Grave Digger Crowned the 2016 Monster Jam World Finals XVII Racing Champion

Grave Digger® Crowned the 2016 Monster Jam World Finals® XVII Racing Champion

LAS VEGAS (March 18, 2016) – Monster Jam World Finals® presented by NGK Spark Plugs saw Grave Digger® driven by Morgan Kane battle his way through the 32-Monster Jam truck bracket to become the 2016 Monster Jam World Finals Racing Champion. This is Kane’s first stadium racing championship win since 2011 in Minneapolis where he beat out Ryan Anderson and Son-uva Digger®. The win also brought the Monster Jam World Finals hardware back to the Grave Digger team that last saw the trophy when Dennis Anderson won a championship in 2010.

Fans were on their toes when Monster Mutt® Dalmatian driven by Candice Jolly lined up at the BKT starting line against her husband, Neil Elliott driving FS1 Cleatus in the first round of competition. This race marked the first time in Monster Jam World Finals history with that a husband and wife raced against each other, and Elliott drove away with the win. The most exciting race of the second round came when Max-DTM, driven by Tom Meents, and Anderson [Dennis] driving Grave Digger® raced down Thunder Alley with the most chaotic finish of the night. Meents was able to make it to the finish line first after saving the truck from flipping over before the race jump.

All of Sam Boyd Stadium was shocked when last night’s fastest qualifier, Damon Bradshaw, was unable to start in the quarter final round against his teammate Coty Saucier due to mechanical issues with his truck. Saucier went on to battle the reigning Monster Jam World Finals Racing champion Todd LeDuc in Metal Mulisha in the semi-final round, with LeDuc becoming victorious. Friends off the track and competitors on the track, Anderson [Ryan] in Son-uva Digger and Kane in Grave Digger lined up to compete for the last spot in the final racing round. Kane, the current Monster Jam featuring the AMSOIL Series champion, left his friend in the dust as he reached the finish line first.

After a slight scare with Grave Digger not starting due to a mechanical issue, the Grave Digger crew was able to get Kane to the starting line for the final round of racing against Metal Mulisha and LeDuc. Kane and Grave Digger edged out the reigning World Racing Champion to take home this year’s hardware and to etch his name in the record books.

“This is the year of Grave Digger,” said Kane. “We got the win, and I’m taking it all the way back to North Carolina. We are not stopping now. There are so many guys that help us out to be ‘Bad to the Bone,” and we all deserve this. I can’t wait to hold this trophy, thank you everyone who packed this house tonight. We love you!”

“Congrats to Morgan Kane, you’ve been hot all year long,” said Anderson [Dennis]. “These new young guns are amazing, the Monster Jam World Finals are the biggest and the best and Grave Digger is still a part of it!”

Kane drove a newly-designed Grave Digger truck tonight, which was inspired by the limited edition Halloween Grave Digger Hot Wheels® die-cast toy.

Friday, March 18 Monster Jam Awards Recipients

Stadium Donut of the Year: Tom Meents, Max-D

Arena Wheelie of the Year: Gary Porter, Carolina Crusher

Stadium Wheelie of the Year: Charlie Pauken, Grave Digger

Extreme Air of the Year: Jim Koehler, Avenger

2017 Monster Jam World Finals XVIII (March 23-25) tickets will go on-sale this summer. Check out www.MonsterJam.com for ticket renewal and on-sale information and dates.

For more information on Monster Jam World Finals presented by NGK Spark Plugs, log on to www.MonsterJam.com. Updates will be posted all weekend long on www.Facebook.com/MonsterJam, www.Twitter.com/MonsterJam andwww.instagram.com/MonsterJamLive.

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