The 2015 Monster Jam Championship Series season begins at stadiums all across the country - Speedway Digest

On Saturday, January 3, the skies rumbled and the Earth shook as the trucks of Monster Jam® took to the field at Sun Life Stadium in Miami-Dade County. A total of 20 trucks were present for the event, including crowd favorites Grave Digger, El Toro Loco, and Scooby Doo.

The day started with the Party in the Pits, where ticket holders were able to not only get an up close view of the trucks, but also got a chance to chat with and get autographs from their favorite drivers. It also included a SuperCross demonstration, where motorcycles flew through the sky as exciting onlookers gazed in amazement.

Shortly before 6:00 p.m., the track came to life, with 35 and 50 c.c. motorcycles circling the track in a series of races. The SuperCross riders also took to the course to entertain the crowd with their own breed of riding across the soon to be destroyed junk cars scattered across the stadium floor.

The main event began at 7:00 p.m., with a field of 16 Monster Jam trucks that attempted to qualify for one of the eight spots in the Monster Jam bracket racing competition, with the fastest qualifier of the night receiving one point toward the overall championship.

After all 16 Monster Jam trucks raced through the qualifying round, only the eight Monster Jam trucks with the fastest qualifying times moved on to bracket racing.

The winner of Monster Jam bracket for this event was Grave Digger, the Legend, who earned two points toward the overall championship.

Following the bracket racing, it was time for everyone’s favorite part of the night: Freestyle! All of the Monster Jam trucks in attendance competed in the freestyle competition and the truck with the highest score at the end of the night went home not only with the double down trophy, but also earned two points toward the overall championship.

For most of the Freestyle competition, newcomer Backwards Bob held on to a strong lead, as the machine was tossed and turned in every direction, and still ended up (somehow) on all four wheels! Not to be outdone, crowd favorite Scooby Doo returned to the field to strut it’s tuff, before being sidelined by a mechanical problem.

Late in the action, it looked as though perennial favorite Grave Digger would run away with the crown, as he put on an amazing aerial show, complete with high jumps, flips, and more. Grave Digger, The Legend, had other plans, however, and tore up the track, and his truck, leaving nothing on the table. His run was textbook, including every technical aspect you can and should expect for a Freestyle run, and he came home with an impressive overall win!

Monster Jam Freestyle features six judges at each event. The chance to become one of the six freestyle judges at each tour stop is handled through local promotions in each city. For more information on the VIP Judging Experience, log onto www.MonsterJam.com.　

The day ended with an impressive fireworks display, and was followed by twin autograph sessions at different parts of the stadium. There, you were able to not only see the drivers, but also watch as their trucks were being driven out of the arena. It also provided a way to avoid the rush of people all leaving the stadium at the same time!

Although not all of the stops on the schedule are featured on the Monster Jam FOX Sports 1 Championship Series, you wouldn’t know if from the excitement, enthusiasm, and tremendous show quality at the other events. In addition to the Miami stop on Saturday, the series was also competing in Columbus as well as NRG Stadium in Houston. Next, the series visits the Georgia Dome (January 10), Raymond James Stadium (January 17), Lucas Oil Stadium (January 24), the Edward Jones Dome (January 31), Angel Stadium on Anaheim (February 7), AT&T Stadium (February 21), Ford Field (February 28), and the Carrier Dome (March 7), before ending their season in the Monster Jam World Finals at Las Vegas’ Sam Boyd Stadium on March 26-28.

“I’m really looking forward to the 2015 Monster Jam season,” said Zombie driver, Bari Musawwir. “I’m going in to my fifth year competing and I couldn’t be more excited about it. We have been invited to participate in a brand new nine-city championship series that will air on FOX Sports 1 and the field of drivers is extremely talented. I think the new format will provide a great level of competition which will add more elements to the total fan experience. Zombie and I are ready to try and rack up as many points as we can!”

The televised touring series will feature the same 16 Monster Jam trucks each week, in addition to Monster Jam-branded ATVs, with a competitive points series that will tie together each of the nine included stadium events.

As an added bonus, there will also be 16 Monster Jam ATVs racing for points at every Monster Jam FOX Sports 1 Championship series event, with each ATV representing one of the Monster Jam trucks. All 16 ATVs will go bar-to-bar in two different heat races with each heat race winner earning one point. Whichever Monster Jam ATV races to the finish line first in the Main Event will earn two points.

Monster Jam trucks competing in the Monster Jam FOX Sports 1 Championship Series:

Avenger – Jim Koehler
Bad News – Brandon Derrow
El Toro Loco® – Chuck Werner
Grave Digger® – Charlie Pauken
Hooked – Steven Sims Jr
Lucas Oil Crusader® – Linsey Weenk
Madusa®
Max-DSM – Neil Elliott
Monster Energy – Damon Bradshaw
Monster Mutt® Dalmatian – Dustin Brown
Stone Crusher – Steve Sims
Thunder 4×4 – Jim Bendzick
Titan – Donald Epidendio
War Wizard – Darren Goin
Wrecking Crew – Steve Koehler
Zombie – Bari Musawwir

For the first time ever, each Monster Jam FOX Sports 1 Championship Series event will air the week after the event takes place within the FOX Sports 1 Sunday motorsport block.

For more information on Monster Jam, including their full schedule of events, please log onto www.MonsterJam.com. To follow Monster Jam on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram log on to www.facebook.com/MonsterJam and www.twitter.com/MonsterJam and www.instagram.com/MonsterJamLive.

Subscribe to their YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/MonsterJamLive.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.