In 2000, at the start of the World Finals era in Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam, Scott Hartsock was one of the sport’s biggest guns. In the very first battle for a World Championship the Florida native found himself in the race for the first ever World Racing Championship, falling to Tom Meents and Goldberg in the final round at NGK Spark Plugs World Finals 1. In the years that followed Hartsock remained a threat in both racing, where he was always a top contender on a weekly basis, and in freestyle where some of his leaps, especially at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, became legendary. As the first decade of this millennium wound down, however, the performance level that we were used to seeing from Hartsock tailed off, to the point where he has not been a part of the World Finals field in recent years. Those days appear to be over as Hartsock has started 2010 with a flourish, highlighted by his driving Gunslinger to the freestyle win last weekend in Tampa, and clearly Hartsock has forced his way back onto the radar as a contender for a berth in WF 11.
Over the last few years Hartsock at times would still show glimpses of the days when he was arguably Meents' biggest threat in racing. There was the occasional fast qualifier run at a big stadium event, even a final round appearance now and then, but those moments had become few and far between. The usually reliable Gunslinger had mechanical issues in the last few years, troubles that we weren’t used to seeing out of a piece that had been known for its durability. And some in the sport wondered under their breath if Hartsock was spreading himself and his operation too thin with his decision to field a second truck that began several years ago. That may or may not be the case, but it is clear that the Cowboy truck is out of the picture and a beautiful new Gunslinger has been turning heads, both with its awesome new look at the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits and on the track at this month’s Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam events.
I saw that the fire was back in Scott’s eyes last year, but for the most part 2009 was a struggle to get back into the limelight. Still, you could see that Hartsock was dedicated to returning to the days when he was one of the top five performers in the sport, and maybe last year laid the groundwork for his reemergence because, as he likes to say, Hartsock has blasted into the New Year “cocked, locked, and ready to rock.” The Gunslinger is fast and a threat to win racing again each week but it is in freestyle where Hartsock has really been shining, culminating with last week’s no doubt about it victory in Raymond James Stadium. Hartsock came roaring from his pit stall onto the track last Saturday night aimed at one of the biggest obstacles on the track wide open and started his performance with huge air and just kept flying from there. Not only did he win the competition with a phenomenal run in regulation followed by filling the entire bonus period in spectacular fashion, but Hartsock continued on for another couple of minutes after the scores were all in just to keep thrilling his home state fans. Not only did he win the scoring, what’s equaling amazing is that some of his most incredible moves came after the two minutes of judged freestyle were complete, those crowd pleasing moves may not have gained him any more points they did earn the Gunslinger pilot a well deserved standing ovation.
It is tougher than ever to earn an invitation to the NGK Spark Plugs World Finals but clearly Scott Hartsock intends on making it awfully difficult to keep Gunslinger out of Las Vegas in 2010.
It probably won’t shock anyone that off his phenomenal performance in Tampa Bay Hartsock is the biggest mover in this week’s Power Rankings, the panel moving him from 17th to 10th, and Jim Koehler and Cam McQueen move into the rankings this week. Otherwise several of the big guns kept winning last week to keep the top of the rankings relatively unchanged. That may not be the case next week though, with several mega events on this weekend’s schedule in great cities like Orlando, Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Phoenix. The winners in those great facilities figure to move up in next week’s rankings. But let’s not look to far ahead – here are this week’s ratings:
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS MONSTER JAM POWER RANKINGS JANUARY 25, 2010
Pos LW Driver Power Rating Comment
1 1 Tom Meents 19.8 Tom picking up a trophy per week so far in 2010
2 2 Dennis Anderson 18.5 Very close to a Double Down in Tampa
3 3 Pablo Huffaker 17.9 Winningest driver in the sport so far this year
4 4 Adam Anderson 17.0 Showed he can win an arena too in Columbia
5 6 Charlie Pauken 14.5 FS win in Houston moves him up to top 5
6 8 Jim Creten 13.3 San Diego racing winner
7 5 Linsey Weenk 13.2 Lost to Anderson in Tampa finale
8 7 Damon Bradshaw 12.7 Up and down season so far for World FS Champ
9 9 Alex Blackwell 11.8 More wins last weekend in Sacramento
10 17 Scott Hartsock 9.5 Into top 10 after Tampa triumph
11 10 Neil Elliot 9.3 It’s like he never took any time off
12 12 Chad Tingler 9.1 Winning somewhere each week
13 11 Randy Brown 9.0 Finished 3rd in Minneapolis FS
14 NR Jim Koehler 8.2 Everybody’s raving about his FS in Minny
15 13 Marc McDonald 7.1 No wins last week but still a strong 2010
16 15 Lupe Soza 4.8 Really rocking in FS, but needs to fill the clock
17 14 George Balhan 4.3 The Mohawk Nation keeps growing
18 NR Cam McQueen 3.6 Traded victories with all weekend in Columbia
19 16 Candace Jolly 2.7 First weekend without a win in ‘10
20 18 Frank Krmel 2.2 Running strong out west
Just missing the top 20: Chris Bergeron, Mark Hall, Steve Sims, Dawn Creten, John Seasock, Dan Evans, Jocelyn Perrin
