Tyler Menninga (born July 1, 1997) is a monster truck driver out of Oskaloosa, Iowa. He has driven Grave Digger since 2017 and currently drives Grave Digger 39. He was the World Finals XXII skills challenge champion and most recently won the World Finals XXIII freestyle championship.
Career[]
Tyler originally rode ride trucks such as R.I.P. Tide, at Digger's Dungeon when he was 15. In 2016, he made his driving debut, piloting Blue Thunder on the west coast #MoreMonsterJam tour. He was invited to the Young Guns Shootout, but would lose to Scott Liddycoat in Dragon in the championship race.
In 2017, Tyler moved from Blue Thunder to Grave Digger 23 for the 2017 season and won the East Coast More Monster Jam Series. At World Finals 18, he would make it to the championship race against Ryan Anderson, but would narrowly lose to Ryan.
In 2018, Tyler moved into Grave Digger 32 after the retirement of Grave Digger 23. At World Finals 19, he would make it to the championship race again, this time against Adam Anderson, but would narrowly lose to Adam, making him the first driver since Jimmy Creten (2002 and 2003) to lose the championship race two years in a row. He would retire this truck and move to Grave Digger 36 in the last quarter of 2018. Tyler made Monster Jam history by winning 205 competitions in 2018 alone, the most wins in a single year.
In 2019, Tyler competed on Triple Threat Series West and would win the tour.
In 2020, Tyler competed on Triple Threat Series East and would be the only champion crowned as all point leaders at the time of cancellation were crowned after the pandemic ended all of that year's tours.
In 2022, Tyler made his first quarter stadium debut, grabbing numerous wins, including nearly dominating the entire second San Diego event, losing to Bari Musawwir in Zombie in freestyle. He finished second to Ryan Anderson on stadium tour yellow. For the 40th anniversary encore, he drove Grandma Grave Digger. In Edmonton, He replaced Weston Anderson for unknown reasons. He did international events in San Juan, Finland & Arnhem. This was his first international tour. At the first show in Tampere, Finland, Tyler recorded the lowest winning score in the two-wheel Skills Challenge with a 5.494. This was later beaten by Chelsea VanCleave in El Toro Loco. She got a 0.472 at show 1 on Munich, Germany. Then in freestyle, he recorded the lowest winning score with just a 5.444.
In 2023, Tyler competed on the blue stadium tour, and won it, giving him an invite to World Finals XXII. Tyler ran a purple body at the event and won the skills championship on his 26th birthday, making him the only driver to win a World Championship on their birthday. Going into the Los Angeles shows, he had won 12 overall event wins in a row & Tyler would extend that streak to 15 after show 3. At show 4 however, the streak would end as Armando Castro would take the last two overall event championships. At show 3, he would do several sidewall donuts in the skills challenge, just like Ryan Anderson from East Rutherford in 2022. He also competed in Anaheim for the Superstar Challenge on November 11, driving a Nitro version of Grave Digger. Despite him dominating the whole event by winning every competition, Team Neon would get the win, with Tristan England being crowned the most valuable driver.
In 2024, Tyler competes on the east stadium tour and wins it, giving him an invite to World Finals XXlll in Los Angeles. Tyler made his high jump debut at the event. He would fill in for Matt Cody in Fresno since he was originally scheduled to compete on the international tour. This made him a fill-in for a fill-in driver, which is a rare occurrence. In Seattle, he drove Adam's Grave Digger. The truck he was driving on the west arena tour was driven by Coty Saucier in Lincoln, since Matt Cody was competing on the international tour that weekend. At the world Finals, Tyler Menninga would be defeated in round 2 by JCB Digatron's Tristan England. Tyler would finish second in high jump behind Colt Stephens in ThunderROARus. He also placed third in the Great Clips Skills Challenge and won freestyle in the purple Grave Digger with a score of a 9.262, making him a two time World Finals champion. In Orlando at one of the arena shows, his truck used Monster Jam logos on the tires along with the BKT letters.
In 2025, he will once again compete on the east stadium tour.
World Finals appearances[]
- 2016 - Blue Thunder (YGS)
- 2017 - Grave Digger 23
- 2018 - Grave Digger 32
- 2019 - Grave Digger 36[1] (main field & skills challenge)
- 2022 - Grave Digger 39 (main field & skills challenge)
- 2023 - Grave Digger 39 (main field & skills challenge; Won skills)
- 2024 - Grave Digger 39 (main field, high jump & skills; Won freestyle)
All-Star Challenge/Superstar Challenge appearances[]
- 2019 - Grave Digger 36 (Team Fire)
- 2023 - Grave Digger 39 (Team Nitro)
Accomplishments[]
- 2017 - Arena Wheelie of the Year.
- 2017 - Triple Threat East Series champion.
- 2018 - Triple Threat Central Series champion.
- 2018 - Arena Freestyle of the Year.
- 2019 - Triple Threat West Series champion[1].
- 2020 - Triple Threat East champion.
- 2021 - Arena Two Wheel Skills winner.
- 2023 - Monster Jam World Finals XXII skills champion.
- 2023 - Stadium Racer of the Year.
- 2024 - Monster Jam World Finals XXIII freestyle champion.
- 2024 - Stadium Two Wheel Skills winner.
Trivia[]
- Tyler Menninga is the first driver to have reached the final round of both the Double Down Showdown (Young Guns Shootout) and the world racing competitions. He would finish 2nd each time.
- He is the only driver with four Triple Threat Tour championships. To add to that, he is the only one who got those titles consecutively.
- In 2020, Tyler would be the only driver to finish the series he competed on before winning it and receiving an invite to the World Finals, as a coronavirus pandemic outbreak would cancel the remaining tours before they were even finished, which made the other leaders win instead of finishing the tours. The World Finals was cancelled later that month and delayed to two years later.
- He holds the record for the fastest recorded time on the Vegas Style Orlando format track type, with a 13.103 ET.
- Tyler is the only driver to win a world championship on their birthday.
Gallery[]
