The Monster Jam World Finals is an annual monster truck

Monster truck

A monster truck is a pickup truck, typically styled after pickup trucks' bodies, modified or purposely built with extremely large wheels and suspension...

 event held in late March at Sam Boyd Stadium

Sam Boyd Stadium

Sam Boyd Stadium is a football stadium located in Whitney, Nevada, an unincorporated community in the Las Vegas metropolitan area; the mailing address of the stadium is "Las Vegas". The stadium is named after Sam Boyd, a major figure in the hotel/casino industry in Las Vegas. The stadium consists...

 in Las Vegas, NV

Las Vegas metropolitan area

The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...

. It is the championship event of the USHRA Monster Jam

Monster Jam

Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour and television show operated by Feld Entertainment. The series is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association and takes place primarily in the United States and around the world...

 series. It consists of racing and freestyle

Freestyle (monster trucks)

Freestyle, in Monster Truck competition, is an event where the goal is to perform tricks and stunts with the truck in order to demonstrate driver skill and truck capability. Some freestyle events are judged competitions, while others are merely exhibitions....

 segments, and the winner of each is considered the series champion in that division for the coming year. It is the highest profile monster truck event in the country and draws tremendous media attention as well as criticism from those who dislike its destructive reputation.

Originally only 16 trucks were invited to compete in the event, however 20 were selected in 2005, and since 2006, 24 have been invited annually. Trucks and drivers are selected based on their performances over the winter season, which runs from January into early March. When multiple drivers for the same team or truck are selected, they are typically placed into other trucks which travel with their primary vehicle (Grave Digger

Grave Digger (truck)

Grave Digger is the name of a team of monster trucks currently racing in the USHRA Monster Jam series. There are several Grave Diggers being driven by different drivers to allow them to make appearances at more events, but their flagship driver is creator Dennis Anderson...

 drivers Charlie Pauken, Chad Tingler, and Randy Brown have competed in the World Finals in Monster Mutt, Monster Mutt Dalmatian, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle respectively, and teammate Pablo Huffaker won the 2007 Freestyle Championship driving Captain's Curse). Many more trucks are invited to be displayed during the "Pit Party" festivities in the days prior to the event.

The stature of the event leads to extremes in both competitions. The racing track starts in the parking lot behind the locker rooms of the stadium, and features a long straightaway with speeds reaching over 70 MPH. The freestyle track layout is typically the most extreme all season, with several large and unique obstacles, often producing a multitude of crashes. The scoring system is also modified for the event, with seven judges (1 for bonus points) and the lowest and highest scores dropped and up to 5 bonus points for a maximum possible score of 45 (not including tiebreaker

Tiebreaker

In games and sports, a tiebreaker or tiebreak is used to determine a winner from among players or teams that are tied at the end of a contest, or a set of contests.-In matches:In some situations, the tiebreaker may consist of another round of play...

s), as opposed to three judges and a maximum score of 30 for the regular season.

It is sometimes debated between the die-hard fans that the Monster Jam World Finals is illegitimate, or unfair, as the event is an "INVITE ONLY", and there is no points series to determine who is entitled to compete. Another controversy is that the parent company, FELD Motorsports, owns a majority of the trucks that are initially invited to participate in the event. One last factor is that the competitors are not from around the world, with most of the drivers being based out of the United States. However, this is often countered by the fact that Monster Jam participates in a world tour(which consists of the United States, Canada, and Europe).

World Finals 1 (2000)

Event Date: March 26, 2000

Truck	Driver	Freestyle Score
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	40
Wrenchead.com	Lyle Hancock	39
nWo	Rob Knell	37
Goldberg	Tom Meents	37
Madusa	Madusa	34
Gunslinger	Scott Hartsock	34
Predator	Allen Pezo	29
Sting	Sky Hartley	28
Sudden Impact	John Seasock	26
Avenger	Jim Koehler	26
Bulldozer	Guy Wood	26
Prowler	Dave Pezo	20
Nitro Machine	Charlie Pauken	19
Reptoid	Jim Jack	4
King Krunch	Scott Stephens	Broke
Airborne Ranger	Joe Cypher	Broke
Black Stallion	Michael Vaters

Racing:

World Finals 2 (2001)

Event Date: March 24, 2001

Racing:
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World Finals 3 (2002)

Event date: March 23, 2002

Truck	Driver	Freestyle Score
Team Meents	Tom Meents	37
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	36
Black Smith	Pablo Huffaker	35
Blue Thunder	Lyle Hancock	35
Black Stallion	Mike Vaters	32
Wolverine	Brian Barthel	30
Sudden Impact	John Seasock	24
Firemouth	Carl Van Horn	24
Bounty Hunter	Jim Creten	22
Predator	Allen Pezo	21
Gunslinger	Scott Hartsock	20
Madusa	Madusa	19
Hot Wheels	Eldon DePew	17
Power Forward	Chad Fortune	12
Bulldozer	Guy Wood	8
Avenger	Jim Koehler	8

Racing:
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World Finals 4 (2003)

Event date: March 22, 2003

Truck	Driver	Freestyle Score
Avenger	Jim Koehler	37
El Toro Loco	Lupe Soza	36
Blue Thunder	Lyle Hancock	34
Madusa	Madusa	32
Black Stallion	Mike Vaters	30
Power Forward	Chad Fortune	29
Sudden Impact	John Seasock	27
Black Smith	Carl Van Horn	24
Sobe	Kathy Winston	22
Spider-Man	Bobby Z	22
Grave Digger	Pablo Huffaker	20
Wolverine	Brian Barthel	16
Bounty Hunter	Jimmy Creten	14
Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	13
Monster Mutt	Todd Frolik	9
Gunslinger	Scott Hartsock	Broke

Racing:

World Finals 5 (2004)

Event date: March 20, 2004

Truck	Driver	Freestyle Score
El Toro Loco	Lupe Soza	31
Madusa	Madusa	31
Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	31
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	30
Bounty Hunter	Jim Creten	30
King Krunch	David Smith	27
Black Smith	Pablo Huffaker	26
Hot Wheels	Neil Elliot	25
Little Tiger	Brian Barthel	23
Bulldozer	Guy Wood	20
Monster Mutt	Bobby Z	19
Power Forward	Carl Van Horn	14
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle	Paul Cohen	11
Blue Thunder	Tony Farrell	9
Avenger	Jim Koehler	9
Team Suzuki	Kathy Winston	9

Racing:

World Finals 7 (2006)

Event Date: March 25, 2006

Truck	Driver	Freestyle score
Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	37
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	33
Monster Mutt	Charlie Pauken	32
Del Scorcho	Frank Krmel	29
King Krunch	David Smith	26
Blue Thunder	Tony Farrell	24
Superman	Chad Fortune	23
Taz	Adam Anderson	22
Destroyer	Dan Evans	22
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle	Randy Brown	22
Batman	Jason Childress	21
Air Force Afterburner	Paul Cohen	20
Escalade	George Balhan	20
Safe Auto Minimizer	Marc McDonald	18
Predator	Allen Pezo	17
Avenger	Jim Koehler	17
Pastrana 199	Chad Tingler	16
Team Suzuki	Kathy Winston	15
Iron Outlaw	Linsey Weenk	14
Bounty Hunter	Jim Creten	14
Black Smith	Pablo Huffaker	13
El Toro Loco	Lupe Soza	11
Brutus	Chris Bergeron	10
Hot Wheels	Neil Elliot	Broke

Racing:

World Finals 8 (2007)

Event Date: March 24, 2007

Truck	Driver	Freestyle Score
Captain’s Curse	Pablo Huffaker	34
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	30
Iron Outlaw	Linsey Weenk	29
Safe Auto Minimizer	Marc McDonald	29
Air Force Afterburner	Damon Bradshaw	29
Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	28
Team Suzuki	Bobby Parr/Frank Krmel	26
Taz	Adam Anderson	26
Scarlet Bandit	Dawn Creten	24
Destroyer	Dan Evans	23
Superman	Chad Fortune	21
Blue Thunder	Tony Farrell	21
Monster Mutt	Charlie Pauken	21
Pastrana 199	Courtney Jolly	20
Avenger	Jim Koehler	20
King Krunch	David Smith	19
El Toro Loco	Lupe Soza	17
An Escalade	George Balhan	16
Brutus	Chris Bergeron	12
Monster Mutt Dalmatian	Chad Tingler	9
Batman	John Seasock	8
Bounty Hunter	Jimmy Creten	8
Hot Wheels	Neil Elliot	Broke
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle	Randy Brown	Broke

Racing:
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World Finals 9 (2008)

Event Date: March 29, 2008

Truck	Driver	Qualifying Time	Freestyle Score	World Finals Appearances (Truck)
Taz	Adam Anderson	DNQ	37	3rd
Scarlet Bandit	Dawn Creten	16.97	36	3rd
Monster Mutt Dalmatian	Chad Tingler	17.44	32	2nd
Blue Thunder	Linsey Weenk	16.66	30	8th
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	17.78	30	9th
Captain's Curse	Alex Blackwell	16.56	29	2nd
El Toro Loco	Lupe Soza	17.81	28	6th
Monster Mutt	Charlie Pauken	16.84	27	6th
Donkey Kong	Frank Krmel	17.07	26	1st
Black Stallion	Michael Vaters	17.18	25	5th
Stone Crusher	Steve Simms	DNQ	24	1st
Safe Auto Minimizer	Marc McDonald	16.70	24	3rd
Team Suzuki	Bobby Parr	17.54	23	5th
Pastrana 199	Cam McQueen	17.50	20	4th
An Escalade	George Balhan	17.25	18	4th
Air Force Afterburner	Damon Bradshaw	16.75	18	3rd
Avenger	Jim Koehler	DNQ	17	9th
Batman	John Seasock	16.62	16	3rd
King Krunch	David Smith	16.78	13	6th
Bounty Hunter	Jim Creten	25.75	12	7th
Superman	Chad Fortune	17.72	8	4th
Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	16.13	6	9th
Destroyer	Dan Evans	18.28	5	5th
Iron Outlaw	Kreg Christensen	17.29	4	3rd

Racing:
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World Finals 10 (2009)

Event Date: March 28, 2009

Truck	Driver	Qualifying Time	Freestyle Score	World Finals Appearances (Truck)
Air Force Afterburner	Damon Bradshaw	17.13	36	4th
Bounty Hunter	Jimmy Creten	16.53	32	8th
Brutus	Chris Bergeron	17.25	29	4th
Blue Thunder	Linsey Weenk	16.90	28	9th
Pastrana 199/Nitro Circus	Cam McQueen/Travis Pastrana	16.97	26	5th
Stone Crusher	Steve Simms	DNQ	26	2nd
Monster Mutt	Charlie Pauken	16.66	26	7th
Taz	Adam Anderson/Chad Tingler	16.56	25	4th
Monster Mutt Dalmatian	Candice Jolly	17.35	24	3rd
King Krunch	David Smith	17.65	23	7th
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	17.66	23	10th
Batman	John Seasock	17.65	21	7th
Donkey Kong	Frank Krmel	16.50	21	2nd
El Toro Loco	Lupe Soza	17.00	21	7th
War Wizard	Randy Moore	18.15	19	1st
Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	16.63	19	7th
Destroyer	Dan Evans	17.72	17	6th
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle	Pablo Huffaker	16.56	17	4th
Madusa	Madusa	17.34	16	7th
Safe Auto Minimizer	Marc McDonald	16.94	13	4th
Superman	Chad Fortune	17.40	8	5th
Escalade	George Balhan	17.07	8	5th
Avenger	Jim Koehler	17.66	4	10th
Captain's Curse	Alex Blackwell	17.28	DNF	3rd

Racing:
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World Finals 11 (2010)

Event Date: March 27, 2010

Results:

Top Qualifying Time: Marc McDonald in El Toro Loco with a time of 16:00.

Racing Champion: Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger.

Freestyle Champion: Charlie Pauken in Monster Mutt with super high score of 39!

Truck	Driver	Qualifying Time	Freestyle Score
Monster Mutt	Charlie Pauken	16.88	39
Escalade	George Balhan	16.88	31
Air Force Afterburner	Damon Bradshaw	16.32	31
Stone Crusher	Steve Sims	18.25	28
Grinder	Lupe Soza	17.84	28
Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	16.00	28
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle	Pablo Huffaker	16.66	26
Bounty Hunter	Jim Creten	DNQ	26
Iron Man	Lee O'Donnell	16.50	25
Avenger	Jim Koehler	17.87	25
Blue Thunder	Linsey Weenk	16.19	25
Superman	Chad Fortune	17.16	15
Madusa	Madusa	16.72	12
Spider-Man	Chad Tingler	DNQ	12
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	16.03	11
Nitro Circus	Cam McQueen	16.87	10
Captain's Curse	Alex Blackwell	16.78	9
Gunslinger	Scott Hartsock	21.43	8
Monster Mutt Dalmatian	Candice Jolly	16.44	8
Batman	John Seasock	16.63	4
Taz	Adam Anderson	16.00	4
Shock Therapy	Jon Zimmer	16.03	4
King Krunch	David Smith	16.93	DNR
El Toro Loco	Marc McDonald	16. 00	DNR

Racing:
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World Finals 12 (2011)

World Finals 12 took place March 25 & March 26.

Results:

Fastest Qualifying Time: Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger with a time of 15:69.

Racing Champion: Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction defeated Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter.

Freestyle Champion: Jim "Rollover" Koehler in Avenger wins after a tiebreaker against Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus with a score of 32.



Encores:

All 3 Advanced Auto Parts Grinder drivers in the their trucks. (Lupe Soza, John Seasock, Frank Krmel)

All 3 Maximum Destruction drivers in their trucks. (Tom Meents, Neil Elliott, Kreg Christensen)

And last but not least, Ryan Anderson in Son-uva Digger.

Truck	Driver	Qualifying Time	Qualifying Place	Freestyle Score
Avenger	Jim Koehler	DNF (Rollover)	24th	32
Nitro Circus	Cam McQueen	16.72	14th	32
U.S. Air Force Afterburner	Damon Bradshaw	16.63	13th	30
Iron Man	Lee O'Donnell	DNF	22nd	28
Bounty Hunter	Jimmy Creten	16.44	9th	28
Mohawk Warrior	George Balhan	17.03	17th	28
El Toro Loco	Marc McDonald	16.34	6th	27
Lucas Oil Crusader	Linsey Weenk	16.13	3rd	27
Monster Mutt Dalmatian	Candice Jolly	16.28	5th	25
Stone Crusher	Steve Sims	16.62	12th	24
Madusa	Madusa	17.50	18th	22
Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	15.69	1st	21
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle	Pablo Huffaker	16.23	4th	20
Superman	Chad Fortune	16.41	8th	19
Shock Therapy	Jon Zimmer	18.69	20th	19
Batman	Norm Miller¤	16.94	16th	18
Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	15.70	2nd	16
Brutus	Chris Bergeron	21.50	21st	13
Grave Digger The Legend	Adam Anderson	DNF (Rollover)	23rd	13
Backdraft	Jeremy Slifko¤	17.78	19th	11
Captain's Curse	Alex Blackwell	16.73	15th	10
Monster Mutt	Charlie Pauken	16.37	7th	9
Grinder	Frank Krmel/Lupe Soza	16.60	11th	8
Spider-Man	Chad Tingler	16.45	10th	4

• ¤Denotes Monster Jam World Finals rookie drivers.

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Racing:
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World Finals 13 (2012)

World Finals 13 will take place on March 24, 2012.

Qualified	Truck	Driver	World Finals Appearances (Truck)	Venue Qualified	SPEED
1st	Maximum Destruction	Tom Meents	10th	Philadelphia	Yes
2nd	Avenger	Jim Koehler	13th	Baltimore	Yes
3rd	Grave Digger	Dennis Anderson	13th	Cincinnati	No
4th			December 10th, 2011	Minneapolis	Yes
5th			January 7th, 2012	Houston
6th			January 14th, 2012	Atlanta	Yes