Monster Jam Documentary Are Monster Trucks A True Motorsport or Motorsports Entertainment? 

Idk how to describe it, but once FS1 took over Speed, Monster Jam has felt like entertainment. Before that it felt like a true motorsport that was just really entertaining.

I've been binge watching the entire Penda Points Series, and seeing the evolution of technology in that era is so incredible. From the switch to tube chassis, to different engine placements, and even the suspension designs used like the cantilever style used by the Bigfoot trucks and the wild elliptical design used by the No Problem! truck. I wish the series was still around

A true Motorsports during the late 80's and during the Penda Points Series and the short time ProMT was around. From what I've heard from former Monster Jam drivers they were told that they were entertainers. Judging by the current direction of the industry it's pretty much entertainment with some aspects of racing, nothing like TNT, Penda or ProMT.

When I was a kid, I would believe that Monster a jam was just a fictional video game… but when I went to my first MJ Event in 2011, it was more than entertainment or a Motorsport. It was a show of unforgettable memories with trucks jumping through hills and crushing cars. I wish Monster Jam would just go back to their roots to their shows, bring back crush cars and maybe Upload full DVD coverages of MJ World Finals home videos…

Yep I started watching in late 2007 right after I seen Dennis break his shoulder in Minnesota that year and have been hooked ever since. Definitely the best years of monster jam was 2005-2015 and I’m glad I found it when I did. Have very fond memories of the sport during that time.

I'd say it's mostly Sports Entertainment, but it's still a motorsport. Now Monster Jam and FELD is like "Our trucks are very safe, but you're not allowed to keep going once a headlight falls out". Taking away crush cars definitely lost a part of the sport for a lot of fans. That was the whole reason monster trucks are a thing. I like the 2014 tracks the best too. They had a lot of cars, buses, and RV's while also keeping the technical dirt ramps. In 2014 trucks would get demolished and keep going until they quit. Taking the truck breakage out of the sport sort of kills it as a sport. In sports you keep going, keep pushing, and never give up. Can't do that once you're shut off.

I’ve said that Monster Jam can have the entertainment and crushing aspect from the 2000s and still have a legitimate points series that determines who goes to the World Finals. It just has to be done and executed correctly.

Let’s look at the history of motocross and FMX. Motocross started off as essentially just a cross country race on two wheels and slowly evolved into dedicated courses and even a secondary series that took place inside of stadiums (Supercross.) But at some point along the way the riders said “Fuck this” And started riding for funsies, eventually taking over the racing in popularity. But as time marched on and EVERYTHING evolved and got more mainstream they all were considered valid and legitimate sports due to the nature of dirt bike riding as a whole.

Definitely an interesting topic. It started out as an attraction then became a serious motorsport. That was until I’d say the world finals. That pretty much started modern monster jam. It’s interesting because nowadays monster jam themselves seem to want both. There’s a big emphasis on points championships but they also want to make it entertaining obviously. Even though it was before my time I still find the 90s shows very fascinating. I could definitely see how people grew fond of it. In the end I do agree with your final point. It’s crazy to see how monster jam has evolved but at the end of the day it still one of my favorite things to watch no matter what era.

You're never going to have a "true" motorsport when the promoter owns half of the competitors.

I want to thank you for telling the truth by including Mike Welch in the freestyle part. Most people claim Dennis created it, I've seen him say it, and that's simply not true. Mike is a huge innovator and part of this sport and he should never go unrecognized.

It's amazing for over 40 years, Monster Trucks are still going strong, especially in the mid 90's when a fan like me were unable to watch Monster Trucks due to not having the proper channel of the cable network and the long running channel it use to be in, ESPN, no longer show Monster Trucks, or would show but once again didn't have the channel. It has always started as an entertainment of crushing cars, pulling sleds, running on mud, crossing a river, or driving up a hill, but thanks to USHRA and TNT Motorsports, it was shown as a competition. But since Bob Chandler, Andy Brass, and the rest of the Bigfoot team created the controversial Bigfoot 8, now trucks can go higher, faster, and becoming more safer. It was fun to have straight line racing like a drag race to the finish, even some humps to get over, but overtime trucks gotta be able to provide a more entertaining and competitive way to compete, so the ideals of Figure 8 racing, Chicago style, and St. Louis Style racing not only provide great entertainment, but also a competitive aspect for drivers to push the limit. As for Freestyle, it actually evolve to something much better. Freestyle can be competitive, because of the genuine wow factor and stunts the drivers can do with their trucks, but judging is quite like a double edge sword. I even remember on one Monster Jam interview that Dennis wants a fair competition and not a popularity contest when it comes to judging cause it wouldn't be fair for some drivers who meet the quota and get a low score, but another would flip over in a matter of seconds and get a high score, or of course fans giving high scores to the stars of the show. I feel like it's two scoop ice cream of Monster Truck shows. We get the motorsports of the racing aspect in any monster truck show and we also get the entertainment value with 2 wheel challenge, donut competition, wheelie contest, and freestyle. Let's also remember that safety is important too, as trucks do get upgrade for optimum performance and safety for both drivers and fans, as well as making well of the track depending on the location as well.

To me it hasn't been a true Motorsport for a long time. Most of the trucks are owned by Monster Jam and there aren't many teams who build their own trucks like back in the day. Even though all the new tricks are cool they get boring really fast and they shut the trucks off over the littlest thing nowadays. I really enjoy watching old truck/tractor pulling and monster truck footage from the 80s and 90s personally to see where it all started.

I very much agree with your Olympics comparison, from my view point monster trucks needs a little of both to survive, honestly if I ran a promotion company I'd make multiple seasons throughout the year, some focused more on racing (but still would have freestyle) and some more focused on the show aspect, I love all branches of the sport and don't want to see any types of competition go extinct

I'd say it's a mix of both, but leans towards the ladder. Especially with the addition of the 2-wheel skills.

To be honest, I call monster trucks “The Ultimate Source Of Entertainment In This World”. As in, if I could picture what “True Entertainment” is, it would be a monster truck.

I definitely prefer the more professional approach now that I'm older. As a late 80s/early 90s kid, I adored USHRA's Monster Wars, which basically was the hybrid of wrestling and Monster Trucks. But today, in my late 30s, I really value the competitive nature with points, finals and so on. Great video, cool channel. Keep it up.

The image on the left with Bearfoot is true racing and the image on the right is pure entertainment.

MJ is WWE with tires. 99% don’t own the trucks they drive. Dennis sold his brand to MJ

This is going to be an interesting video.

I'm not sure how long you've watched monster trucks, but I'm guessing since the early 2000s. Let me start by saying I'm an old school fan, I grew up in the 90s but I watched my dad's VHS tapes of bigfoot's hey day in the late 80s, renegades tnt, and camel mud and monster series. That was the golden era imo, everyone had a different style build and the competition was as real as it gets. At the same time I absolutely loved monster jam formally motor madness by pace motorsports (you forgot to mention that) freestyle was amazing and so was the racing. You bring up how we should adapt to the times, but don't acknowledge FELDs wrongdoings. They have consistently gotten worse year after year, watering down their "product". They have made monster trucks boring which is kind of impressive in a sad way. The same cookie cutter chicago style racing lanes, PREDICTABLE dirt hits year after year. And no judges. I could write a fucking book on how bad Feld shit the bed. They run ama supercross! Monster trucks should be treated the same way.

The main thing I really miss about old monster jam is how much more racing used to mean. I don't even mean in the 90's, I mean in the early/mid 2000s. Racing now is just a mandatory event to get out of the way before freestyle. I like freestyle but I think you can appeal to both the competitive and entertainment sides like they used to. I don't mind the full change away from crush cars, I just want them to make racing more entertaining again. Chicago style racing is incredibly boring and not even the drivers seem to care much.

When they went to fan judges and then the fan scoring system it definitely made a statement that they were in the entertainment business. I feel like once there was no more major innovations with the tracks or the trucks, it has just been leaning more and more into the entertainment aspect. I dont think its necessarily a bad thing, and i think its impossible for monster trucks to ever get boring or old, but things just felt so more fierce and competitive back then.

This might be a crazy idea that I just thought of now and here it goes as follows. Why can't FELD figure out a way to balance the entertainment aspect of Monster Jam and the legitimate motorsport aspect of Monster Jam? Like for example, for the first 4-5 months leading up to the World Finals, have professional judges present for the 2-wheels skill/donut challenges as well with freestyle and have them judge the entirety of the world finals event and have the overall score to be concluded at the world finals. Right after the world finals is concluded and in the next few months until the end of the season, FELD can let the fans judge the 2-wheels skill/donut competitions and freestyle since I know FELD wants the fans to interact in the shows. Again it's an insane idea but it might work if done PROPERLY.

Anybody remember when Major League of Monster Trucks (MLMT) was going to be the next big thing? It was supposed to be a legit points series and have their events at major race tracks. I was super pumped because they booked an event at The Milwaukee Mile and then before it got off the ground, the major sponsor financial backing dropped out. Oh what could have been 😩

I think the straight-up racing/freestyle format worked because it gave you the best of both sport and entertainment, depending on which event you preferred. When the emphasis wasn't on just freestyle, and when there wasn't an added focus on extra events and gimmicks, it could still be argued that it was a legitimate sport. Now they're looking at these giant, roaring beasts built for speed and agility and asking themselves, "What could we add to make this appealing to everyone?" As with a lot of things anymore, the emphasis is on flash, not substance.

Just wish the teams could be more independent with there equipment and team management

To me, it used to be way more competitive and real. FELD watered down Monster Jam massively, and the fan judging almost guarantees one of their trucks to win. Also, the first car crush was in April, the first public car crush was in late 1982 at the St. Louis Checkerdome, and the Pontiac show was sometime in January-March. TNT was created in 87’ and the points series for it started in ‘88, Monster Jam was called Monster Wars from 1992-1994. USA Motorsports had a series starting in 1990. Sorry about my little rant lol.

They should bring back unique and interesting obstacles like the triple bus stack and the fountain from the WF

I enjoy racing as much as I do the freestyle just I wish they would change up the racing styles and surfaces more. But it is definitely both. The points coming back helped a lot but really they just need to find a way to have real pro judges with a stricter scoring scale. That accommodates wow moments and so on but I loved the video thanks for putting this debate forward!

FELD is definitely more entertainment. With them shutting off trucks inconsistently (allowing popular trucks to run longer after flipping or popping a tire for example). Not having proper staging gear for races leading to DQs even at World Finals (instead of investing or cooperating with NHRA for a better staging/light tree system). Fan voting is of course an issue discussed to death. Restarting races for popular trucks if they DQ or jump the line. Loading certain events with duplicate bodies and models (like having endless Grave Diggers at some events to create more opportunities for a GD win). They are definitely organizing their events more for the show aspect and not for the competition. Which is fine for children but it has basically destroyed the adult interest in the sport that many grew up with. Or at least interest in Monster Jam as a promotion. They are likely getting into the WWE style of show. Where legally they are no longer a sport but are classified as 'entertainment'. So the focus is just on pushing the action to generate sales and business. And less on running an actual competitive sport. It is unfortunate that the dominant monster truck organization is run this way. It would take a Herculean effort to unseat FELD at the top of the monster truck pile.

SPEED era monster jam will never be topped. The moments when you were at the stadium and after a huge moment, the camera flashes went off everywhere in the stadium. Now, it’s only skill shows and fan judging running monster jam.

Ngl I never really noticed Monster Jam got rid of crush cars until recently, definitely doesn't bother me.

I just got to say from me NASCAR Phil Torres 46 V2 Monster jam to me is an in your face extreme sport that have big pick up trucks on 66 inch tall tires with god now's what type of horsepower that the engine you put on front or back of what ever truck you bring to the show and you put on a show that heart stops everyone in the grandstands.

Ok let’s face it he’s pretty much talking about the evolution of the sport in full depth detail I love it ❤

Is there a playlist for you to get your background music from? At first I tried looking up monster jam path of destruction soundtrack but the ones I was looking for weren't in them

I know people will rip me apart for this but... It dosent matter if its a true motorsport or just entertainment, what matters is you enjoy it.

Would love to see more of the Milestones Motorsport event with Bounty Hunter vs Natural High. Could you possibly link where you found that? Thanks man!

Who says it has to be one or the other? I personally consider late 2022/early 2023 monster truck drivers to be BOTH racers AND performers at the same time

Monstertalk: Let go of the past and you'll enjoy the future more. The comment section:

Monster Jam needs a big sponsor like Advance Autoparts, Ford, and Monster energy again. Freestyles and racing aren’t the problem. If you think about it, Monster Jams Best years where when Advance Autoparts sponsored Monster Jam

Bigfoot publicly crushed cars prior to that 1983 show at the silverdome, that was just the first stadium it was in and I think the first on 66" tires. They did small fairs and stuff with car crushes on 48s, there's pictures of it.

My opinion, racing is a Motorsport, freestyle is entertaining

Hey monster talk you should do a zombie monster truck evolution video. I would appreciate it. I love all of your videos.

I think it’s both. Without question, a lot of it is entertainment - especially freestyle, in the 90s when a couple shows tried to give it a wrestling type approach in production, and in it’s early days when it felt more about being a car crushing show. But the racing will always be true motorsports.

I still love Monster jam a lot but you got me thinking MonsterTalk

I can't find a single picture from the promt Kansas speedway show. Me and my dad were at that one

2:01 - That would be awsome if “GREEN LIGHT” came out with “this die-cast truck” “i would buy it in a heartbeat”…..

Mainstream monster truck racing hasn't been real motorsports in about 20 years. I miss real independent trucks battling for supremacy with some corporate sponsors. Those are days are just in the past.

The penda/ camel era of drag racing was a motor sport......racing for that check. The Monster jam circus is entertainment. I miss the penda era personally. That's when I mud raced, at many of the same places monsters were racing side by side. If you weren't around then man it was a blast!!!

You should make a video on top 10 closes photo finishes.

Who else really stopped watching Monster Jam after FS1 took over and crush cars were abandoned?

I can say for me racing is still what gets me most excited. The anticipation, matchups, strategies, adjustments, I still view it like I did tnt and penda as a kid. Freestyle has always just been gravy.

If my memory is correct during the 97 Special Events season I remember seeing a lot of Ford Trucks banners and don't recall seeing the normal Penda banners all over the place. Not to mention the trucks didn't have the Penda decals like the previous years.

Once Monster Trucks got away from the true racing aspect like Camel Series, TNT, Penda and ProMT it's not on the same level as Nascar and Drag Racing. It is what it is, change of the times some might say. A lot of focus is on freestyle, 2 wheel skill and tricks and racing is just exciting and proof of the is the Back to School Bash at The Dirt Track in Charlotte, NC. That event is by far my favorite current show that's out there and it draws a huge crowd every year.

There are 2 aspects to this, because realistically, they're both. They are a motorsport, as they do racing. They do variants of competitions. The freestyle aspect of it is what makes them entertainment. Honestly, they have to find the balance again. Trying to overdo it with racing & all those different points aspects hurts the racing aspect. And all the different variants to freestyle today take away it's uniqueness & hurts the entertainment. The era between 2004 & 2014 is how it should be. A perfect blend of racing & entertainment as one, without hurting the other.

You would Love the Outlaw Monster Truck Drags. While we are in the early years of building the series, we aim to combine both worlds into a legit competition… Racing that is not only legit, but challenging for the trucks and the drivers which will hopefully force some evolution of the machines themselves while also being highly entertaining to the fans to watch. Freestyle that is judged APPROPRIATELY by an EXPERIENCED panel of judges who each have ONE element of a run to judge. We created a judging system similar to what is used in FMX and BMX freestyle competitions. Anything judged will always be subjective, however, we feel that by doing this it can bring an element of legitimacy to freestyle as well. Check out our videos from the Canfield, Oh show to see the early stages of what we aim to grow into a nationwide points series as we continue to grow. We are actively looking for sponsors for the series and be in a position to one day offer OPEN QUALIFYING for anyone who wants to come compete at our events.

There should be a true points racing only series and a open freestyle trick show. Monster jam can use different trucks so they don't destroy trucks which I'm not a fan of to begin with I love the racing and always will

I understand the point of view of the old racing focused fans. But they have to remember and understand that the freestyle portion is still a skill based competition and ask a driver requires more skiil. And it’s how the bills get paid. As some long time drivers said monster trucks would have died without freestyle. As far as crush cars, I was told by high ups that aside from the track fall out it’s a safety issue. They don’t want parts flying into the crowds especially in arenas. Just remember the young kid killed by flying debris from a crush car

I grew up watching it from the start I miss the days of the independent guys building their own trucks and racing them.

I personally feel like it's simultaneously both, even with freestyle it still manages to be entertaining while also being a real sport, kind of like pro wrestling in a Way. It's obviously meant for entertainment, but at the same time it obviously takes years of practice and skill for freestyle and racing.

Can you review the first race in the “arena in 25 - golden 1 credit center” please. Brenard should have won. Also with the finals on that event. Kayla clearly won.

i think it would be cool if they did a circuit race, akinned to stadium super trucks

It stopped really being a motorsport when Feld turned it into a circus act. The old USHRA and Penda series races were true motorsports

I miss when they used to crush cars on monster jam the 2000s were awesome shows

I like Grave Digger but I don’t want to see 9 of them competing in the world finals I wish that monster jam wouldn’t have excluded so many other competitors for their own trucks. The damn diversity is what made old school competition better. Monster Jam is going to become Stagnant just like nascar and formula one… I honestly believe what bob chandler said years ago that feld entertainment would ruin monster trucks for ever

Can’t wait for monster jam to change its name to monster entertainment and later ME after a lawsuit from a royal family backed sc-charity organization.

For me I love the racing I could go with a freestyle here and there

For me I still love monster jam but i just miss crush cars ,buses and etc

Monster Jam from 2016-2021 feels like entertainment imo.

90s and early 2000 monster trucks where the best.

Honestly never thought of monster jam as wwe but i guess i can kinda see the resemblance

If you want the answer look at the 1:04 mark where raging steel is trying to run over another truck and think to yourself what other form of motorsports are there where you can legally and legit run over the top of another vehicle and not get in trouble with the governing body. USHRA/Monster Jam took this sport and made in 100% entertainment.

Penda Points Series was peak monster trucks as a true Motorsport imo. OEMs wanted to win and teams really fought for that prize money. They relied on it. That just can’t be replicated in modern monster trucks

Racing yes, freestyle entertainment. Fan vote doesn't help freestyle's case.

I have an interesting video idea 10 most shocking/upset Monster Jam wins in history Hopefully not a hard topic

Wonder what it will take for Bigfoot to return to Monster Jam? I know the chances are slim, but maybe they can find a middle ground that works for both side. Especially since Monster Jam does has some independent teams running the series.

Yes! I think its both! Why can't it be?!

It was until feld turned it into a friggen circus

I don't know what to say about this debate. I feel like the two aspects are separate from one another, making it hard to mash the two.

Actually. The TRUE reason they took away crush cars and crush obstacles was because in 2013 a young boy was killed at the tacoma show and when the show didn't stop, the family sued for wrongful death and won

The trucks in monster jam could be custom bodies or just pick up trucks with sponser on the side trying to make the sponsors proud. Monster jam is what it is no matter what truck you see in the arenas

I wonder if part of the reason why Bob Chandler fell out with monster jam was because for him he preferred side by side drag racing. Due to it being part of the sport's roots.

Speaking of the Olympics... anyone ever had the thought of a motorsport Olympics?

Is it an official Motorsport? I think so. But it is far fetched from say nascar or F1 as the skill level required is so much more. However simultaneously all F1 cars race under F1 and all nascar machines race under nascar. But not all monster trucks race under monster jam, there are other monster truck tours. What I think makes it a true competitive Motorsport is that monster truck shows are not scripted, and they can’t be. In order for something to be truly competitive, it has to be entirely unpredictable.

It is truly motorsports entertainment. Until you have evey driver and team give it everything they have, leave nothing on the table, and bring it back in box just for a trophy. You will always have something built for entertainment.

Where and when 0:32

Monster Jam is SOLEY sports entertainment. In no way should it be considered any kind of ‘true competition’ when 90% of Monster Jam’s truck roster is OWNED/LICENSED by Monster Jam/Feld. True monster truck competition died when Penda points series died, or when TNT Motorsports got bought out by USHRA/Monster Jam. It’s a real shame too because for me the entertainment was watching two massive trucks go all out to get to the finish. I forgot which monster truck driver/owner it was who said; freestyle isn’t special, any idiot can go out there and wreck their truck. Granted some of the new ‘tricks’ some of these drivers can do is impressive, but that’s all it really is, tricks.

imho, Monster Trucks are just like Motocross. yes, there's the racing aspect, but there's also the freestyle aspect to consider.

Entertainment for sure

Monster jam now is not entertainment, it's a sport the old school style they had was entertainment

Monster Jam is motorsports entertainment. It's a shame, there is so much potential in this industry, especially when you have the funding monster jam gets. They could easily make it a more entertaining show if all the drivers/trucks were treated equally, give the fans something to cheer for.

Ive been saying exactly that for years - crush cars do just that crush. so unless FELD or any promoter is swapping out cars literally every 2 runs, the cars/buses etc are smashed doown , leaving later drivers with jack dick to work with. which is where the pin it to the floor hold on and pray style came in. drivers had to work double to get the air or even a decent wheelie out of pancaked cars

Monster jam for me went downhill 2014. I grew up watching and attending monster jam in the 2000s and during that time it felt like a real motorsport. The racing competitions were great,the amount of crush cars for freestyle and the amount of trailors and Rv's they would bring it out per truck to smash and also the extra fun like Quad wars,freestyle motocross,jet fueled quads and go carts,trailir racing,and robosaurus and megasaurus. Monster jam was gold back then but losing all the crush cars,doing 2 separate nights for the world finals,the world finals no longer in vegas,the separte series like stadium series 1 and arena series,and the overall use if backflips. Its just not entertaining anymore. I last attended monster jam in early 2020 and itnwas the worst one i ever went too. Not a single crush car,too many backflips and the show was rushed. The whole event only went for 2 hours and they rushed everyones freestyle. Unlike back then when it go for 4 or 5 hours. Nothing will never beat classic monster jam and monster truck rallys from the 80s,90s,and 2000s and i hope monster jam will go back to the old style with crush cars,jet fueled vehicles,and quad wars,and the world finals in vegas again

Monster Jam has always focused on the entertainment side and I question the legitimacy of the “sport” aspect. TNT and Penda were absolutely professional. Monster Jam will be scrutinized for being scripted since Feld owns half of the “competing” trucks. I definitely prefer racing over freestyle but I respect the skills required for the stunts. We just need consistent scrolling.

i rather it to be a motorsport like it once was before freestyle got to big... if i ran an indie show i would banned two wheel skill moves if i even see a thought of busting a move RII

is monster jam the pro wrestling of motorsports and do we care NO because we all enjoy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monster Jam is not a motorsport, it has turned it into just entertainment. It's like the WWE, but with monster trucks. I would say the point it quit being a motorsport was when Monster Jam started running their own truck and buying teams in the late 90's. 97 was probably the last year it could definitively be called a motorsport. Monster truck racing can still be a motorsport, but I don't think there are any national touring series where it is, just some local events.

to be completely honest, anything after 2016 is closer to a circus, even Wikipedia says it is. freestyle has been almost most of the show for years, but nowadays the judges zone scoring gets rid of the sport part of it, not to mention two wheel skills becoming a thing, they even advertise it as a "family trip", having it revolved around stunts kind of ruins its sporty feel. the closest to a true motorsport with monster trucks you are going to get is tuff trax, but that has been gone for a long time now. after covid made its impact on the world monster jam has become nothing but a kids circus act, and it sucks that 90% of the good things about it had to end.

Not a sport anymore. Pre freestyle back when it was just racing in the 80's, that was a sport. Now especially with Monster jam & Indy shows, it's an entertainment show for families.