Tyler Menninga has remained atop the standings since Day 1 and is (unofficially) now the inaugural 2019 World Open Champion! The Grave Digger driver amassed a jaw-dropping 15,796 points through an equally-astonishing 81 races while winning 38 events. All three of those stats are the best of all 293 drivers who competed this year. His 195.01 points-per-race average is 3rd best, behind only Adam Anderson and Larry Swim. He advanced to the final round 52 times, which is also the best of all drivers.
The 2019 Open Championship standings will be finalized on October 13th while we await any late results from this season. Please check out our list of un-reported events below and let us know before October 12th if you have any information on the results. Once the standings are finalized, we’ll post more statistics and details from this amazing racing season!
The other big news items from this weekend include Bill Payne and Colton Eichelberger picking up a pair of wins each and moving themselves into the Top Ten, while Cory Rummell defended his Beast of the Beach title in Wildwood, New Jersey and earned enough points to just barely edge out teammate Jim Koehler in the standings!
Stockton, California (Malicious)
Bill Payne and Donald Epidendio met in the finals both nights of the big 10-truck bracket at the Stockton Dirt Track with Payne taking the win both times. The Saturday final was a wild finish to the weekend as Payne hit the last jump at a bad angle and nearly collided with Titan, who failed to finish the course due to a broken rear axle. For Payne, the Saturday night win gave him enough points to jump up into 8th place in the rankings. Unfortunately, we do not have complete results from Friday night and so points have not been awarded for his first win. Payne’s 23 recorded wins are the 2nd most of any driver this season.
Rosemont, Illinois
Colton Eichelberger raced his way into the final round 4 out of 5 times at the Rosemont Horizon and moved up into the Top 10 as a result. Tony Ochs opened the weekend with a win over Myranda Cozad on Friday night. Eichelberger then won both events on Saturday, beating out world #1 Tyler Menninga in the final round.
Menninga entered the weekend with 38 wins—far and away the most of any driver this season—and had a chance to reach the 40-win milestone, but electrical gremlins hampered his chances. After his double runner-up on Saturday, was knocked out in the first round both races on Sunday.
Eichelberger was the double runner-up on Sunday, with Bari Musawwir winning in the afternoon and Armando Castro closing out the inaugural 2019 Open Championship season with his 10th win of the year.
Despite the sour ending to the season, Menninga was still able to easily hang on to the top spot in the world rankings. Once the rankings are finalized after October 12th, we’ll have a full recap of his amazing racing season.
Wildwood, New Jersey (Beast of the Beach)
Rage’s Cory Rummell successfully defending his Beast of the Beach title this year in Wildwood but not without some stiff competition. Rummell advanced to the final round on Saturday afternoon but oversteered the final turn which let Matt Pagliarulo in Jester drive by for the win.
On Saturday night, Brandon Budd sent Rummell to the trailer in the first round but was then eliminated himself by Rummell’s teammate Jim Koehler in Avenger. Nick Pagliarulo was the Tomfoolery Racing entry in the final round for the evening event and he narrowly beat out Koehler in the best race of the weekend.
Koehler’s evening freestyle run was costly as Avenger blew up the engine and was out for the rest of the weekend. Dave Radzierez benefited from that breakage with a bye run in the first round, and then got past Perry Como in Loud & Dirty to take his big diesel to his 3rd final of the year. On the other side of the bracket, Rummell raced past Ryan Como with Rat Nasty and then took out Matt Pagliarulo in Jester before closing out the weekend with the racing win over Radzierez. That was his 4th win of the season and gave him the Beast of the Beach points lead heading into the final freestyle event. Rummell held the lead through to the end to re-claim the title and his racing prowess gained him 6 spots in the Open Championship standing to 42nd, putting him just ahead of boss Jim Koehler in 43rd.
Bangor, Maine (All Star)
Chris Sawicki in Lumberjack won his 2nd race of the season on Friday night at Speedway 95, taking out Lindsey Rettew in Pretty Wicked, who was in her 2nd final round of the season. On Saturday Steven Thompson in Hurricane Force took the evening win over teammate John Killinger in Storm Damage. It was his 5th win of the season and moved Thompson into the Top 30. Killinger returned the favor on Sunday by eliminating Thompson in the finals. Greg Winchenbach missed Sunday’s event due to breakage, but the two other events from the weekend gave him 20 recorded races for the year which allows the Monstah Lobstah to qualify for the Open Championship rankings in 46th.
Perkins, Oklahoma (Monster Truck Shootout)
Things got a little wild on the very tight St. Louis style course at the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma Outdoor Events Center. In the first round, Kaylyn Migues and Devin Jones were racing for the win when they bumped hard in the final turn. Jones in Barbarian had the slight edge and escape the collision with minimal damage at the round win. In the finals, Jones squared off with Darren Migues in Nitro Menace. With the event win on the line, the trucks once again collided in the final turn, with Migues spinning out and Jones advancing past for the win. It was Jones’ 6th win and moved him into the Top 40. Migues was in his 24th final round of the year and is placed in 21st.
Roanoke, Virginia (Hot Wheels)
Darron Schnell picked up two wins over Steven Snellen on the Hot Wheels tour in Roanoke, winning the first and last of the three race weekend. Cody Holman scored his 3rd win of the season over Derick Anson during the middle event. This final weekend gave both Snellen and Anson more than 20 recorded events which qualified them for the Open Championship rankings. Schnell’s 13th and 14th wins of the season gained him 400 points and 2 spots in the rankings.
Durham, Connecticut (JMMP)
Matt Cody was blazing fast on the tight reverse Chicago-style course at the Durham Fair and recorded his 5th win of the season when he defeated Michael Vaters II in the finals. For Vaters, he finishes the season strong with 6 final round appearances in his final 8 racing events and a Top 20 ranking.
Kendallville, Indiana (Summer Heat)
We hear that Bob Robbins took the Chicago-style win at the Noble County Community Fairgrounds, but we’re not sure who the Krazy Train driver beat in the finals, so points have not yet been awarded. We can still count this event for the 2019 season if we get results by October 12th.
Long Sault, Ontario (Wadded Up)
Although there were some races at the Cornwall Motor Speedway this past weekend, there were only 3 trucks competing which is one too few per MTROC rules, and so points were not awarded.
LATE – Denver, Colorado (Kicker Nationals)
We received late reports from the Kicker Nationals in Denver, Colorado from way back on November 17th and 18th! Paul Jensen opened that weekend with a U-turn win over Bigfoot’s Larry Swim. Mikeal Christensen and Kreg Christensen then swapped wins in their two final round matches on Saturday. As an added bonus, the Saturday night event also included Holeshot drag racing which Mikeal won over Paul. Those late-arriving points helped to solidify Team Throttle Monster and Team KCM in the Top 20 for the season.
Missing Events
We received reports on 92% of the known monster truck racing events this year: 1077 out of 1165! However, there are still 88 events unreported, listed here below. If you have any information on the racing brackets, please let us know so that we can award points to the drivers. If you know that there was no side-by-side racing at these events, please let us know about that, as well.
2Xtreme Racing (Creten)
Contoocook, NH – 10/13 – Hopkinton State Fairgrounds
Harrison, AR – 11/3 – Harrison Rodeo Arena
Holt, FL – 11/17 – Emerald Coast Dragway
Natchez, MS – 11/10 – Johnson Arena
ATR Motorsports
Lincoln, MI – 8/23 – Alcona County Fair
Australian
Perth, West Australia – 3/9 – Perth Motorplex
Hidden Valley – 8/31 – Northline Speedway
CFP No Limits
Belton, TX – 1/19 Night – Bell County Expo
Gonzales, LA – 2/23 Day – Lamar Dixon Arena
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live
Albany, GA – 2/23 Day – Albany Civic Center
Albany, GA – 2/23 Night – Albany Civic Center
Bloomington, IL – 2/9 Day – Grossinger Motors Arena
Bloomington, IL – 2/9 Night – Grossinger Motors Arena
Cape Girardeau, MI – 2/1 Night – Show Me Center
Cape Girardeau, MI – 2/2 Day – Show Me Center
Cape Girardeau, MI – 2/2 Night – Show Me Center
Cape Girardeau, MI – 2/3 Day – Show Me Center
Charlottesville, VA – 4/14 Day – John Paul Jones Arena
Cleveland, OH – 1/12 Night – Wolstein Center
Edinburg, TX – 1/5 Day – Bert Ogden Arena
Edinburg, TX – 1/6 Day – Bert Ogden Arena
Hoffman Estates, IL – 1/26 Day – Sears Centre
Jackson, MS – 1/19 Night – Mississippi Coliseum
Memphis, TN – 2/16 Day – FedEx Forum
Norfolk, VA – 3/30 Night – Scope Arena
Kicker Nationals
Hobbs, NM – 3/8 – Lea County Events Center
MAP O’Reilly Outlaw Nationals
Odessa, TX – 2/16 Day – Ector County Coliseum
Malicious Monster Truck Tour
Roseville, CA – 10/20 – All American Speedway
Michigan Monster Truck Shootout
Hartford, MI – 7/17 – Van Buren Youth Fair
Holland, MI – 7/23 – Ottawa County Fairgrounds
Monster FMX
Asheville, NC – 3/2 – WNC McGough Arena
Monster Truck Insanity Tour
Bluffdale, UT – 8/9 – Bluffdale Rodeo Arena
Burley, ID – 8/11 – Cassia County Fairgrounds
Monster Truck Nationals
Madison, WI – 1/25 Night – Alliant Energy Center
Madison, WI – 1/27 Day – Alliant Energy Center
Monster Truck Racing League
Jordan, MN – 7/26 – Scott County Fairgrounds
Nashville, TN – 9/6 – Tennessee State Fairgrounds
Proctor, MN – 6/28 – Proctor Speedway
Proctor, MN – 6/29 – Proctor Speedway
Pryor, OK – 10/20 – Salina Highbanks Speedway
Monster Truck Summer Heat
Kendallville, IN – 9/28 – Noble County Community Fairgrounds
Monster Truck Throwdown
Benson, NC – 10/6 Night – GALOT Motorsports Park
Petoskey, MI – 8/23 Night - Emmet-Charlevoix County Fair
Presque Isle, ME – 7/5 Night – Northern Maine Fairgrounds
Scarborough, ME – 7/20 Night – Beech Ridge Motor Speedway
South Bend, IN – 7/3 Night – Saint Joseph County 4-H Fair
Windsor, ME – 9/1 Night – Windsor Fair
Monster Truck Wars
Ada, OK – 12/1 Day – Pontotoc County Arena
Ada, OK – 12/1 Night – Pontotoc County Arena
Duncan, OK – 1/26 Day – Stephens County Fairgrounds
Duncan, OK – 1/26 Night – Stephens County Fairgrounds
Graham, TX – 2/9 Day – Young County Arena
Victoria, TX – 12/15 – Victoria Community Center
Wytheville, WA – 2/2 – Apex Center
Monster X / Traxxas
Mobile, AL – 1/19 – Mobile Civic Center
Night of Fire and Thrills
Aberdeen, SD – 7/27 – Brown County Speedway
Victorville, CA – 10/20 – Victorville Fairgrounds
West Coast Monster Trucks (WGAS, WHR, others)
Pleasanton, CA – 6/28 – Alameda County Fairgrounds
Pleasanton, CA – 6/30 – Alameda County Fairgrounds
Red Bluff, CA – 10/6 Night – Tehama District Fairgrounds
Redmond, OR – 11/3 – Deschutes County Fair
Santa Rosa, CA – 10/13 – Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Santa Rosa, CA – 8/8 – Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Santa Rosa, CA – 8/10 – Sonoma County Fairgrounds
Independent/Unknown Promoter
Adrian, MI – 7/23 – Lenawee County Fair
Corinth, MS – 2/22 – Crossroads Arena
Dacono, CO – 6/16 – Colorado National Speedway
Easley, SC – 9/6 – Upper South Carolina State Fair
Geneseo, NY – 7/17 – Hemlock Little World’s Fair
Grain Valley, MO – 7/6 – Valley Speedway
Gray, TN – 8/19 – Appalachian Fair
Gray, TN – 8/20 – Appalachian Fair
Hays, KS – 7/20 – Ellis County Fair
Marysville, CA – 10/13 Night – Marysville Raceway Park
New Egypt, NJ – 8/17 – New Egypt Speedway
New Egypt, NJ – 8/18 – New Egypt Speedway
Phoenix, AZ – 4/13 Night – Maricopa County Fair
Phoenix, AZ – 4/14 Day – Maricopa County Fair
Phoenix, AZ – 4/14 Night – Maricopa County Fair
Salinas, CA – 10/13 Night – Salinas Sports Complex
Stockton, CA (2018) – 10/6 Night – Stockton Dirt Track
Stockton, CA (2019) – 9/27 Night – Stockton Dirt Track
Sublimity, OR – 9/6 – Sublimity Harvest Festival
Sublimity, OR – 9/7 – Sublimity Harvest Festival
Sublimity, OR – 9/8 – Sublimity Harvest Festival
Taylorville, IL – 10/20 – Christian County Fairgrounds Arena
Tucson, AZ – 5/17 Night – Tucson Rodeo Ground (Double Brackets)
Woodstock, NB – 10/13 – Connell Park Raceway