Weekend Race Recap

Friday 7:30
         
       The 2008 Monster Jam season has kicked off in the Buckeye state with six awesome monster trucks and screaming Monster Jam fans. The night kicked off with the Tuffy Auto Service Centers Wheelie contest as Safe Auto Minimizer took the first win of the night and first roll over. Superman was second with a 25 and Digger followed with a 24. Avenger was next with a 24 and Captains curse was next with a 23 followed up by Brutus with a 22.

       Racing was next and with the field of trucks that was in the house was awesome. Grave Digger took the 1-800 Safe Auto racing win by Beating a super fast Brutus. Other notables were, Safe Auto taking out Avenger and Superman coming back to the semi finals as fast looser. Safe Auto couldn't make it to the semi finals so Captains Curse took the spot only to get beat by Brutus. The finals was close but Digger was faster off the line and took the win.

       Freestyle was awesome as all six trucks pulled out some great scores from our Monsters on Main street judges. Safe Auto Minimizer was the biggest winner as McDonald freestyle his way to victory with a score of 27. Grave Digger fell one short after flipping with only two seconds left on the clock as every one was on there feet. Captains Curse was also on top off his game and took third with a 24. Jim Kohler had one of the best moves of the night and scored lower than the crowd cheered for with also a 24. Superman followed with 22 and brutus rounded out the field with a 20.


Saturday 2:00

What an amazing afternoon at Nationwide arena in beautiful Columbus, Ohio.  Racing was in the air as we started the day off with a packed floor for the "Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits."  This only added to the vibe of excitement that filled the house and really charged up our Monster Jam Racers for competition.

High flying action soon prevailed as the Tuffy Auto Service Centers Wheelie contest began.  Brutus came out first with with some big air and posted a 23 right out of the pits.  Captain's Curse bopped the throttle and scored a 26.  The bar was set high early by the first two trucks with tough competition in the pits.  Avenger jumped up on the car stack gaining huge air and brought it down straight for an impressive 27.  Superman cruised a wheelie up for a 23.  Safe Auto Minimizer glided through the air smashing down on the stack keeping the truck perpendicular an awesome 29.  He really set the bar high for Grave Digger who was last.  Digger skyed up on the stack, bringing it down and giving it an awesome double bounce before finally bringing the front end down.  Grave Digger scored a 26.  Safe Auto Minimizer repeated his victory from Friday night.

Racing proved to be dramatic as usually with our first race matching Team Scream members Avenger and Brutus against each other and Avenger had lane choice.  It was  a close finish as Brutus nosed it out.  Safe Auto Minimizer and Superman were up next with the winner taking on Brutus in the Semis.  Safe Auto Minimizer knocked out Superman and set his sites on Brutus.  Our final match in round one paired Captain's Curse againse Grave Digger.   Captain's Curse was no match as Digger took the win and looked into the semis where he faced Superman, who came back as the fast loser.  Safe Auto Minimizer knocked off a very fast Brutus while Grave Digger put the kryptonite to Superman as we headed towards the finals.  The air was amped as Grave Digger and Safe Auto Minimizer got set at the starting line.  Safe Auto Minimizer nosed out Grave Digger to take home the racing title in the 1-800-Safe Auto Finals.

Freestyle action was amazing.  Avenger came out blazing with a spectacular freestyle run with a final move unparalelled to any action that we saw this afternoon to score a 28. Avenger came off the stacks and circled around as if to go for one final jump and sailed across the landing ramp that had been used by the freestyle motocross riders.  That 28 would hold as Captain's Curse turned over the truck on a final move with seconds to go to catch a 27.  Grave Digger had some mechanical problems but had an amazing wheelie hop during his run of 26.  Scoring a 25, Safe Auto Minimizer showed his massive horsepower with a power wheelie jump combo, but encountered throttle complications before his run ended.  Superman used his high flying powers to gain a 23 followed by stuck action from Brutus that earned him a 21.

Saturday 7:30

Nationwide Arena was rockin' for a thrill filled night of Monster Jam action.   With a pit full of spectacular trucks and seasoned Monster Jam drivers, there was not a dull moment during the night.

Big perpendicular air was the first focus of the night with the Tuffy Auto Service Center Wheelie competition.  Brutus popped a beauty just over the crush cars to land a very respectable 23 to start off the night.  Captain's Curse fired way up and scooted across to land himself a 20.  Avenger had his sites set way above the 23 set by Team Scream member Brutus and cruised way up in the air for a stunning score of 27.  Superman thrust his Monster Truck to a 24 by the Monsters on Main Street judges.  With two competitors left, Avenger had set the bar high for Safe Auto Minimizer and Grave Digger.  Safe Auto Minimizer bopped the throttle into his sky wheelie and walked it all the way across the crush cars.  The crowd went nuts and the judges awarded him the first perfect score of the weekend!  As he rounded the corner back to the pits, Grave Digger was already staged and the Safe Auto Minimizer gave him a nudge as to say, "Top that Grave Digger."  Grave Digger took it personal and poured on the Torco as he skyed high on the crush cars, burped the throttle to walk it down and as he cruised across the final car with the last bounce, he stuck it!  Grave Digger stuck the truck straight up in the air!! Nationwide arena was rockin!!  The judges awarded another perfect score to Grave Digger, for a total of 30.  It was decided by a cheer off, and Grave Digger prevailed!

Racing match ups were set by the blind draw provided by our mini quad riders. Captain's Curse took the number one slot against Brutus who posted impressive runs in the two prior shows.  Brutus proved too much for him and sailed his way to semis.  Safe Auto Minimizer was matched up against former teammate Grave Digger with Safe Auto Minimizer taking lane choice.  Digger was fired up to take out Safe Auto Minimizer and keep himself in contention for the clean sweep of the night.  Safe Auto Minimizer nosed out Grave Digger for a victorious win after losing the cheer off in the Tuffy Auto Center Wheelie Competition.  Superman sized up Avenger in our final official match up of round one.  The high flying Superman seized the win and set his sites on Safe Auto Minimizer.  Grave Digger came back as fast loser against Brutus who was on fire.  Grave Digger stretched it out for the finish with hopes of taking his second win tonight.  Safe Auto Minimizer got the fans on their feet as he stripped away Superman's hopes of making it to the 1-800 Safe Auto Finals.  Here it was once again, a repeat of earlier in the show.  Grave Digger versus Safe Auto Minimizer.  The crowd was psyched, trucks staged and as soon as the lights went green, it was over for Grave Digger.  Safe Auto Minimizer took the lead early off the light for a win and some redemption.

Brutus kicked off freestyle with a bang as he hammered the trottle and cruised over the landing ramp set in the middle of the track.  That was some major air!!!!  The Monsters on Main Street judges awarded Brutus a well deserved 26.  Captain's Curse saw that the pile was free game and he attacked it.  He hit the ramp from all sides and even got some cross threading action.  28 was his score and wow was it awesome!  Superman flew around the track changing direction very quickly with some quick whip eights and high flying wheelies.  He earned a 25 to set him into third.  Avenger was all hyped up on some cotton candy from earlier in the night and his adrenaline was flowin' after the huge freestyle win in the afternoon.  Everyone else had hit the ramp forward, as did Avenger, but he also hit going backwards.  I couldn't believe it!  He backed right up to it, but hit it on a cross thread and put it on it's lid for the first time this weekend!  These guys were leavin' it all out there for the fans, and there were still more trucks to go!  Safe Auto Minimizer stomped the throttle off the bat for a kickin' power wheelie into a sky wheelie!  Those moves earned him a close second place finish with a 27.  One left in the pits, and we all know who that would be!  "Bad to the Bone" rang out on the PA and Digger was set to go for a repeat win.  He came out large and in charge with some sky wheelies and then hit the ramp for awesome air.  On the landing, he broke a torsion bar and sent it straight into a killer donut!  The donut grabbed on the last revolution and he flipped it straight on his lid!  The crowd went crazy and the judges gave him a 10, 10 and 9!  A 29!!!!!!  He edges out Captain's Curse for his second win of the night.  Monster Jam fans, this was an amazing opening weekend on the road to the NGK Spark Plugs World Finals!!!!

By Announcers Greg Whittacre and Leslie Mears