Friday -
The concluding Monster Jam of 07 went off with a bang in Albuquerque. Kelvin Rammer is fast becoming one guy that will get a win on any given night. Tonight it was the Monster Jam Wheelie Competition that he came out on top in. I can't wait until his new truck is ready. The rest of the field seemed to struggle with the dirt ramp that was in place of the customary crush cars. The new racing lanes made for better racing and freestyle as they stayed consistent and never went away like crush car tend to do.

Wheelie Scores:
McGruff 8
Pit Bull 9
Obsession 13
Natural High 28
Grave Digger 27

Round one of racing saw home town favorite Charles Benz and Pit Bull knock off McGruff and Obsession beat Natural High. Being a turning course, Rick Swanson is going to make it tough for everyone this weekend. Digger had a bye run and faced McGruff in the semi final as Rod Wood and McGruff returned as the fastest loser. Pit Bull and Obsession were next, with Rick Swanson coming out on top. In the final, it was a photo finish, but with out the aid of instant replay, the officials gave the nod to Digger.

In Freestyle, Digger came out to prove that his winning racing was not a fluke. Besides that incentive, Pablo IS the Reigning Freestyle World Champ and he showed why. The officials had placed some crush cars on the dirt tabletop racing lane to add to the flavor of freestyle. With a huge pyramid stack center track and both racing lane ramps cut back, made for some exciting air!!

Scores:

Pit Bull 11

McGruff 20

Natural High 28

Obsession 19

Grave Digger 30

Saturday -
With the 2007 Monster Jam coming to a close, I expect tonight in Albuquerque is going to be off the hook. The new racing lanes implemented for this weekend could be a taste of what is to come in the furture. Monster Jam has always been about smashing the cars, but with time has come progress, and with that progress has come the need to revamp racing surfaces. By putting in the solid dirt "table top" jumps for racing, made for more even and consistent racing. With both trucks having the same obstacles (cars tend to smash unpredictably, leaving a wide variation in the racing lanes), it left the drivers to concentrate on the corners. Using both front and rear steering is a tough thing to do in the heat of competition.

Charles Benz put on a great show for the home town fans. Charles is also very involved with his community. He makes donations to an area childrens hospital with all of his race winnings, even back when he was running a pro-arena truck. This weekend he will take his pay check, endorse the back and hand it over to the children. What a fantastic guy. He even wears his hair down to the middle of his back, with 10 inches a year going toward wigs for children enduring cancer treatment. He laid it all on the line on Friday night for the fans and the KIDS!! He ended up breaking the tranny, but his team got it ready for Saturday night.

Monster Jam Sky Wheelie Competition is one of my favorites. You can see who has the best throtttle control and timing, but also you see the underside of each and every truck. With the backside of the dirt racing ramps as launch pad, everyone of the drivers wowed the sold out crowd in Tingley Colusium.

Scores:
McGruff 20
Natural High 24
Pit Bull 25
Obsession 21
Grave Digger 28

Racing was an exciting affair. With the racing lanes staying exactly as they were at the start as they were at the finish it made for close tight racing. Once again Grave Digger came out on top over Obsession. One of these days Obsession is going to get one of these where they have instant replay!!

Freestyle was the last element tonight. What a way to rap up the 2007 season for Monster Jam. With out regard for the own safety and well being, all 5 drivers laid it all out. Leaving nothing in the bag, they all left their best on the track to conclude the weekend and the year.

Scores
Pit Bull 20
Obsession 19
McGruff 17
Natural High 29
Grave Digger 30