Weekend Race Recap

Saturday:

Saturday, January 15

Angel Stadium

Anaheim, CA

Advance Auto Parts and Ford Trucks present the Del Taco Grand Slam of Motorsports brought to you by Superchips and 1-800-THELAW2

Race Winner – Obsession

Freestyle Winner – Gravedigger (3 way tie)

Trucks – Unnamed and Untamed (Sam Sturges), Nasty Boy (Ronnie Sturges), McGruff (Rod Wood), Jurassic Attack (Nathan Weenk), Obsession (Rick Swanson), Shocker (Pat Gerber), The Patriot (Dan Radoni), Maniac (Don Frankish), Team Suzuki (Kathy Winston), Monster Mutt (Bryan Winston), Power Forward (Frank Krmel), Gravedigger (Rod Schmidt)

Racing –Close qualifying set the stage for the monsters in an evenly matched field that contested the J-hook style single hit racing. Mechanical problems took the toll from the start as Jurassic Attack couldn’t qualify and Gravedigger suffered rear end damage and could not compete in first round eliminations. Power Forward kept fighting back into the hunt and Maniac worked to a semi-final bout. The end result saw Obsession and Monster Mutt work their way to the showdown in the final. Obsession used a strong hole shot to take an early advantage through the straight line run and a flawless sweep through the hook gave him a straight shot at the crush cars and a clear path to victory.

Monster Freestyle – A full field was poised to show what monster destruction could be as Nasty Boy opened up the competition. The Patriot raised the standard with a thrilling effort. He blew the right rear tire 30 seconds in the 90-second routine but never stopped putting on a show, brining a score of 28. Pat Gerber and Shocker stuck up the first 30 of the night as Gerber put the futuristic truck on its lid. This started a parade of rollovers including Monster Mutt who scored a 29 and was disappointed in his effort. Kathy Winston and Team Suzuki stuck a 30 on the scoreboard as she wrestled a wild bucking truck that features two separate single wheel hops that nearly resulted in the truck tipping. Gravedigger closed the show, appearing after a complete rearend and driveline had been installed in the truck. The run, peppered by towering wheelstands, closed with Digger suffering a blown tire but not before scoring the third 30 of the evening. A popular vote tiebreaker was close for all, but Rod Schmidt and Gravedigger prevailed in their quest to be the winningest truck in California racing. Gravediggger won both Anaheim freestyle events in 2004.

Formula USA Pro Quads – A challenging course gave a strong field of quads a good chance to strut their skills. Early qualifying rounds brought the top racers solidly into the heat races and a competitive last chance qualifier rounded out the field of 20. Kory Ellis led wire to wire to snatch the first heat race. In the second event, point leader John Natalie Jr. continued his win streak by finishing up front. In the main, a false start brought the field back for a rerack and a clean start saw the pack thunder to the first corner. Quickly, an incident caught up riders Robert McClure and point leader Natalie Jr., who fell back to 19th. Defending champion Tim Farr suffered a spill while running third and ended up slipping out of the top 15. Kory Ellis capitalized on his momentum from the first heat and had a relatively easy go of it. The same couldn’t be said back in the field as a constant battle for the rest of the top five spot was underway. Late race passing by Doug Gust moved him to an eventual second ahead of Dustin Nelson. Jeremy Schell, who ran strong in the early stages, came home fourth.

Demolition Derby – Steve Cook of Fontana, California outlasted more than a dozen competitors to claim the Demo Derby title. Cook, driving a station wagon, used brutal hits and elusive action to score the win.