Weekend Race Recap

Friday Night Results

By: Joe Lowe

Call it another win for Grave Digger Friday night in racing and freestyle. Gary Porter drove Digger to a win in racing to defeat T-Maxx driven by Carl Van Horn. T-Maxx came right back to challenge Digger in Freestyle again with Porter taking the black and green wrecking machine to a win. Simple as it sounds you had to be there to understand and appreciate the tough time Digger had to get the win.

Eight big trucks came to Greensboro for the Monster Jam event. El Matador, Sudden Impact, Brutus, T-Maxx, King Krunch, Avenger, Monster Mutt and Grave Digger. The lineup was world class and the action was too. Chris Bergeron drove Brutus to a win in the Wheelie contest. Brutus tied with Grave Digger both earing a score of 26 but the fourth silent judge broke the tie awarding the win to Brutus. This is the first weekend for the fourth silent judge in Monster Jam. Officals said the practice would help eliminate ties demanding a cheeroff from fans. A fourth judge is silently named before each event and his (or her) score will not be used by Monster Jam officals unless a tie is declared by the three Named judger.

Carl Van Horn in T-Maxx, Whit Tarlton aboard Monster Mutt and former world champion Avenger driven by Jim Koehler all provided stiff competition. In the end it was Grave Digger earning a well deserved win.

The event also incuded FMX with Justin Stoltzpus, Mike Vaters and Trevor Vines in competition. After two rounds of action Trevor Vines won the crowds approval by a slim majority. Fans also were treated to Steve Direnzo and his amazing firefall from high above the coliseum.

Results:                              Wheelie                              Freestyle

El Matador                          22                                       21

Sudden Impact                   13                                       17

Brutus                                26                                       26

T-Maxx                               15                                       27

King Krunch                        11                                      20

Avenger                             16                                      26

Monster Mutt                     21                                      25

Grave Digger                     26                                      30

Race Results:

Round One:

El Matador beat Monster Mutt

King Krunch over Brutus

T-Maxx over Avenger

Grave Digger downed Sudden Impact

Round Two (semifinals)

T-Maxx over El Matador

Grave Digger downed King Krunch

Race Final

Grave Digger defeated T-Maxx

T-Maxx died on the line offering no competition for Grave Digger. Driver Carl Van Horn seemed to have some electrical problems forcing the truck to be restarted over and over again just to get to the pit area to work on the problem. By the time crews located the electrical short the event was over and Gary Porter and Team Grave Digger were declared the winner.

Another story for the weekend came from Team Avenger. Chris Bergeron and Jim Kohler were driving the semi to Greensboro when a fire started in the cab of the truck. A crack in the exhaust system heated up some wiring and fiberglass starting a fire. After some side of the road repairs the two drivers were able to limp the truck to Greensboro for the event and to get some repair help before heading back home to Michigan.

All teams seemed to agree their trucks would be ready and able to go for the Saturday night event in Greensboro.

Saturday Night Results

By: Joe Lowe

What a difference a day makes. The Monster Jam drivers and crews turned it up about three notches for the second night of action in Greensboro, N. C.  After Friday nights mechanical problems and the drivers getting used to the red wet clay all were ready for action and boy did they make it exciting.

The day began at 4:30 with the Built Ford tough Party in the Pits. Several thousand fans came to meet the drivers and see the big monsters up close and personal. One could tell these fans knew Monster Jam well judging from their questions and how many returned sporting signed t-shirts from previous events. Many fans also brought photos taken at other Monster Jam events to be signed by their favorite drivers.

It has been many years since I had announced an event in Greensboro and I realized how much I had missed some of the arenas the last few years while doing stadium events. It was good to be back. This is the same sentiment shared by several of the veteran drivers. I guess we all realize that Monster Jam is great in all venues. With the addition of several contests not normally held in stadiums the fans certainly get to see lots of action in the coliseum.

After the party in the pits the night began with the wheelie contest. John Zimmer began with a great high flying wheelie earning a respectible score of 18. Next came Monster Mutt with an 18 Brutus gave another great wheelie earning a top score of 27 until Gary Porter drove the wheels off Digger getting a 29 from the judges and the win.

Freestyle Motocross riders Justin Stoltzfus, Mike Vaters and Trevor Vines brought down the house with their jumps. Heart attacks, two cliff hangers, holy graps and more were performed for the cheering crowd. In the end it was the high-chair/no handed landing by Trevor Vines that earned him the win for the night. After the voting all three riders gave the fans one more train filled with the hardest tricks of the night.

Monster Jam racing was the closest of the weekend. In the semi-final round T-Maxx took out Grave Digger by mere inches. Officials had to review the video several times before declaring a winner. The same was true for the race final with T-Maxx defeating Avenger in a closely reviewed race. Fans certainly get their share of actionand close racing.

The Monster Freestyle Competition again was so close only three points seperated the top three trucks. In the end Grave Digger driven by Gary Porter earned a 28 to get the win over Avenger and Jim Koehler who scored 27. T-Maxx and Carl Van Horn was a close third with 26,

Results:                            Wheelie                                         Freestyle

Sudden Impact                 18                                                 16

Monster Mutt                    18                                                 23

El Matador                        19                                                 17

Brutus                               27                                                23

King Krunch                      20                                                 20

T-Maxx                             16                                                 26

Avenger                           23                                                 27

Grave Digger                   29                                                 28

Race Results:

Round One:

T-Maxx over Sudden Impact

Grave Digger beat Brutus

King Krunch over El Matador

Avenger defeated Monster Mutt

Round Two: (semi-finals)

T-Maxx beat Grave Digger

Avenger defeated King Krunch

Finals:

T-Maxx over Avenger

Fans stood in line for over an hour to get an autograph from the Monster Jam competitors. There was many new Monster Mutt, King Krunch, and Brutus fans in Greensboro after the weekends events. Many fans asked when the monster were going to return. Next week would have made many happy.