Ryan Anderson Claims Number One Spot in Power Rankings

By Scott Douglass
Dec 27, 2011

 The youth movement that dominated the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam® earlier this month in Minneapolis is reflected in the Power Rankings for the final quarter of the 2011 campaign with 22-year old Ryan Anderson rising to the number one position for the first time and 21-year old Morgan Kane leaping into the top 10, his first ever appearance in the ratings.

For Ryan Anderson 2011 was the ultimate roller coaster of emotions. He started the year on the disabled list so to speak, recovering from off-track injuries that delayed the much anticipated debut of his new Son-uva Digger^SM truck. After chomping at the bit to get his medical clearance throughout the first quarter of the year he finally got strapped in for that amazing encore to unveil the truck at Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam World Finals XII^SM presented by NGK Spark Plugs last March at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. From there the rising superstar has racked up a series of major event victories including taking the big freestyle competition at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati last July. Then he capped off 2011 with, in terms of competition results, his best event ever with his fantastic night in the Minneapolis Metrodome, losing to his lifelong friend Kane by inches in the Championship Race and then outscoring his brother Adam and Grave Digger the Legend^SM by one point to win yet another big stadium freestyle trophy. Since that 16 truck mega-event in Minny was the highest profile event since the last Power Rankings were published it should come as no surprise that our voting panel elevates Ryan to the top spot, making him the youngest driver ever to hold the number one position since we started the Power Rankings.

Like with his buddy Ryan Anderson it was that night of the young guns in Minneapolis that propels Morgan Kane into the top twenty for the first time. Kane driving Monster Magic to the Championship Race victory over Son-uva Digger turned heads all over the sport and our voters were impressed as well, Kane jumping into the number ten position in this, the final rankings of 2011. Next week our panel will vote again but this time it will be for our pre-season 2012 Power Rankings where the panel will be looking ahead and predicting who they think will rise to the top, the only poll of the year that doesn’t necessarily reflect the most recent results.

Back to the Power Rankings for the final quarter of 2011 following Ryan Anderson closely in the voting is Maximum Destruction® driver Tom Meents. The nine-time World Champion and reigning World Racing Champion slips one slot from the last poll and now is ranked number two, followed by Adam Anderson. Lucas Oil Crusader^SMpilot Linsey Weenk and Grave Digger’s® Dennis Anderson round out the top five.

In the six through ten spots are World Freestyle Champion Jim Koehler and Avenger followed by Team Grave Digger’s Charlie Pauken, El Toro Loco® driver Marc McDonald, Team Maximum Destruction’s Neil Elliott, and Kane. Two drivers re-enter the rankings this week: Team Grave Digger’s Chad Tingler, fresh off a pair of freestyle wins in Monterrey, Mexico, is back in at number 19 and Stone Crusher’s Steve Sims is back in the number 20 position.

So make sure to have a safe New Year’s weekend and then next week for the first time our Power Rankings panel will test its prediction abilities with our first ever pre-season Power Rankings. Happy New Year, and get ready for what is going to be the greatest year of Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam action ever in 2012.

ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MONSTER JAM POWER RANKINGS - WINTER 2011  

Just missing the top 20: Cam McQueen, Jim Creten, Jeremy Slifko, Chris Bergeron, John Seasock

Others receiving votes: Dan Evans, Madusa, Bari Musawwir, Candice Jolly, Gary Porter, Chuck Werner, Randy Brown, Chad Fortune, Kreg Christensen, Todd LeDuc