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I'm willing to bet both World Finals 21 and All Star Challenge are not going to happen. It sucks, but I honestly feel more concern and really sorry for everyone who was laid off. It's a huge shame and it's going to have huge impacts to so many families. I wish everyone impacted the very best, clearly things are going to get much more difficult before they get better. I really hate to say it but within the next year Monster Jam could be very very different, if Feld even decides to keep it going. If they are laying off that many people, things financially are NOT good for them. This whole situation really does show how lucky all of us have been and how fortunate we are. I barely post on here but stay safe everyone!

I really wish they would have left the number to 32. In my ideal world, it would have been 10 high jump competitors and 32 in the main field. It just sucks how this year there is a good number of very deserving drivers left out compared to other years where the number is lower. It is what it is, and hopefully, it will change at some point.

With the Rogers Centre under renovations, Toronto is getting an arena summer show. Only the seats are more expensive than our past stadium shows at almost $40 more. Who in their right mind would pay $126 for a Triple Threat show?

Also looks like Toronto isn’t getting a show this year. Kinda sucks.

My girlfriend and I have an early morning flight into Vegas tomorrow morning, we land at like 10:30 am there. Gunna dash over to the hotel, check in and then head over to try and make the BBQ on time (I'd be surprised if we didn't). Sam Boyd Stadium's new bag policy sucks but it is what it is. Guess I'll have to stuff my camera into a small plastic carry bag and hold my sweater during the whole pit party. Can't lie I feel like a kid with how excited I am for my 2nd time being there. My girlfriend is even more excited than I am, all she as seen are the shows in Toronto in 2017 & 2018. Should get lots of good pics this year, with the clear bag policy it might be harder to get my camera and lens in there, but we will see.

I've been a fan of his since the early-mid 2000's, and I honestly wish him well with his new truck. I honestly think it's really freaking cool. I feel the way I do because there are so many deserving drivers this year of a spot, some of which have been a little more consistent with points than Creten. You are totally right about his equipment issues hindering his runs. I just haven't been super impressed overall in comparison to other drivers. I'm sure he will get a spot and I'll be routing for him regardless. MJ should really just increase the competition numbers to 40.

This season has for sure been incredible, so many "wow" moments and indie teams pushing harder than ever. I gotta say one of the driver's who has really impressed me is Randy Brown. After being in arenas for a most of the past couple years he has really shown his skill this year. Aside from the drivers who will obviously be in the main line up, I really do hope these drivers make it to the main line-up: Cole Venard, he has been just amazing and consistent. I'm very happy he has a place with such a strong team. Matt Pagliarulo, he can really drive and isn't afraid to go big and his skill is constantly improving. I hope this year is the start of him getting invites to the WF. Cynthia Gauthier, she can really drive, and clearly has a ton of potential in a stadium tour. She really impressed me subbing in Whiplash. Corey Rummell, maybe not the most consistent driver out there but he can drive hard and isn't afraid to go big either. I can see him doing really well at the WF. Chuck Warner, I'd honestly be surprised if he doesn't get in. He's had his best season yet. DDS: Jamey Garner Shane England Eric Swanson Brad Allen Steve Thompson It's amazing how fast the main line-up can fill when looking at everyone who should get a spot. I honestly think the number of driver's should increase. I am aware some of my opinions about who should get in. I want to know people's thoughts on Jimmy Creten and his new truck. I know this may be a very unpopular opinion, but I don't think he should get a spot this year at the WF. Jimmy is an amazing driver and in past years has been one tough competitor. However, based off this past season, I think he should be given another year to work on his new truck some more before getting a spot. The truck has a lot of potential but this year, I have not been impressed. I've been a fan of Jimmy for years and still am, I just feel that there are other drivers who have driven harder and done better who are more deserving of a spot. Thoughts?

I'll be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about this. Went to Vegas last year with an amazing hotel and flight package (considering the flight down from Toronto too) it was a really good deal. This year my girlfriend and are going with an even better and cheaper deal. Looks like this might be one of the last World Finals I'll be able to attend for a while. With the mix of work getting much busier and the potential increase in travel costs, I'll just have to wait and see. At the same time, this could be really interesting. Sometimes change is for the better, and I truly hope this turns into a step in the right direction. I understand why they did it, I'll just miss the "magic" that Sam Boyd Stadium always had. Even from just watching the videos on YouTube, there was something special about the venue. I just they keep the competitor numbers at 32 (I honestly think it should be a little higher), I'm not sure what some stadiums are like but I can imagine at some locations it might be a little harder. Also, there goes the massive pit parties. It would be cool to have a half indoor half outdoor pit party though. Past champions inside on the track, others outside. I'm not 3 hours of sleep, I hope I made sense.

I've been fairly out of the loop with this coming season, so I apologize if this has been covered. I thought Titan and Donald were coming back this season? Is he taking another year off?

Haley Gauley has been added to the stadium tour line up in Scooby-Doo. Never heard of her before, wonder where she came from.

I just got home from my Vegas to Toronto red-eye flight. I might have gotten an hour of sleep, there was lots of turbulence all the way home. Anyway. The vegas show was incredible. I'm still in disbelief at how crazy it was. The racing both nights was so intense. I've never seen a monster truck show close to that caliber, and for my first WF show I think i got pretty lucky. Like someone else said the energy at the show is just awesome. Everyone around you is just so friendly and talkative. Each time something cool happens its like a whole new party. Would I go and do the Double Down all over again? Hell yeah. I'm going back for sure. I'll have pics ready later on today.

Great, thanks guys! I can't lie I'm really stoked for the event. First World Finals show for me, and I'm treating my dad to the whole trip. When I first planned on going my friends were down but then couldn't afford it when it was time to get the tickets. So for my dad's birthday I'm treating him to the show and six days in Vegas. Him and I have been going to see monster trucks for over 2 decades now, so it will be quite the experience for us both.

2 questions for those who have been to the world finals before or may know... For Double Down ticket holders, is the qualifying on Thursday as well/do we have access to see it? How thoroughly do they check bags? I'm going to try and sneak one of my good lenses in. In the past at my hometown show I just put in in the bottom of my backpack in it's case, and put a sweater on top, I tell them it's just my water bottle and ear protection. If security isn't anal about going through backpacks I should be ok.

So I just looked at the Monster Jam website, and saw that Cole Venard is now back on the World Finals competitors list. As far as I can tell the Driver Update news article about Randy Brown replacing him is gone as well. So, looks like Cole is back for the WF? No updates to the Triple Threat series line-up though. EDIT: Looks like they changed the website AGAIN, Randy Brown is back on the line-up.

I would have loved to have seen Garner, Pagliarulo, and Rummell all make it into the main field. I'll admit I am a little biased in that I think they too are deserving of a spot, but if at least one of those guys gets a Double Down invite I'll be more than happy. I for sure see the three of them being World Finals competitors in the future though, all of them have top equipment and can run with the best of them. However, it's an amazing line-up regardless.

As far as tracks go, they really seem to hit their 'peak' from around 2010 - 2014. There were some great tracks, each show was different - not entirely, but enough to change things up at each show - and some amazing freestyles. Some of the obstacles were bigger, there were doubles to clear, and if I remember correctly not many injuries. Now I know this is an extreme example, but looking at this compared to 2017 it is almost night and day. Hopefully this is a bit of a blip in Monster Jam. All this being said, I have to give HUGE props to the independent teams this year. All of them are putting on really good runs and awesome moments. It's great seeing privately funded teams do what they do each weekend. That to me has been what is making this year really great to watch. It seems like more of them are pushing the edge more so than other years. Just one man's opinion.....

Well it wouldn’t be a typical Monster Jam weekend in Toronto without lots of mechanical issues. For some reason we tend to get bad luck up here. Now I get it happens. Not the driver’s fault, nor the mechanic’s, nor Monster Jam’s. However in comparison to all the big stadium shows down in the states, all I can say is you guys have it so freaking lucky. The shows up here just don’t quite compare. Yet it was still a great weekend. Both shows were really good and I would say Saturday was a little better of the two. I was most impressed by Matt in Jester and Jamey in Over Bored. Garner probably had the biggest air of the weekend. Matt for sure had the biggest leap Sunday. I was bummed about Overkill Evolution. I was super excited to see Mike drive, but both days had mechanical issues. Sunday took him out of the whole show except for one wheelie. However, I get it. Mechanical things happen. I’ll be rooting for Mike for sure in Vegas. Monster Jam needs to get their s#!% together. So many flat tires from those awful tires, rushed show, no side acts. But what bugged me the most was Coty was shut off and taken off the track for a flat tire. Not sure if there was any other issues but after the flat happened, they shut him off instantly and didn’t let him re-fire even though he was showing signs he wanted to. Now, with that being said, even though it sounds like I’m complaining I’m just playing devil’s advocate. I had a blast. Purely because my girlfriend was there with me for both shows. She hasn’t seen a monster truck show since Grave Digger and Bigfoot competed together and she had an utter blast. Her excitement in seeing everything happen gave me a new perspective on the show. Even the simple jumps are kind of cool. Just seeing these things move around is kind of awesome. Both of us are excited for Vegas. This turned into an essay. Whoops.

Blah track aside in Toronto, Saturday night was pretty damn good. Great racing, Coty is an utter mad man. I cannot wait to see what he will be doing in the coming years. Freestyle was way better than I expected, Becky McDonough won freestyle with solid momentum, some good jumps with one big one, and a slap wheelie into one wheel then using the breaks to save it (nothing too insane but sweet non the less). Garner in Over Bored was amazing. Huge jumps and great momentum. His truck sounds sex to to the ears. Mike Vaters was really getting going when his rear steer totally konked out on him less than half way in. Carl pulled off a super clean, beautiful backflip. Didn't do much else aside from a decent jump or two since he lost rear steer early on. Ryan did a typical Ryan freestyle but back-flopped at the end. Tomorrow looks to be pretty good, just about every truck needs work though. Im excited to see what they will be able to pull off tomorrow. I'd do a better synopsis but I'm running off of 2 hours of sleep and have tomorrow show to go to. Had a great night but holy balls did that show ever feel rushed to the max. Feels even more rushed than past years.

Toronto's track feels.... very empty. So much wasted space compared to past years. "Yeah let's just cram dirt ramps right in the middle....

Track construction in Toronto!

Even though I am disappointed about likely not seeing Dennis in Toronto, all I want right now is for him to rest and recover until he is back to his 100%. MJ put the Vancouver dates up today as well, not sure how the fans over there will feel with it turning into a 4 show weekend at a much smaller venue. Huge change from past years.

Purely stating my opinion. You're welcome to take it however you want.

I've come to terms with the tracks being the way they are now along with the fact it seems they will be staying around for a little longer. Things are by no means perfect, but the same could be said about other era's of monster trucks and monster jam. My first show was 1992 and the number of changes compared to today is insane. Yes, there was something really cool about a truck jumping or even just going over a big ramp, hill, pyramid etc. Yet the show's are still really fun to watch especially with independent teams starting to push things harder than ever. My main complaint right now is those ridiculous inflatable starting gates. They are such an eye sore, and for a lot of people in the stadium majorly obstruct the view. Take those away, and for the sake of this argument reduce the angle of the obstacles a little so they aren't quite as steep, and I'll pretty much be completely content about modern day monster jam.

Anyone else have a crazy price increase this year? Standard Level/Tier 1 tickets have gone up over $25 here in Toronto. Levels 2 and 3 have gone up a little but not as much (tickets just a month ago were $85, now their $90?!?!?!). Feld BETTER be doing something good this year seeing as last year was sub-par, and Cam in Northern Nightmare isn't coming up this year (beyond me why Feld things not having that truck up here for the stadium show is beyond me).

So since Jim is getting a new chassis, would it make sense for Wrecking Crew to get his old one? (since the thing is now 20 years old as well and beat to hell). I'm very happy for Jim though, he's one of my top favourite drivers. Little disappointed he's not in my city again, but seeing him at the WF sure makes up for it.