The RCA Dome was still standing when the doors closed tonight, but it wasn’t because these Monsters didn’t unleash every wicked trick to try to tear it down early.  A never before seen track was in place giving our drivers a very tricky “Cyclone” course with tacky dirt that would grip and stick on those sixty-six inch tires.  Many drivers made adjustments in the pits to try to tackle the course with optimum speed as everyone soon learned the cyclone proved tougher than it looked.  It all started with qualifying and that was only the beginning of the madness that would escalate as the night progressed.

Qualifying runs matched up drivers in pairs to give them more of a competitive edge.  Fans saw match ups that could be expected for the first five pairs, but then we all realized that with two trucks to go, no one had seen Maximum Destruction or Grave Digger!  And all of this from a blind draw in the Total Access Suite!  Tires ripping into the track as the green light was out, you could tell that it was going to be a free for all.  They were neck and neck as they came around the turn and hit the first stack.  Even stevens for the second hit and then Grave Digger crashed into the turning pole!  A five second penalty!  If it weren’t for the penalty, it would have been close to a tie.  With our bracket set, it was nice to see that Maximum Destruction and Grave Digger would be on opposite ends of the bracket.

Racing put some of the fan favorites into round two early with Maximum Destruction defeating Avenger, Devastator coming out on top of Rolling Thunder, T-Maxx ending racing early for The Bob and Tom Show truck, Grave Digger sneaking by Superman and Turtle sending Safe Auto Minimizer back to the pits.  The surprise of the night was an antifreeze leak from Sudden Impact along with a broken drive shaft in qualifying on Brutus.  Team Scream was hard at work to get it fixed, but they were out of luck for the first round.  Maximum Destruction faced Devastator and proved that he was just too hot.  Grave Digger took on T-Maxx  and just took him out. You could tell that he was still fired up after the five second penalty in qualifying.  Ironically Turtle was groovin’ around the track and was too much for the six foot six man of steel driving Superman.  Off to the Semi-finals!  Maximum Destruction got the lucky draw in this round as he had the opportunity to face the fast loser from round two.  It wasn’t going to be easy, as T-Maxx was on edge from the loss to Grave Digger.  Maximum Destruction glided his way to victory with narrow air and was pumped for the finals.  Turtle versus Grave Digger in the finals!  Team mates faced up against each other!  The Madness!  These two trucks have been so fast all night, we might need a photo finish.  Round the cyclone they go with the first jump leaving then dead even.  Jump two was where Turtle made a move and took the edge.  Grave Digger seemed to have caught up, but as they hit the cars for the third jump, Turtle took it by just clearing the stacks.  Grave Digger would not make it to the finals!  So here we are at finals time and remember, this is for bragging rights into eternity for the RCA Dome.  Maximum Destruction was delayed getting the line as Turtle sat staged and ready to let his aerodynamic shell help him glide to victory.  Crew surrounded Maximum Destruction as it fired and ripped it’s way to the line.  This was it.  Turtle and Maximum Destruction had been fast all night, but Max D was riding high off his semi-final run which was the fastest time of the night.  His adrenaline had to be pumping because it was like he just grabbed the turtle and flipped him on his shell.  He just couldn’t be touched.  Maximum Destruction, on a mission, takes racing out of an impressive field of twelve trucks!

Now, the moment that we had all been waiting for………FREESTYLE!!!!!!  The rundown was very mixed tonight as The Bob and Tom Show truck came out first.  Not more than 30 seconds into his 90 second run, he hit a stack, landed and immediately bounced it back up into an awesome slap wheelie.  Trouble soon took over as the stacks became too much and he ended up on his lid.  The judges were tough and gave him a 17.  Rolling Thunder landed a beautiful sky wheelie and walked it across the whole stack!  That dirty word trouble snuck into the run for Rolling Thunder as he blew hydraulic steering hose that ended his run early and resulted in a 7 since he did not use the whole clock.  Brutus was fired in the pits and ready to show the RCA Dome a good time since he missed racing with that broken drive shaft.  He was abusing the stacks and obstacles and every landing resulted in skillful driving to make a save.  That wouldn’t be enough for Brutus to change his luck as he crossed the stack and with a mid air twist, landed upside down.  Trouble was the tri-fecta tonight for these two trucks and the judges gave him a 15.  T-Maxx barely made it out of the pits before he flipped over and crawled out of the truck very disappointed and the judges showed it in there scorecards with a 6.  Our luck was about to change with the appearance of turtle on the floor.  He was upset about the close finish in the racing finals and was ready for redemption.  Redeem he did as he took a 19 with some of the biggest air so far.  Our high flying show just got started as Superman, cape draped,  unleashed the throttle and showed the fans just how high Superman can fly!  This was the first time tonight that the judges were impressed and awarded him a 22.  Not to be undone, Devastator prowled around the course, planning his attack.  A few quick hits started off his run and then he paused in the corner.  Everyone was wondering just what he was going for and then, he mashed the throttle and the front end skied and the rear bumper dragged the floor!  Amazing!  Power Wheelies at their best.  A few more hits and then the pause.  Another power wheelie!  Remarkable, Devastator powered the truck up from corner to corner.  Scores up and a 22.  Man, these judges are not cutting anyone slack.  Surprises revealed themselves as a new obstacle was added to the course.  Just what the drivers needed!  Avenger was up next and you knew that he was going to have something special.  The motor was hot and he was catching air.  His run was almost over, when a wild ride across the vans sent him to his lid.  Another 22!  A three way tie for first.  Safe Auto Minimizer was the first of our final three trucks.  His run was packed with cross threading which we had not seen all night.  He gave a couple half power wheelies matched with big air to impress the crowd and the judges to take the lead with a 24.  The guitar riff started and the crowd immediately knew who was next.  Grave Digger whipped out to the floor and skied the first jump and that my friends was some massive air!  He cross threaded, he wheelied, he caught air and he even tore off part of the hood, before the master of disaster flipped it over and drove the skull and crossbones flag into the track!  No one was sitting down by the end of the run and the scores showed the enthusiasm and appreciation for a job well done.  30!  Perfect!  One truck left and I can’t imagine that it could get any better than this.  But remember, the one truck left is Maximum Destruction!  He loves the RCA Dome and was looking for his second win of the night after dominating racing.  Several hot laps ensued before he finally stalled before the van stack.  He waved out the window for the crowd and how they did respond.  They went nuts and so did Maximum Destruction as he went full throttle at the stack, never backing out and landing close to the pit areas for the farthest and highest jump of the night.  He followed in the path of Grave Digger with the cross threading and air and even walked a wheelie across a stack.  He did not quit until he destroyed everything on the floor including the body.  Everyone was up!  The scores…. 10……10…..10!  Perfect again.

An amazing way to end the night at the RCA Dome with fireworks and confetti to boot, we couldn’t have asked for a better night.  This is definitely one to go down in Monster Jam history.

By announcers Leslie Mears and Steve Scott