Monster Jam Tampa is in the books and boy did it create a lot of memorable moments for the evening. First, and foremost, the event overall winner for the evening was Florida’s own Matt Pagliarulo in Jester. Matt set the tone at the start by winning the racing event and notching those 14 points, but the cap to it all was winning the freestyle while including the back flip and an incredible save. This would be Matt’s first ever Stadium Freestyle win and first Monster Jam Event Championship. I am sure Matt has his eyes on World Championships in Orlando now.

The other big debut of the evening was BroCamino. We saw the preview at Las Vegas during the All-Star Weekend and did it ever look sharp. Were the fans surprised to hear that Diesel Dave would be driving BroCamino and oh what a cheer when it burst out of the corner of the arena. Even though the Diesel Brothers did not have a stellar night as the fans would hope, they are definitely an asset and important addition to the Monster Jam family. The fans loved them and cheered for them and one would think they were almost to pass Dennis Anderson in popularity.

On the note of the legend himself. Dennis Anderson was on hand at the Tampa event to watch his son Ryan in Sonuvadigger and support Morgan Kane in Grave Digger. Dennis even went to the pit party and surprised the fans in the early pit party by signing autographs and taking pictures. The cream of the night was when it was announced that Dennis Anderson would be the first inductee into the Monster Jam Hall Of Fame along with long-time broadcast announcer Scott Douglas. It was definitely an emotional moment for both of those men as seen on the video board and through social media from family members. Congratulations to both of you.

World Champion Jimmy Creten was present with Bounty Hunter and the new paint job was awesome. Even though I missed the Five Finger Death Punch as part of it, he was quick to show me it is still there, just a smaller picture than what was at World Finals. The debut moment of the afternoon in the pit party was the new body reveal of Xtermigator. Buddy Tompkins’s truck looked like it was ready to take on the competition with it’s new alligator design. It was easily the best new design I have seen so far starting this early year with the monster trucks.

The event itself proved costly to thrill drivers like Sonuvadigger, Brodozer, BroCamino, and Grave Digger. With the new rules of a truck being forced to compete in freestyle for 30 seconds before they can take an official score brings a new strategy to the game as Ryan Anderson and Diesel Dave soon found out. These drivers are known to go for it from the start and keep it going til the truck dies or the time ends. The trucks did die, unfortunately, but it was before the 30 seconds. With what was obviously going to be great runs ended up with no scores. We will see as the year goes if strategy will change for these drivers to earn those coveted points needed to make it to World Finals in Orlando this year in May.

Monster Jam returns to Tampa on Feb 1st with a whole new slate of drivers including Adam Anderson in Grave Digger and Jim Koehler in Avenger. Make sure you get your tickets as it is definitely gearing up to be another awesome event at Raymond James Stadium. Monster Jam is something sure to make every fan leave with a huge smile.Tickets start as low as $15 and they as well as Pit Party tickets are available at ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at 800-745-3000. All seats are reserved and pit party passes must be accompanied by an event day ticket. for more information about monsterjam you can go to monsterjam.com.