The 2012 Monster Jam® Series a Year in Review and 2013 Improvements

Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction extended his remarkable record of World Championships to 10 in 2012
Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction extended his remarkable record of World Championships to 10 in 2012
A typical monster truck tips the scale at a strapping 10,000 pounds, while the alcohol-burning, supercharged, V-8 engines generate 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower. During a Monster Jam Series event they use every last one of those ponies to explode with a snarl of thunder into awe inspiring flights reaching distances of 130 feet. Can you really consider your life complete without witnessing that kind of exhibition of brute power at least once?

There are currently more than 4 million fans that attend the K&N supported Monster Jam Series and with its rapid international tour expansion, Monster Jam is continuing to gain more fans in new countries around the world. This is an incredibly loyal and dedicated fan base, and that's in part because they enjoy unprecedented access to the drivers and their marvelous monsters.

The 2012 Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam World FinalsSM XIII held in Las Vegas' Sam Boyd Stadium gave bragging rights to Tom Meents, driver of Maximum Destruction®, and Cam McQueen, driver of Northern NightmareSM. They were clearly the stars of the show as they brought home the Racing World Championship and Freestyle World Championship respectively. Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction extended his amazing record of World Championships to 10 when he won the World Racing Championship for the second straight year and sixth time overall.

Cam McQueen received the ultimate payback from the event that saw him fall a tie-breaker short of the 2011 freestyle crown when he turned in an even more spectacular performance taking the Canadian themed Northern Nightmare truck to the freestyle win. This was McQueen's first World Freestyle Championship.

2012 also celebrated the 30th anniversary of one of the most recognized Monster Jam trucks - Grave Digger. The celebration kicked off when a fleet of Grave Digger Monster Jam trucks took to the Las Vegas Strip, exuberantly broadcasting the popular Monster Jam truck's arrival. The Monster Jam World Finals encore was a perfect tribute to the Grave Digger 30th Anniversary celebration as the floor filled with Grave Diggers in a spectacular display of freestyle and destruction fitting for every part of the Grave Digger team.

Since 2010 Monster Jam continues to expand its summer stadium events along the east coast, and in 2012 launched the Path of Destruction Series. Many firsts occurred including Monster Jam's Path of Destruction inaugural event at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. In front of a packed house, Tom Meents presented a freestyle salute to the FDNY in a custom FDNY Monster Jam truck and in a finale finish attempted a double back flip (two full rotations) in front of tens of thousands of fans with Maximum Destruction.

The Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam season reignites the weekend of January 4, 2013 with twelve events in Trenton, New Jersey, Des Moines, Iowa, Nashville, Tennessee, Manchester, New Hampshire, Birmingham, Alabama, Columbus, Ohio, Rochester, New York, Tacoma, Washington, Council Bluffs, Iowa, Lexington, Kentucky, Houston, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

2013 is also the 10th anniversary of the MAX-D, and Monster Jam has created special anniversary MAX-D events to celebrate throughout the year. Monster Jam has also expanded its fleet by adding four new Monster Jam trucks to the 2013 line-up.

National Public Relations Director Amy McWethy reported, "While we can't reveal all four right now, we can tell you that Monster Jam has created the first ever Latino Monster Jam truck to celebrate its loyal and growing Latino fan base. This custom designed Monster Jam truck demonstrates our appreciation to our Latino fans and Monster Jam put the naming rights straight in the hands of those fans by launching an online naming contest and voting system. The results were tallied in November and the fans have named the new Monster Jam Latino truck, El Diablo and it will debut in January 12 in Anaheim, California."

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