and final encore was done by Tom Meents in a second Maximum Destruction. During the encore, the truck crashed immediately on its first hit in an almost identical fashion to its previous freestyle performance.
Trivia[]
- This event marked the first of the following occurrences:
- The first World Finals since 2003 to not feature Dennis Anderson competing in the championship race.
- The first World Finals to utilize the concept of Bonus Time.
- The first World Finals to be both commentated and announced by Mark Schroeder.
- The first World Finals to utilize a 720p, 16:9 widescreen format for broadcasts. The DVD release, however, was limited a 480p, 4:3 format.
- The first World Finals in which Jim Koehler in Avenger advanced into the second round of racing. This almost happened at Monster Jam World Finals II in 2001.
- The first World Finals where all the trucks freestyled since the sport expanded to 24 trucks in 2006.
- This event marked the only occurrences of the following:
- The only World Finals in which both World Championships were won exclusively by sponsored trucks. Interestingly, both trucks came from the same sponsorship, being Warner Bros.
- The only World Finals to feature Kreg Christensen as a competitor.
- The only World Finals to not feature any crashes in the racing competition.
- The only World Finals in which a truck would knock down both dice and slot machine obstacles, being done by Steve Sims in Stone Crusher.
- Grave Digger set a track record with a 15.59 ET run in its round one race against Donkey Kong. This time has been recorded as the fastest in Vegas Style history.
- Monster Mutt Dalmatian had the had the highest freestyle score coming out first with a 32. The driver, Chad Tingler, stayed there until Scarlet Bandit knocked him off with a 36. The highest score coming out first would be tied three years later by Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus, even though the tiebreaker system was in place.
- Iron Outlaw started what Jim Koehler would call The Doghouse by scoring a 4 in freestyle. Since then all the way to World Finals 13, seven other trucks joined the Doghouse, being Avenger, Taz, Batman, Amsoil Shock Therapy, Reptoid, Spider-Man, and Monster Mutt Dalmatian.
- Out of all the drivers that attempted to clear the triple bus stack obstacle, only Chad Tingler and Adam Anderson did so successfully. Other drivers who attempted to do so included Lupe Soza, Dawn Creten, Linsey Weenk, Michael Vaters (in reverse) and Alex Blackwell.
- Maximum Destruction was unable to return in time for the championship round due to mechanical issues with the Remote Ignition Interrupter, resulting in the truck failing to start.
- This event had seven photo finishes, the most in World Finals history to date. Surprisingly, five of those photo finishes all came in round one.
- Bounty Hunter had an almost identical freestyle performance to the one at World Finals VII in 2006. The second hit was off the center jump and the next jump broke off the right rear wheel. The score was also exactly the same, that being a 12, despite lasting longer.
- Similar to the previous World Finals, the lineup was almost identical with the exception of three trucks (Brutus, Hot Wheels and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, though TMNT did appear an encore performances), with Black Stallion, Stone Crusher and Donkey Kong being the replacements.
- However, Stone Crusher and Donkey Kong were the only true new trucks to the event as Black Stallion had competed in four previous World Finals (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005), though this was before the 24 truck lineup.
- Brutus and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle both returned the next year at World Finals X, however, thus making Hot Wheels the only truck from World Finals VIII never to appear at the World Finals again, though this was because the truck had been retired at the end of 2007 due to mechanical problems. Its successor (or newer counterpart), Team Hot Wheels Firestorm, did appear in World Finals XIII, though.
- However, Stone Crusher and Donkey Kong were the only true new trucks to the event as Black Stallion had competed in four previous World Finals (2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005), though this was before the 24 truck lineup.
- This was the third World Finals event, after World Finals 4 and World Finals 7 where the two eventual champions (Batman and Taz) raced against each other.
- However, during this World Finals event, two eventual champions (Batman and Captain's Curse) raced against each other, but Captain's Curse was driven by a different driver, Alex Blackwell.
Awards[]
- Rising Star - Ed Eckert - Fullboar
- Extreme Air - Dennis Anderson - Grave Digger - Minneapolis
- Nominees:
- Kreg Christensen - Iron Outlaw - San Antonio
- Dawn Creten - Scarlet Bandit - St. Louis
- Tom Meents - Maximum Destruction - Minneapolis
- Damon Bradshaw - Air Force Afterburner - San Antonio
- Nominees:
- Arena Wheelie - Neil Elliott - Maximum Destruction - Stockholm
- Nominees:
- Randy Moore - War Wizard - Columbia
- Neil Elliott - Maximum Destruction - Grand Rapids
- Dave Rappach - Rap Attack - Lexington
- Damon Bradshaw - Air Force Afterburner - Providence
- Nominees:
- Stadium Wheelie - Bobby Parr - Team Suzuki - St. Louis
- Nominees:
- Lupe Soza - El Toro Loco - Houston
- Chad Fortune - Superman - Toronto
- Bobby Parr - Team Suzuki - Houston
- Nominees:
- Donut - Jim Bendzick - Rollin Thunder - Fargo/Ed Eckert - Fullboar - Lexington
- Save - Don Frankish - Jurassic Attack - Cardiff, Wales
- Nominees:
- George Balhan - An Escalade - St. Louis
- Charlie Pauken - Grave Digger - Chicago
- Paul Cohen - El Toro Loco - Worchester
- Charlie Pauken - Grave Digger - Portland
- Nominees:
- Rookie - Kristy Edge - Jurassic Attack
- Nominees:
- Crash Madness – Neil Elliott - Maximum Destruction - New Orleans
- Nominees:
- Bruce Haney - Bad News Travels Fast - Des Moines
- Tony Farrell - Blue Thunder - St. Louis
- Linsey Weenk - Blue Thunder - Orlando
- Tom Meents - Maximum Destruction - Minneapolis
- Nominees:
- Sportsman - Trey Myers
- Nominees:
- George Balhan
- Ed Eckert
- Kyle Chandler
- Lee O'Donnell
- Nominees:
- Stadium Freestyle - Dennis Anderson - Grave Digger - Minneapolis
- Nominees:
- Damon Bradshaw - Air Force Afterburner - San Antonio
- Tom Meents - Maximum Destruction - Houston
- Marc McDonald - Safe Auto Minimizer - Toronto
- Neil Elliott - Maximum Destruction - New Orleans
- Nominees:
- Mechanic - Eric Schweikard - Team Donkey Kong
- Nominees:
- Coty Saucier - Team Batman
- Bill Easterly Jr. - Team Blue Thunder
- Chris Baker - Randy Brown's Team Grave Digger
- Tommy Powers - Team Stone Crusher
- Nominees:
- WOW Factor - Tom Meents - Maximum Destruction - Gothenburg, Sweden
- Nominees:
- Neil Elliott - Maximum Destruction - New Orleans
- George Balhan - An Escalade - San Diego
- Adam Anderson - Taz - San Diego
- Charlie Pauken - Grave Digger - Chicago
- Nominees:
- Team - Monster Trucks Ltd (Sims)
- Nominees:
- 2Xtreme Racing
- Vaters Racing
- Randy Brown Motorsports
- Team Grave Digger/Team Donkey Kong
- Nominees:
Pit party (Non-competing trucks)[]
- Airborne Ranger
- Arachnaphobia
- D'Sturbed
- Deal Breaker
- Dragon Slayer
- Iron Warrior
- Jetix
- Jurassic Attack
- Kaptain Insano
- Maniac
- Martial Law
- Maverik Monster Trakker
- McGruff
- Natural High
- Obsession
- Pastrana 199 (Black cab) (crashes in testing; unused in pit party in spite of only having a bit of body damage)
- Pitbull
- Sheer Insanity
- Sin City Crusher
- Stone Crusher Ride
- Sudden Impact
- TNT
- Traxxas T-Maxx
- War Wizard (Ride Truck)
- Wrecking Crew
Monster Jam World Finals by Year |
I (2000) • II (2001) • III (2002) • IV (2003) • V (2004) • VI (2005) • VII (2006) • VIII (2007) • IX (2008) • X (2009) • XI (2010) • XII (2011) • XIII (2012) • XIV (2013) • XV (2014) • XVI (2015) • XVII (2016) • XVIII (2017) • XIX (2018) • XX (2019) • XXI (2020/2022) • XXII (2023) • XXIII (2024) • XXIV (2025) |