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James David Koehler (nicknamed Mr. Excitement) (Born July 13th, 1966) is a monster truck owner and driver out of Columbus, Michigan known for driving and creating the monster truck, Avenger, and for founding Team Scream Racing. Koehler, famously nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", is known for his wild antics and loud presence on and off the track, and known for his wild and ragged-edge driving style, which he has won two world championships with. He is also known for his presence Monster Jam World Finals, competing at every one so far, and known for his yearly special bodies at them and his tradition of jumping in water or pool after his freestyle runs. Because of so, he has since become one of the most popular monster truck drivers to date.

Career[]

In 1997, Koehler unveiled his first Avenger truck, a Chevrolet S-10 which he would run until 2000. That year, after a hard crash in New Orleans, Koehler unveiled a new improved Avenger with a newer S-10 body. The truck would later compete at the inaugural World Finals, where Jim would compete at every World Finals to date.

In 2002, the iconic Chevrolet Bel Air body was debuted in Indianapolis.

In 2003, Koehler won his first Monster Jam World Finals freestyle championship. In February, he drove Grave Digger in Philadelphia as a substitute for an injured Dennis Anderson.

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Orange Avenger, Jim's very first special World FInals scheme.

In 2004, Koehler began a tradition of having a special paint scheme for Avenger, specifically for the World Finals, debuting an orange body. He drove Route 66 in Joliet.

In 2005, Jim ran a half orange & half dark green body. After a disappointing freestyle run, Jim would jump in the pond obstacle for the fans, which would become another World Finals traditional for him. At the Monster Truck Thunder Drags in Indianapolis, Jim debuted Wrecking Crew & destroyed the rear axle after a huge jump in freestyle.

In 2006, Avenger would lose both rear tires in freestyle in Indianapolis. For the World Finals, a chrome body was used, and Jim would famously jump the truck over the fountain, which would be that year's DVD cover.

In 2008 at the World Finals, Jim used a neon green Avenger. In Minneapolis, it would be the first Monster Jam for the new Avenger and Koehler would go on to win freestyle.

In 2009, at World Finals 10, Jim ran a blue Avenger. Koehler would infamously go over after his first hit and get the lowest score possible, being a 4. The following year, he would coin the "Wolf Pack" for drivers that receive the lowest score.

In 2011, Koehler claimed his second World Finals freestyle championship with the red Avenger in a tie-breaker over Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus, who held the lead after going first. Koehler has also won two championships for freestyle in Australia in 2009 and 2010 driving Avenger.

For the 2012 World Finals, Jim ran a yellow body.

For the 2013 World Finals, Avenger was a dark red Stepp's towing body.

In 2014, Jim hit El Toro Loco in qualifying in Atlanta. He used a purple body for the World Finals.

In 2015, Koehler performed in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series, which would be the very first point series for Monster Jam. With the old points series format, Jim would end up finishing with 0 points. Because of this, Jim would jokingly run a truck roof that read "Rocking 0 Points". Also at the World Finals, Jim ran a white body. He would jokingly run his own BKT sponsor sticker that read "BKT I Wish", as he was one of the few drivers that didn't run BKT tires at the event. In Montreal, he drove Mr. X.

In 2016, Jim ran the junkyard blue Avenger for the World Finals.

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Avenger 20th Anniversary logo.

In 2017, Jim celebrated 20 years of driving. He unveiled a new Avenger body at World Finals 18, which was a throwback to the old S-10 body. He went all the way to the semi-final round of racing, the farthest he has gone there and would have a successful freestyle run, finishing third.

In 2018, Koehler competed in Stadium Championship Series 1. On February 28, it was announced that he had been invited once again to the Monster Jam World Finals XIX. Jim debuted a nomad Avenger for this World Finals. He would infamously go over on his first hit after hitting a steep ramp and eventually falling back and going over.

In 2019, he once again ran a stadium tour. He drove the Team Scream Monster Mutt in New Orleans. In April 2019, it was announced that he had been invited once again to Monster Jam World Finals XX. Avenger was a red, white & blue body for this show.

Jim koehler tv

Koehler's TV intro used during his successful 2021 season.

In 2021, Koehler would have arguably his most successful season of his career, where he would compete on Monster Jam's 2021 Stadium Series, where he would take home multiple skills, freestyle, and even some overall event wins. He would later and famously get his very first stadium racing win in St. Louis, and would later back up his win the next day. His popular freestyle at the first stadium show in Houston would eventually win the Stadium Freestyle of the Year award.

In 2022, Koehler competed on Stadium Championship Series Yellow. He would bring back multiple World Finals bodies throughout the season. Although not winning anything, he would still perform well on the series. He would finish in eighth place, and he would be invited once again to Monster Jam World Finals XXI debuting a 25th anniversary glow in the dark Avenger. Jim's other son John started driving Brutus in the summer.

In 2023, Jim competed on the blue stadium tour. Several old bodies are run throughout the year once again. For the Indianapolis shows, Jim runs a red Garner Towing Over Bored body. Jim finished 8th again in the final standings. He would later be invited to World Finals 22. A dump truck filled with water would be brought out after his freestyle for him to jump in. He competed on Team Nitro for the Superstar Challenge in Anaheim on November 11. For the event, he used a purple body that is similar to the one he used at World Finals 15.

In 2024, Jim will compete on the west stadium tour. The split body makes its return for Anaheim and El Paso. Jim places 2nd in freestyle in Arlington.

World Finals appearances/truck schemes[]

  • 1999 - Avenger (1994 Chevrolet)
  • 2000 - Avenger (1994 Chevrolet)
  • 2001 - Avenger (dark green S-10 with the #3 flag in honor of former NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt Sr. who died 1 month prior in a car accident at the Daytona 500)
  • 2002 - Avenger (1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2003 - Avenger (1957 Chevrolet) (won freestyle with this version)
  • 2004 - Avenger (orange 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2005 - Avenger (half-orange and half-dark green 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2006 - Avenger (chrome 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2007 - Avenger (toxic green 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2008 - Avenger (light green 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2009 - Avenger (aqua blue 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2010 - Avenger (flat black with white flames 1957 Chevrolet) (dubbed the "Rat Rod" by Mark Schroeder)
  • 2011 - Avenger (candy apple red 1957 Chevrolet) (won freestyle with this version)
  • 2012 - Avenger (yellow with red flames 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2013 - Avenger (dark red 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2014 - Avenger (purple 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2015 - Avenger (white 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2016 - Avenger (junkyard blue 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2017 - Avenger (dark green S-10 retro scheme)
  • 2018 - Avenger (green custom nomad)
  • 2019 - Avenger (main field & high jump) (Stepp's Towing red, white & blue 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2022 - Avenger (main field & high jump) (silver glow in the dark 1957 Chevrolet)
  • 2023 - Avenger (main field & high jump) (Gray cowboy theme)

 All-Star Challenge appearances[]

  • 2019 - Avenger (Team Fire)

Accomplishments[]

  • 2003 Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle champion.
  • 2006 Crash Madness of the Year award.
  • 2007 Donut of the Year award.
  • 2007 Sportsman of the Year award.
  • 2009 Save of the Year award.
  • 2009 South Pacific World Finals Freestyle champion.
  • 2009 Sportsman of the Year award.
  • 2010 South Pacific World Finals Freestyle champion.
  • 2010 Stadium Freestyle of the Year award.
  • 2011 Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle champion.
  • 2011 Sportsman of the Year award.
  • 2012 Extreme Air of the Year award.
  • 2013 Extreme Air of the Year award.
  • 2013 Sportsman of the Year award.
  • 2013 Stadium Wheelie of the Year award.
  • 2014 Extreme Air of the Year award.
  • 2015 Extreme Air of the Year award.
  • 2015 Sportsman of the Year award.
  • 2016 Extreme Air of the Year award.
  • 2017 Extreme Air of the Year award.
  • 2021 Stadium Freestyle of the Year award.
  • 2022 Extreme Air of the Year award.

Trivia[]

  • In 2017, he became the only driver, to date, to compete in every World Finals. Until 2017, he and Tom Meents competed in every World Finals including World Finals 0. However, Meents was unable to compete in World Finals 18 due to a lower back injury. With Koehler competing in World Finals XXII, he is still the only driver to compete in every World Finals since World Finals 0.
  • Koehler won the "Extreme Air of the Year" Award for 6 years in a row from 2012-2017, until his streak was broken by Wild Flower driver Rosalee Ramer in 2018.
  • Although he does not work for Monster Jam, Jim drove Grave Digger in Philadelphia in 2003 and Monster Mutt one year in Virginia Beach and New Orleans 2019. He also runs Monster Jam bodies on some of his teammate's trucks.
  • He was the first independent Monster Jam driver to win a world freestyle championship title.
    • Avenger was the first ever independently owned truck to win a world championship title.
  • Koehler also owns and operates a marina in Chesterfield, Michigan.
  • Koehler is more well known for his freestyle abilities than his racing abilities, especially in the World Finals. Koehler has a 6-22 record in World Finals racing, with half his racing wins coming in Monster Jam World Finals 18. The other three came at Monster Jam World Finals 2, Monster Jam World Finals 9, and Monster Jam World Finals 11. He made it to round 2 at Monster Jam World Finals 22, but that's because he had a bye run in round 1.
  • Jim is one a few drivers to do double duty at a show. Some of the others include Brian Barthel, Allen Pezo & Daron Basl.
  • Jim used to wear glasses; they were infamously knocked off of his face during his New Orleans 2000 crash.
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