Monster Jam World Finals XIX

Monster Jam World Finals XIX
Promotional logo.
Host	FELD Motorsports
League	Monster Jam
Date	March 23-24th, 2018
City	Las Vegas, NV
Venue	Sam Boyd Stadium

Monster Jam World Finals XIX (Also written as Monster Jam World Finals 19) was held on March 23-24th, 2018 at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. It would be the last ever World Finals at Sam Boyd Stadium. A change for this World Finals is that it has been changed from three days to two. The Double Down was done on Friday morning, with the Showdown before the racing bracket on Friday night. Saturday was freestyle, as before. This was the final World Finals event to be held at Sam Boyd Stadium before beginning a rotating schedule of venues in 2019. Despite having a 32 truck lineup, only 23 drivers were invited to compete in this event as the 5 champions of the 2018 Monster Jam Tours and the 3 champions of the 2018 Triple Threat Series were automatically invited to this World Finals together with the Double Down Showdown champion.

Lineup

(Note: * indicates a truck/driver's first Double Down Showdown/World Finals appearance).

(Note: ** indicates a truck/driver's only Double Down Showdown/World Finals appearance).

(Note: *** indicates a truck/driver's last Double Down Showdown/World Finals appearance).

Double Down Showdown

1. Monster Mutt Rottweiler** - Brad Allen**
2. Jester - Matt Pagliarulo
3. Pirate's Curse** - Cory Rummell
4. Bounty Hunter** - Austin Minton**
5. Zombie - Ami Houde***
6. El Toro Loco - Mark List
7. El Toro Loco - Kayla Blood***
8. Soldier Fortune Black Ops - Tony Ochs
9. Max-D 7 - Jared Eichelberger***
10. Blue Thunder*** - Matt Cody
11. Grave Digger 30 - Brandon Vinson**
12. Wonder Woman** - Collete Davis**
13. Grave Digger 34 - Krysten Anderson
14. Alien Invasion - Bernard Lyght
15. Pirate's Curse*** - Camden Murphy***
16. Scooby Doo - Linsey Read*

Main field

1. Max-D 8 - Tom Meents
2. Team Hot Wheels Firestorm*** - Scott Buetow***
3. Grave Digger 35 - Adam Anderson
4. Avenger - Jim Koehler
5. Mutant Super Soda (SUV)** - Todd LeDuc
6. Son-uva Digger - Ryan Anderson
7. Gas Monkey Garage*** - BJ Johnson*** 
8. Overkill Evolution*** - Mike Vaters II***
9. Whiplash* - Brianna Mahon
10. Scooby-Doo - Steven Sims**
11. Dragon - Jon Zimmer
12. Wild Flower - Rosalee Ramer
13. The Black Pearl* - Cole Venard
14. Great Clips Mohawk Warrior - Bryce Kenny
15. Monster Mutt Dalmatian - Candice Jolly***
16. Bounty Hunter - Jimmy Creten
17. Fox Sports 1 Cleatus*** - Marc McDonald***
18. Lucas Oil Crusader - Linsey Weenk
19. El Toro Loco - Becky McDonough
20. Mutant Super Soda (Pick-up)** - Coty Saucier
21. Monster Mutt - Cynthia Gauthier*
22. Zombie - Bari Musawwir
23. Max-D 6 - Colton Eichelberger***
24. Max-D 9 - Neil Elliott (Stadium Tour 1 champion)
25. Grave Digger 27 - Charlie Pauken (Stadium Tour 2 champion)
26. Grave Digger 33 - Morgan Kane (Stadium Tour 3 champion)
27. VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist*** - Lee O'Donnell (Stadium Tour 4 champion)***
28. Megalodon - Justin Sipes (Triple Threat Series East champion)*
29. Grave Digger 32 - Tyler Menninga (Triple Threat Series Central champion)
30. Earth Shaker - Tristan England (Triple Threat Series West champion)
31. Northern Nightmare*** - Cam McQueen (Arena Tour champion)***
32. Pirate's Curse** - Cory Rummell (Double Down Showdown champion)*

Hosts

• Scott Douglass (Award ceremony)
• Ryan LaCosse (Main)
• Leslie Mears (TV only)
• Scott Jordan (Pits)
• Mitchell Rains (Stands- left side)
• Casey Gagliardi (Stands- right side)
• Lola (BKT zone)
• Matt Isbill (RC World Finals)
• Keith Jones (Pit party)
• Ken Navitsky (Main stage)
• K. Yung (Main stage)

Special paint schemes

• Avenger ran a special dark green scheme with a Chevrolet Nomad body style.
• Bounty Hunter ran a special yellow and blue body for the pit party.
• Jester debuted a purple body for the Double Down Showdown.
• Play’n For Keeps debuts the green body. *Non competing.
• Team Hot Wheels Firestorm debuted a new body style and paint scheme.
• Time Flys debuts the yellow body. *Non competing.
• Taurus debuts. *Non competing.
• Wicked Strong debuts. *Non competing.

Results

Double Down Showdown

Round 1

• Pirate's Curse (Murphy) vs. Bounty Hunter (crashes)
• Monster Mutt Rottweiler vs. Alien Invasion (crashes)
• Soldier Fortune Black Ops vs. Grave Digger (Anderson)
• Grave Digger (Vinson) vs. Jester
• Max-D vs. Scooby-Doo
• El Toro Loco (List) vs. Zombie
• El Toro Loco (Blood) vs. Blue Thunder
• Pirate's Curse (Rummell) vs. Wonder Woman

Round 2

• Pirate's Curse (Murphy) vs. Monster Mutt Rottweiler
• Soldier Fortune Black Ops vs. Grave Digger (Vinson)
• Max-D (crashes) vs. Zombie
• El Toro Loco (Blood) vs. Pirate's Curse (Rummell)

Semi-finals

• Pirate's Curse (Murphy) vs. Grave Digger (Vinson)
• Max-D vs. Pirate's Curse (Rummell)

Championship race

• Pirate's Curse (Rummell) vs. Grave Digger (Vinson)*

• *Grave Digger (Vinson) red-lighted, causing a disqualification.

Qualifying times

1. Mutant Super Soda (LeDuc) - 16.127
2. Max-D (Elliott) - 16.213
3. Grave Digger (Kane) - 16.281
4. Son-uva Digger - 16.316
5. Great Clips Mohawk Warrior - 16.356
6. Mutant Super Soda (Saucier) - 16.362
7. The Black Pearl - 16.402
8. Gas Monkey Garage - 16.405
9. Max-D (Eichelberger) - 16.458
10. Grave Digger (Menninga) - 16.488
11. Fox Sports 1 Cleatus - 16.492
12. Northern Nightmare - 16.581
13. Megalodon - 16.584
14. Bounty Hunter - 16.609
15. Zombie - 16.688
16. Pirate's Curse - N/A
17. VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist - 16.695
18. Max-D (Meents) - 16.740
19. Monster Mutt Dalmatian - 16.743
20. Earth Shaker - 16.769
21. Grave Digger (Anderson) - 16.786
22. Lucas Oil Crusader - 16.795
23. Avenger - 16.883
24. Dragon - 16.884
25. Monster Mutt - 16.945
26. Whiplash - 17.049
27. Grave Digger (Pauken) - 17.162
28. Overkill Evolution - 17.167
29. Wild Flower - 17.482
30. El Toro Loco - 17.688
31. Scooby-Doo - 17.973
32. Team Hot Wheels Firestorm - 34.761

World Finals racing

Round 1

• Mutant Super Soda (LeDuc) vs. Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
• Pirate's Curse vs. VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist
• Max-D (Eichelberger) vs. Dragon
• Gas Monkey Garage vs. Monster Mutt
• Great Clips Mohawk Warrior vs. Overkill Evolution*
• Northern Nightmare (crashes) vs. Grave Digger (Anderson)*
• Megalodon vs. Earth Shaker
• Son-uva Digger vs. Wild Flower
• Grave Digger (Kane) vs. El Toro Loco
• Bounty Hunter vs. Monster Mutt Dalmatian
• Fox Sports 1 Cleatus vs. Lucas Oil Crusader
• Mutant Super Soda (Saucier) vs. Grave Digger (Pauken)
• The Black Pearl vs. Whiplash
• Grave Digger (Menninga) vs. Avenger
• Zombie vs. Max-D (Meents)
• Max-D (Elliott) vs. Scooby-Doo

• *Great Clips Mohawk Warrior receive a bye-run due to Overkill Evolution suffer from mechanical issues.
• *Northern Nightmare red-lighted, causing a disqualification.

Round 2

The Black Pearl riding the wall.

• Mutant Super Soda (LeDuc) vs. Pirate's Curse
• Dragon vs. Gas Monkey Garage
• Great Clips Mohawk Warrior (crashes) vs. Grave Digger (Anderson)
• Megalodon vs. Son-uva Digger
• Grave Digger (Kane) vs. Monster Mutt Dalmatian
• Fox Sports 1 Cleatus vs. Mutant Super Soda (Saucier)
• The Black Pearl (crashes) vs. Grave Digger (Menninga)
• Zombie vs. Max-D (Elliott)

  

  The Black Pearl, with a broken tie rod, causing the truck to swerve out of control.

Round 3

• Mutant Super Soda (LeDuc) vs. Dragon
• Grave Digger (Anderson) vs. Son-uva Digger
• Grave Digger (Kane) vs. Fox Sports 1 Cleatus
• Grave Digger (Menninga) vs. Zombie

Semi-finals

• Mutant Super Soda (LeDuc) vs. Grave Digger (Anderson)
• Fox Sports 1 Cleatus vs. Grave Digger (Menninga)

Championship race

• Grave Digger (Anderson) vs. Grave Digger (Menninga)

Racing encore

Tom Meents, Neil Elliott, Colton Eichelberger, Chuck Werner and Jared Eichelberger each came out in their own separate Max-D trucks to celebrate Max-D's 15th anniversary. A new black Max-D paint scheme, based off the 2017 blackout toy, was unveiled during the encore as well. Tom and Chuck's trucks were brought onto the track riding on dump trucks, with Tom's even having fireworks. Jared, Colton, Neil and Chuck attempted stoppies at the same time. Colton and Jared then performed reverse backflips, followed by Chuck, Neil, and Tom performing various stunts with a specialized ramp, while Colton performed leaps next to them.

• Max-D - Jared Eichelberger
• Max-D (Red) - Neil Elliott
• Max-D (Gold) - Colton Eichelberger
• Maximum Destruction - Chuck Werner
• Max-D (Blackout) - Tom Meents

Freestyle pre-show donut contest

Before the freestyle show, Heavy D in Grave Digger 30, and Diesel Dave in Maximum Destruction (Max-D) came out and performed a donut contest.

• Grave Digger* vs. Max-D

*Grave Digger was the actual winner of the event, due to Max-D failing to perform donuts. However, Max-D was humorously declared the winner to encourage Heavy D to jump in the freestyle fountain, which his brother had done just seconds earlier.

Freestyle order

1. Max-D (Eichelberger)
2. The Black Pearl
3. Gas Monkey Garage
4. Pirate's Curse
5. Megalodon
6. Whiplash
7. Scooby-Doo
8. Bounty Hunter
9. Earth Shaker
10. Northern Nightmare
11. Monster Mutt
12. Great Clips Mohawk Warrior
13. Avenger
14. Zombie
15. Grave Digger (Menninga)
16. Fox Sports 1 Cleatus
17. Dragon
18. Wild Flower
19. Overkill Evolution
20. Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
21. Monster Mutt Dalmatian
22. Grave Digger (Pauken)
23. Lucas Oil Crusader
24. Max-D (Meents)
25. VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist
26. El Toro Loco
27. Grave Digger (Kane)
28. Mutant Super Soda (Saucier)
29. Grave Digger (Anderson)
30. Max-D (Elliot)
31. Mutant Super Soda (LeDuc)
32. Son-uva Digger

Freestyle scores

1. Son-uva Digger - 9.182
2. Mutant Super Soda (LeDuc) - 8.995
3. Grave Digger (Pauken) - 8.778
4. Lucas Oil Crusader - 8.691
5. Megalodon - 8.530
6. Dragon - 8.452
7. Zombie - 8.184
8. Max-D (Elliott) - 8.145

   

9. Monster Mutt Dalmatian - 7.998
10. Gas Monkey Garage - 7.571
11. Team Hot Wheels Firestorm - 7.347
12. Grave Digger (Kane) - 7.209
13. Max-D (Eichelberger) - 7.188
14. Wild Flower - 7.153

    

15. El Toro Loco - 6.856
16. Mutant Super Soda (Saucier) - 6.801
17. Monster Mutt - 6.772
18. Fox Sports 1 Cleatus - 6.683
19. Whiplash - 6.364
20. Pirate's Curse - 5.858

    

21. Grave Digger (Menninga) - 5.801

    

22. Max-D (Meents) - 5.634
23. Great Clips Mohawk Warrior - 5.492
24. The Black Pearl - 5.440
25. VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist - 5.184
26. Grave Digger (Anderson) - 4.728
27. Overkill Evolution - 4.409
28. Bounty Hunter - 3.833
29. Scooby-Doo - 3.586
30. Earth Shaker - 3.531
31. Northern Nightmare - 2.827
32. Avenger - 2.633

Freestyle encore

The three new Rampage trucks came out and hit a series of buildings set up for the trucks. Two Soldier Fortune trucks came out to reprimand Ralph and Lizzie. The three Rampage trucks then did their own backflips, with George (driven by Meents) almost completing a double backflip. Afterwards, all the racing competitors, freestyle competitors, Double Down competitors and display trucks came out and flooded the track.

The list of trucks used in the encore are as follows:

• Rampage (George) - Tom Meents
• Rampage (Ralph) - Randy Brown
• Rampage (Lizzie) - Alex Blackwell
• Unmarked Soldier Fortune - Chad Fortune
• Unmarked Soldier Fortune Black Ops - Tony Ochs

Other awards

Cynthia Gauthier after winning Rising Star of the Year.

• Technician of the Year - Tim Mente (Storm Damage/Hurricane Force)/Dennis Fultz (FS1 Cleatus)
• Rookie of the Year – Brandon Vinson (Grave Digger)
• Rising Star – Cynthia Gauthier (Monster Mutt Dalmatian)
• Arena Two-Wheel Skills – Cam McQueen (Northern Nightmare)
• Stadium Two-Wheel Skills – Lee O’Donnell (VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist)
• Donut – Tom Meents (Max-D)
• Arena Freestyle – Tyler Menninga (Grave Digger)
• Stadium Freestyle – Ryan Anderson (Son-uva Digger)
• Crash Madness – Randy Brown (Grave Digger) (Detroit)
• Arena Save of the Year – Justin Sipes (Megalodon)
• Stadium Save of the Year – Morgan Kane (Grave Digger) (Indianapolis)
• WOW Factor - Ryan Anderson (Son-uva Digger)
• Extreme Air – Rosalee Ramer (Wild Flower)
• Outreach – Camden Murphy (Pirate’s Curse)

Reception

World Finals 19 was met with polarized reception, with some fans saying that it was one of the better events of 2018, while others thought it was near the worst. Some of the complaints included many of the trucks breaking down, or crashing early, while the converse argument pointing out that the trucks who managed to stay driving, like Mutant and Son-uva Digger, had spectacular runs that more than helped to make up for some of it. Another complaint was for the Rampage and Max-D encores being sub-par, with the Max-D encore not going to plan, and the Rampage encore for being an advertisement for the movie of the same name. The converse argument made by the other half argues that the stunts that managed to be accomplished for both encores made it incredible.

Trivia

• During practice, Tom Meents in Max-D hit a barrier in thunder alley and ending up destroying the sign in the yellow lane.
• Wild Flower was the only truck to qualify with a full body on, as the truck only has a hood and cab.
• Avenger, Northern Nightmare and Pirate's Curse (Team Scream) were the only trucks to qualify with completely no body on.
• This is the only World Finals appearance of Mutant Super Soda as a competitor.
• On Friday, Scott Buetow revealed a prototype of his upcoming diecast truck based off the truck he competed in, that came out with case H of the 1:64 scale line in May.

  

  Taurus, being towed down the parade route.

• During the parade on Saturday, the restored Taurus truck broke down, and the engine caught fire. It was swiftly extinguished, and the truck was towed away.
• Over Bored was displayed on the Trouble Maker chassis.
• A Scooby-Doo was displayed during the Friday pit party on the Double Trouble chassis.
• The Black Pearl body was put on Over Bored for the pit party, while the normal The Black Pearl was kept at the trailer until Cole Venard competed.
• Alex Blackwell joined Justin Sipes as a display driver on Saturday and Myranda Cozad acted as a display on Friday during Steven Sims' break.
• This is the second time Jim Koehler ended his freestyle run early after his first hit, the first one is Monster Jam World Finals 10 where he brought the light blue paint scheme.
• After the freestyle encore, two spectators were injured when the fireworks flew into the stands.
• During the Rampage encore, the Soldier Fortune and Soldier Fortune Black Ops trucks did not have any decals or logos on them. Not even Monster Jam ones.
• Ryan Anderson in Son-uva Digger recorded the lowest winning score in World Finals history with a score of 9.182. This is mostly due to the fan judging online system. This would be beaten in 2022 at World Finals 21 with Tom Meents in Max-D's winning score of 8.615. It was beaten again the following year when Colt Stephens in ThunderROARus won freestyle with a score of 8.608.
• At this particular world finals, only 8 of the 32 trucks were able to fill the entire clock for freestyle. Those were Mutant Super Soda (LeDuc), Son-Uva Digger, Grave Digger (Pauken), Dragon, Zombie, Gas Monkey Garage, Lucas Oil Crusader and Max-D (Eichelberger), meaning 75% of the entire lineup did not complete their runs.
• This is the second World Finals to not have a home video release.
• Adam Anderson in Grave Digger qualified for racing at the 21st position making him the slowest qualifier to ever win the world racing title in World Finals History. Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter would join him the following year by qualifying 23rd and win the title. Adam is also the last ever world racing champion in Sam Boyd Stadium for the World Finals.
• The Black Pearl's racing crash was cause by a broken tie rod, that the truck received by hitting the side of Thunder Alley. After flipping the truck crashed into the wall, damaging the truck and the stadium.
• During racing, Candice Jolly in Monster Mutt Dalmatian recorded her only round 2 appearance in World Finals racing (excluding her automatic round 2 appearances in World Finals 11 and 12 as a result of finishing in the top 8 in qualifying).
• This would be the last World Finals appearance for Fox Sports 1 Cleatus, Team Hot Wheels Firestorm and VP Racing Fuels The Mad Scientist.
• This would be the very last show for Fox Sports 1 Cleatus as Monster Jam moved from Fox Sports 1 to NBC.
• The old Maximum Destruction body used for the Arlington Replica had an Advanced Auto Parts Monster Jam sticker on it.
• Ryan Anderson was the last ever freestyle champion at Sam Boyd Stadium for this World Finals and the All star challenge freestyle, which was the last ever Monster Jam held at Sam Boyd Stadium.

Pit party trucks

• Airborne Ranger
• Axe
• Bad News Travels Fast
• Big Kahuna
• BKT Ride Truck
• Bucking Bronco (Race)
• Bucking Bronco (Ride)
• Cyclops
• Cyclops (Restored version)
• Devastator
• Enforcer
• Extinguisher
• Grave Digger 11
• Grave Digger 31
• Hillbilly Deluxe (Race)
• Hillbilly Deluxe (Ride)
• Iron Outlaw
• The Law
• Maverik Monster Trakker
• Maximum Destruction
• Maximum Destruction (Arlington 2011 destroyed version)
• Max-D (Gold)
• Max-D (Red)
• Over Bored (On Trouble Maker)
• Paddy Wagon
• Play'n For Keeps
• Rampage (George)
• Rampage (Lizzie)
• Rampage (Ralph)
• Rat Attack
• Scarlet Bandit
• Scooby-Doo (Friday only)
• Sergeant Smash
• Soldier Fortune
• Stealth
• Taurus (Restored version)
• Taurus (Vaters)
• Time Flys
• T-Maxxx
• T-Wrecks
• TNT (Did not appear, but was signed up)
• Train Wreck (Did not appear, but was signed up)
• Unnamed & Untamed
• Warrior
• Wheels of Freedom
• Wicked Strong

Entertainment zone

• FMX
• BMX
• Drifters
• Freestyle sport bikes
• Trial Riders