* Tyler Menninga ends drought with win in Indianapolis
** Cynthia Gauthier wins first career Stadium Series bracket
*** Weston Anderson takes 3 in Albuquerque to rise in the rankings
CURRENT STANDINGS and WEEKEND RESULTS (PDF):
===== WEEKEND RECAP FOR MARCH 14th – 16th, 2025 =====
Team Grave Digger combined for a big weekend as Weston Anderson’s 3 wins in Albuquerque combined with Tyler Menninga’s Stadium win in Indianapolis has moved Anderson up into 4th place and given Menninga the #1 ranking back from Coty Saucier.
Cynthia Gauthier had a few wild races in Indianapolis but she came out on top each time and won her first career Monster Jam Stadium Series racing competition! That included wins over Armando Castro (by 0.004 seconds!), Tyler Menninga, and Camden Murphy and made her the most-improved in the MTROC rankings.
Rob Poutre has 10-wins-in-a-row on the Nitro Tour after sweeping the weekend in Gridley, California. Donald Epidendio has a 5-race winning streak and Kory Kinal has a 3-race winning streak after they each swept their respective weekends in Winnemucca and Watsonville. Kaley Engstrom continues to lead the Monster Truck Wars tour with 9 wins and she has been in the finals 7 times in a row (which is still not even half of the 16-race finals streak she had earlier this season!).
The All Star Tour point series has only 3 weeks remaining but they will be tense events because Cory Snyder’s two final round appearances this weekend has him in 2nd place behind teammate Preston Perez. We’re excited to see how the series plays out with both the weather and the action heating up.
Thank you to everyone who has helped us with reporting events this week: Nick Jones, Dallas Glenn-Rogers, Josh Baumgartner, Richie Kiser, Kory Kinal, Bryan Wagner, Preston Perez, Ben Wimp, Kirk Nagy, Phil Vicinanza, and everyone who posted videos and photos online!
===== CURRENT STANDINGS =====
RANK : DRIVER : PTS/AVG : SCORE : RACES/WINS
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1 ) Tyler Menninga - 5158/224.26 : 3+1=4 : 23/11
2 ) Coty Saucier - 8968/199.29 : 1+3=4 : 45/23
3 ) Ryan Anderson - 4979/199.16 : 4+4=8 : 25/9
4 ) Weston Anderson - 5657/161.63 : 2+8=10 : 35/13
5 ) Tristan England - 3825/201.32 : 9+2=11 : 19/5
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6 ) Bari Musawwir - 4509/180.36 : 6+5=11 : 25/4
7 ) Jon Zimmer Jr - 4830/161.00 : 5+9=14 : 30/9
8 ) Camden Murphy - 3461/173.05 : 14+6=20 : 20/2
9 ) Triton Robbins - 4164/148.71 : 8+13=21 : 28/8
10) Dalton Widner - 3716/154.83 : 11+11=22 : 24/5
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11) Rob Poutre - 3591/149.63 : 12+12=24 : 24/19
12) Jimmy Creten - 3736/138.37 : 10+15=25 : 27/19
13) Matt Cody - 4358/117.78 : 7+21=28 : 37/7
14) Adam Anderson - 3043/138.32 : 18+16=34 : 22/2
15) Jerry Beck - 2450/163.33 : 29+7=36 : 15/5
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16) Bill Payne - 2892/144.6 : 22+14=36 : 20/8
17) Bryce Kenny - 2501/156.31 : 28+10=38 : 16/1
18) Tyler Groth - 2931/133.23 : 20+19=39 : 22/3
19) Armando Castro - 3288/117.43 : 17+22=39 : 28/1
20) Colt Stephens - 3348/111.6 : 16+23=39 : 30/2
===== BIGGEST IMPROVEMENTS =====
+5 – Cynthia Gauthier (Lucas Stabilizer) – 40th
+4 – Camden Murphy (Classroom Crusher) – 8th
+4 – Kory Kinal (Jekyll & Hyde) – 28th
+3 – Weston Anderson (Grave Digger) – 4th
+3 – Kaley Engstrom (Shark Attack) – 27th
+3 – Mike Christensen (Vendetta) – 35th
===== NEW THIS WEEK =====
33rd – Brett Falvey (The Haymaker)
54th – Josh Baumgartner (Bigfoot)
65th – Gavin Sell (Identity Theft)
68th – Colton Kiser (American Scout)
69th – Paul Strong (Quad Chaos)
80th – Kevin Crocker (Megalodon)
===== ALBUQUERQUE, NM =====
3/14 Fri Ngt: WESTON ANDERSON [Grave Digger] defeated Brianna Mahon [Scooby Doo]
3/15 Sat Aft: WESTON ANDERSON [Grave Digger] defeated Coty Saucier [Dragon]
3/15 Sat Ngt: WESTON ANDERSON [Grave Digger] defeated Devin Winfield [Velociraptor]
3/16 Sun Aft: DEVIN WINFIELD [Velociraptor] defeated Coty Saucier [Dragon]
Weston Anderson had a big impact on the rankings this week as his 3 wins in Albuquerque both moved him up 3 spots into the #4 rank and also kept former #1 rank Coty Saucier down in points which let Tyler Menninga reclaim the #1 ranking following his win in Indianapolis. His 13 wins are the 5th highest in the sport and his 5657 total points is 2nd behind only Coty Saucier’s huge 8968 total.
===== COPENHAGEN, DENMARK =====
This Hot Wheels Live event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded
===== GRIDLEY, CA =====
3/15 Sat Aft: ROB POUTRE [USA-1] defeated Jerrod Compton [Anubis]
3/15 Sat Ngt: ROB POUTRE [USA-1] defeated Stanley Hernandez [Lone Wolf]
Rob Poutre has won the last 10 consecutive brackets that he has entered as the USA-1 team has been dominating racing on the Nitro Tour this quarter. He has 19 wins in 24 races and remains in 11th place, currently around 235 points out of the Top Ten.
===== HOT SPRINGS, AR =====
3/15 Sat Aft: COLTON KISER [The Boss] defeated Rod Schmidt [Redneck Rampage]
3/16 Sun Aft: TIM JONES [Tailgator] defeated Josh Baumgartner [Bigfoot]
Colton Kiser joins the rankings after scoring his 4th win of the season. Rod Schmidt’s Redneck Rampage came up limp on the starting line making this one a bit easier for The Boss. The following day, the other two trucks in the four-truck field made the finals and this time Tim Jones sailed to victory with an enormous finish-line jump. Josh Baumgartner in Bigfoot joined the rankings as well this week with 9 final rounds in his 15 scored events.
===== INDIANAPOLIS, IN =====
3/15 Sat Ngt: CYNTHIA GAUTHIER [Lucas Stabilizer] defeated Camden Murphy [Classroom Crusher]
3/16 Sun Aft: TYLER MENNINGA [Grave Digger] defeated Camden Murphy [Classroom Crusher]
Cynthia Gauthier celebrated her first career Monster Jam Stadium Series racing win in Indianpolis on Saturday night and was our most-improved in the rankings as she gained 5 spots to join the Top 40. She advanced through the quarter-finals by a slim 0.004-seconds over Armando Castro in one of several wild races that night. Camden Murphy eliminated series points leader Bari Musawwir in Zombie in the quarter-finals and then bested Dalton Widner in the fastest race of the night to advance through the semis into his 6th final of the season.
In the other semis, Gauthier and Tyler Menninga where in a fast race until both drivers had trouble in the final turn, causing them to decelerate before the final jump and case the landing ramp, which sent both trucks bouncing uncontrolled over the finish line. Despite the strange predicament, Gauthier crossed the line first to reach her 2nd final round. In the finals, Murphy had the lead into the final turn but spun out his Classroom Crusher as the turn continued to give way, sending the big bus off course and behind schedule. Gauthier celebrated her big victory with a big donut in the center of the floor before a joyous celebration with her crew and fans.
Cynthia Gauthier returned to the semi-finals on Sunday in Indianapolis, but three-time Open Champion Tyler Menninga was on kill this night and beat the Stabilizer by over a second. Camden Murphy was also back in the final round to meet up with Menninga for the 4th time this season. Tyler Menninga had previously not gone more than 3 races this season without a win, but recently has been in a drought of 5 races without even a final round appearance. That—combined with a blown engine last weekend that kept him out of Skills and Freestyle—has led Bari Musawwir claim the points lead for the tour.
Needing a big win to get back into the championship hunt, Tyler put down a solid run and claimed his 11th win of the season. This also evened his head-to-head series against Murphy at 2-each and brought Grave Digger within 12 points of Zombie for the series points lead. It also put Menninga back into the #1 ranking in the Open Championship, partially thanks to his Digger teammate Weston Anderson shutting the door on Coty Saucier in Albuquerque.
===== KINGSPORT, TN =====
3/15 Sat Aft: PAUL STRONG [Quad Chaos] defeated Byron Cadigan [Bear Foot]
3/15 Sat Ngt: We do not have results from this event
Paul Strong won for the fourth time, taking out the strong-running Byron Cadigan in Bear Foot to even their season series at 1 win a-piece. We do not have results from the night race.
===== MIDLAND, TX =====
3/15 Sat Aft: We do not have results from this event
3/15 Sat Ngt: We do not have results from this event
3/16 Sun Aft: We do not have results from this event
Sadly we do not have any reports from the Monster Truck Wars events in Midland, Texas. If you know the results please send them in!
===== OAKLAND, CA =====
This Monster Jam Arena event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded
===== SEGUIN, TX =====
3/15 Sat Aft: MASON RIFE [Outlaw] defeated Kaley Engstrom [Shark Attack]
3/15 Sat Ngt: KALEY ENGSTROM [Shark Attack] defeated Aaron Basl [T-Rex]
3/16 Sun Aft: AARON BASL [T-Rex] defeated Kaley Engstrom [Shark Attack]
Kaley Engstrom had her 16-race final round streak broken a few weeks ago in Kenansville but has now racked up 7 finals in a row and added another win in front of her family and friends in Seguin, Texas. Aaron Basl and Mason Rife each won once to claim their 8th wins of the season, although Engstrom still leads the tour with 9 wins.
===== SPARTANBURG, SC =====
3/15 Sat Aft: PRESTON PÉREZ [Toxic] defeated Cory Snyder [Illuminator]
3/16 Sun Aft: BRETT FALVEY [The Haymaker] defeated Cory Snyder [Illuminator]
With three weeks left in the All Star Tour’s Monster Masher points series the competition had really picked up. Series points leader Preston Perez won his 12th event of the year on Saturday while Brett Falvey won for the 2nd time (although he also has 8 runner-ups). The big news came from Cory Snyder in Illuminator who was in the finals both nights and moved himself into 2nd place in the series points standings.
===== TOLEDO, OH =====
This Monster Jam Arena event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded
===== TULSA, OK =====
This Hot Wheels Live event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded
===== WATSONVILLE, CA =====
3/15 Sat Aft: KORY KINAL [Jekyll & Hyde] defeated Dan Dahlgren [Shark Bite]
3/15 Sat Ngt: KORY KINAL [Jekyll & Hyde] defeated Jimmy Creten [Bounty Hunter]
After a string of four consecutive second-place finishes, Kory Kinal has now built up a 3-race winning streak on the 2Xtreme Tour. That bumped him up 4 spots to be inside the Top 30 in the rankings. Dan Dahlgren opened the weekend with his first win over Jimmy Creten in 15 tries, knocking Creten out in the first round for only the third time this year.
===== WINNEMUCCA, NV =====
3/14 Fri Ngt: DONALD EPIDENDIO [Titan] defeated Bill Payne [Rock Star]
3/15 Sat Ngt: DONALD EPIDENDIO [Titan] defeated Bill Payne [Rock Star]
Donald Epidendio swept a wild weekend of racing in Winnemucca where he battled top rival Bill Payne in the finals both nights on a tight indoor St Louis style track. The Saturday finals saw Titan behind entering the final turn, but Epidendio pulled away after light contact with the Rock Star truck to improve his record against Payne to 6-1 this season. The two final round appearances gained Bill Payne two spots in the rankings.
====== EVENTS THIS WEEKEND =====
Biloxi, MS (Monster Jam Arena Championship Series East)
Corbin, KY (Monsters of Destruction)
Corpus Christi, TX (Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow Party Arena Event)
Elm Mott, TX (Monster Truck Chaos)
Gray, TN (All Star Monster Truck Tour)
Green Bay, WI (Monster Jam Arena Championship Series Central)
Herning, Denmark (Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live International Tour: Glow Party Arena Event)
Jonesboro, AR (Monster Truck Nitro Tour)
Lafayette, LA (Toughest Monster Truck Tour)
Louisville, KY (Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series East)
Somerton, AZ (Monster Truck Wars)
Syracuse, NY (Monster Truck Wars)
Troy, AL (Grand National Monster Trucks)
Tucson, AZ (Monster Jam Arena Championship Series West)
Vancouver, BC (Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series West)
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