Monster Jam World Finals IX (9)

## Monster Jam World Finals IX

Logo (above), group shot (below)

**Monster Jam World Finals IX,** also written as **Monster Jam World Finals 9**, was a monster truck event held on March 28-29, 2008, at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. As the ninth annual Monster Jam World Finals, the event featured a twenty-four truck lineup, including six previous winners and four newcomers, competing for the racing and freestyle world championships. John Seasock in Batman defended his title as world racing champion, defeating Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter, while Adam Anderson in Taz won freestyle with a score of 37. Both of these victories would be record-setters; Seasock became only the second driver (after Tom Meents) to win two back-to-back world championships, while Adam became the youngest world champion in Monster Jam history at 22 years old. On June 5 and 7, footage of this event premiered on the Speed network, being the first World Finals filmed in a 720p, 16:9 widescreen format.

## Lineup

*(Note: \* indicates a truck/driver's **first** World Finals appearance. \*\* indicates a truck/driver's **last** World Finals appearance.)*

1. Air Force Afterburner - Damon Bradshaw2. An Escalade - George Balhan3. Avenger (with neon green body) - Jim Koehler4. Batman - John Seasock5. Black Stallion\*\* - Michael Vaters\*\*6. Bounty Hunter - Jimmy Creten7. Built Ford Tough Blue Thunder - Linsey Weenk8. Captain's Curse - Alex Blackwell\*9. The Destroyer - Dan Evans10. Donkey Kong\* - Frank Krmel11. El Toro Loco (with Advance Auto Parts sponsor) - Lupe Soza12. Grave Digger 20 - Dennis Anderson13. Iron Outlaw\*\* - Kreg Christensen\*14. King Krunch - David Smith15. Maximum Destruction - Tom Meents16. Monster Mutt - Charlie Pauken17. Monster Mutt Dalmatian - Chad Tingler18. Pastrana 199 - Cam McQueen\*19. Safe Auto Minimizer - Marc McDonald20. Scarlet Bandit - Dawn Creten21. Stone Crusher\* - Steve Sims\*22. Team Suzuki\*\* - Bobby Parr\*\*23. Superman - Chad Fortune24. Taz - Adam AndersonTrucks being unloaded and preppedVarious fiberglass body piecesLupe Soza recording an interview with the Advance Auto Parts-sponsored El Toro LocoSetup of the group shot; Jurassic Attack can be seen in the distanceDitto, from another angle before the photo shoot beganTrucks prepared for racing practice
## Track Layout

World Finals IX’s track had a similar layout to previous World Finals, with the obstacles mostly set to the sides and the middle left empty. However, IX is notable for being the first to have a triple-bus stack on the left side, which would require a driver to back up all the way to the wall and hammer the throttle to clear. A step-up fountain jump was located between the two racing lanes, while a car pad, tanker jump, and thirty-foot-tall trailer were located on the right side.

The triple-bus stack was painted to resemble the American flag, while the center ramp had a red devil face on a green-and-yellow background. The left and right racing lanes had cool and warm colors, respectively. The car pad had a blue lightning pattern and white cars. The tanker jump was blue and orange, with a yellow, sunglasses-clad smiley face on the tanker itself. The trailer ramp had a “tropical” theme, with blue surfer waves, palm trees, and a yellow-and-orange sky, while the trailer itself had several NGK Spark Plugs advertisement banners on the top and sides.

During freestyle, three green crush car sets were located around the track, while a blue-and-white boat was brought out near the end of the show. A small white trailer, covered in autographs by fans from the pit party, was placed in the red racing lane. Several giant props were also present, such as a birthday cake (advertising the Monster Jam Birthday Club), a roulette wheel, red dice, and a yellow slot machine, with the latter two filled with balloons.

Layout sketchEast viewSouth viewView from Wells Fargo Tower; some of the paint is incompleteCrush cars and van being set up before freestyleTrack before being paintedDitto, during testing with Pastrana 199Bus stack being paintedFountain being filled via a water tankerLower fountain poolRocks in the fountainSmiley face on the tankerTrailer rampPastrana 199 parked on the smaller trailer, with "BATMAN Back 2 Back" written on the frontBoatGiant cake, with a Monster Jam Brithday Club logoRoulette wheelRemains of the roulette wheel being carried away; it was quickly destroyed during Ninja Turtle's racing "encore"DiceSlot machine with Speed logo
## Qualifying

1. **Maximum Destruction - 16.13**
2. Captain's Curse - 16.56
3. Batman - 16.62
4. Blue Thunder - 16.66
5. Safe Auto Minimizer - 16.70
6. Air Force Afterburner - 16.75
7. King Krunch - 16.78
8. Monster Mutt - 16.84
9. Scarlet Bandit - 16.97
10. Donkey Kong - 17.07
11. Black Stallion - 17.18
12. An Escalade - 17.25
13. Iron Outlaw - 17.29
14. Monster Mutt Dalmatian - 17.44
15. Pastrana 199 - 17.54
16. Team Suzuki - 17.54
17. Superman - 17.72
18. Grave Digger - 17.78
19. El Toro Loco - 17.81
20. Destroyer - 18.28
21. Bounty Hunter - 25.75
22. Taz - DNF
23. Avenger - DNF (crashed)
24. Stone Crusher - DNF

## Racing

Racing at World Finals IX implemented the same Vegas Style format of prevous years (and every year after until 2019).

*(Note: \* indicates that the truck knocked a turning pole over or never got the front two wheels on the ramp, resulting in a **five-second penalty**. \*\* indicates that the truck had a **bye run for round one**, due to being in the top eight fastest qualifiers).*

#### Round One

**Team Suzuki** vs. Stone CrusherScarlet Bandit vs. **Superman**Destroyer vs. **An Escalade**Iron Outlaw vs. **Bounty Hunter**Monster Mutt Dalmatian vs. **Taz****Black Stallion** vs. El Toro Loco**Grave Digger** vs. Donkey KongPastrana 199 vs. **Avenger**
#### Round Two

**Maximum Destruction**\*\* vs. Team SuzukiSuperman vs. **Monster Mutt**\*\*An Escalade vs. **Safe Auto Minimizer**\*\*Blue Thunder\*\* vs. **Bounty Hunter**Taz\* vs. **Batman**\*\***Air Force Afterburner**\*\* vs. Black StallionGrave Digger\* vs. **King Krunch**\*\***Captain's Curse**\*\* vs. Avenger
### Round Three

**Maximum Destruction** vs. Monster Mutt**Bounty Hunter** vs. Safe Auto MinimizerAir Force Afterburner vs. **Batman****Captain's Curse** vs. King Krunch\*
### Semi-Finals

Maximum Destruction *(won, but could not start due to RII issues)* vs. **Bounty Hunter**Captain's Curse vs. **Batman**
### Final Round

In the turnDown the straightawayBounty Hunter vs. **Batman**
## Freestyle

World Finals IX was the first World Finals event in which the freestyle clock lasted a full 2 minutes, compared to the 90 seconds of previous years. It was also the first to include Bonus Time, allowing the drivers to earn up to 5 additional points after the clock had expired.

* Monster Mutt Dalmatian clears the triple
* The Destroyer wheelies into the trailer
* Stone Crusher's body shedding off
* Superman shoved into the trailer
* Black Stallion attemps to clear the triple in reverse
* Scarlet Bandit's triple jump and save
* Donkey Kong clips the fountain and rolls over
* Captain's Curse on the triple
* El Toro Loco leaps over the fountain
* Blue Thunder gets stuck on the tanker
* Jim Koehler preparing to jump into the fountain
* Taz clears the triple and performs a slap wheelie
* Monster Mutt jumps over the boat
* Grave Digger plows through the trailer
* Maximum Destruction bounces sideways on its first hit
1/15
#### Order

1. Monster Mutt Dalmatian
2. Pastrana 199
3. Destroyer
4. Iron Outlaw
5. Stone Crusher
6. Team Suzuki
7. Superman
8. Black Stallion
9. Safe Auto Minimizer
10. Scarlet Bandit
11. King Krunch
12. Batman
13. Donkey Kong
14. An Escalade
15. Captain's Curse
16. El Toro Loco
17. Blue Thunder
18. Air Force Afterburner
19. Bounty Hunter
20. Avenger
21. Taz
22. Monster Mutt
23. Grave Digger
24. Maximum Destruction

#### Results

Taz Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX**1. Taz - 37**Scarlet Bandit Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX2. Scarlet Bandit - 36Monster Mutt Dalmatian Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX3. Monster Mutt Dalmatian- 32Blue Thunder Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX4-5. Blue Thunder - 30Dennis Anderson - Grave Digger Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals 9 IX (2008)4-5. Grave Digger - 30Captain's Curse Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX6. Captain's Curse - 29El Toro Loco Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX7. El Toro Loco - 28Monster Mutt Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX8. Monster Mutt - 27Donkey Kong Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX9. Donkey Kong - 26Black Stallion Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX10. Black Stallion - 25Stone Crusher Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX11. Stone Crusher - 24Safe Auto Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX12. Safe Auto Minimizer - 24Team Suzuki Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX13. Team Suzuki - 23Pastrana 199 Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX14. Pastrana 199 - 20An Escalade Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX15-16. An Escalade- 18US Air Force Afterburner Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX15-16. Air Force Afterburner - 18Avenger Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX17. Avenger - 17Batman Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX18. Batman - 16King Krunch Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX19. King Krunch - 13Bounty Hunter Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX20. Bounty Hunter - 12Superman Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX21. Superman - 8Maximum Destruction Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX22. Maximum Destruction - 6Destroyer Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX23. The Destroyer - 5Iron Outlaw Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX24. Iron Outlaw - 4
## Encores

In between the first and second rounds of racing, Randy Brown ran the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles body on Grave Digger 19, performing an exhibition freestyle. At the tail end of the event, two new trucks would make their surprise debuts: Backwards Bob and Spitfire, both of whom were hiding in containers for the entire show. After all the other trucks had rolled over (or, in Backwards Bob’s case, lost a wheel), Tom Meents brought out a second Maximum Destruction to make up for his short freestyle run, only to crash on his first hit yet again.

Official footage of the freestyle encore has only sparingly been released by Monster Jam, due to a lawsuit surrounding the trademark for Spitfire's name. Footage of Backward's Bob was included in the Bari Musawwir episode of the *Inside Monster Jam* podcast.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles during its racing "encore"Ditto, performing a saveBackwards Bob and Spitfire are hidden in the two containers behind the pyrotechnicsMonster jam world finals Encore 2008Fan-recorded footage of the freestyle encoreOfficial footage of Backwards Bob in the encore, as seen in the Bari Musawwir episode of *Inside Monster Jam*Monster Jam world Finals 08 Maximum Destruction EncoreFan-recorded footage of Maximum Destruction's encore crashBackwards Bob after the encoreClose-up of Spitfire after the encore
## Award Ceremony

Just one day after the event, the 2008 Award Ceremony took place in the Imperial Palace hotel and casino (now called The Linq). It was dedicated to the best drivers, teams, and moments of the 2007 season.

#### Winners

* Rising Star – Ed Eckert, Fullboar
* Extreme Air – Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger, Minneapolis
* Arena Wheelie – Neil Elliott in Maximum Destruction, Stockholm
* Stadium Wheelie – Bobby Parr in Team Suzuki, Houston
* Donut - Jim Bendzick in Rollin Thunder, Fargo/Ed Eckert in Fullboar, Lexington
* Save – Don Frankish in Jurassic Attack, Cardiff
* Rookie – Kristy Edge in Jurassic Attack
* Crash Madness – Neil Elliott in Maximum Destruction, New Orleans
* Sportsman – Trey Myers
* Stadium Freestyle – Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger, Minneapolis
* Mechanic – Eric Schweikard, Team Donkey Kong
* WOW Factor – Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction, Gothenburg
* Team – Monster Trucks Ltd. (Steve Sims)

Awards 1 - Monster Jam World Finals IXPart 1Awards 2 - Monster Jam World Finals IXPart 2Awards 3 - Monster Jam World Finals IXPart 3Awards 4 - Monster Jam World Finals IXPart 4
## Trivia

* World Finals IX 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, as well as a 2-minute-long freestyle clock.
	+ 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 TV broadcasts. The DVD release, however, was limited to a 480p, 4:3 format.
	+ The first World Finals in which Jim Koehler in Avenger advanced into the second round of racing; although he beat Gary Porter in Spider-Man at World Finals 2, he broke the rear tie rod and was unable to advance into the next round.
	+ The first World Finals with a twenty-four truck lineup where every truck was able to compete in freestyle. The first to have twenty-four trucks was World Finals 7 in 2006.
* This event marked the only occurrences of the following:
	+ The only World Finals in which both championships were won by sponsored/licensed trucks. Coincidentally, Batman and Taz are both based on Warner Bros. characters.
	+ 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 (Steve Sims in Stone Crusher) would destroy both the dice and slot machine props (as well as the cake).
* This was the third World Finals event, after 4 and 7, where the two eventual champions (Batman and Taz) raced against each other.
* In round one of racing, Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger 20 set the fastest recorded time in Vegas Style history, that being 15.59 ET against Donkey Kong.

* Chad TIngler, Dawn Creten, Mike Vaters, Alex Blackwell, Lupe Soza, and Adam Anderson all attempted to clear the triple-bus jump; only Chad and Adam were successful. Vaters was the only one who attemped to clear it in reverse.

* Chad Tingler in Monster Mutt Dalmatian set the highest score for the first truck to freestyle at the World Finals with a 32. This record would tied by Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus three years later. Unlike Tingler, however, Cam was also the first driver to come out first and stay in the lead for the entire competition, though he'd lose to Jim Koehler in Avenger via the tiebreaker system.

* Iron Outlaw was the second truck to ever score a 4 (the lowest possible score) in World Finals freestyle; the first, Jim Jack in Reptoid at the inagural World Finals, didn't even hit any obstacles before breaking.
	+ In the 2010 Awards Ceremony, Jim Koehler would coin the term "Wolf Pack" to refer to drivers who recieved the lowest possible score at the World Finals, after he recieved a 4 himself at World Finals 10.

* World Finals IX had seven photo finishes in racing, the most of any World Finals event to date. Surprisingly, five of them came in round one.

* Pastrana 199 was used to test the World Finals IX track, where it would crash while turning into the right racing lane.
	+ Pastrana 199 would run with a red roof in competition, since its usual black-roofed body was used for testing and subsequently damaged.

* Team Suzuki debuted a new Chevrolet Silverado body in the World Finals IX pit party, though it was not used for the actual event. It was also present in the group shot.

* World Finals IX's track was recreated in the *Monster Jam: Urban Assault* video game, which was released roughly seven months after the event (on October 28, 2008).

## Pit party display trucks (non-competing)

* 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
* Pitbull
* Sheer Insanity
* Sin City Crusher
* Stone Crusher Ride
* Sudden Impact
* TNT
* Team Suzuki (new body)
* Traxxas T-Maxx
* War Wizard (Ride Truck)
* Wrecking Crew

## Image credits

* John Schultz's World Finals IX Flickr album
* Jack Meredith's World Finals IX Lensdump album
* allmonster.com's World Finals IX photo albums

## References

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQieroYJj7c
2. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAbtyiU6VZs&t=221s