Weekend Race Recap
Friday 7:30
The Advance Auto Parts and Ford Trucks Monster Jam brought to you by the Wendy's motor sports series got under way at the Charleston civic to a near sold out crowd. Superman was in the house for the first time ever and the Charleston fans loved it. We started the night off with an awesome opening ceremony that paid tribute to the men and woman who protect our country and the singing of our national anthem by Christi Allen.
The competition started with the Wendy's wheelie contest and all trucks were ready to rock. Prowler was first and set the pace with a score of 15 followed by Predator with a 21. Brutus was next and took the lead with a huge ski wheelie that wowed the judges and had the crowd on there feet for a score of 28. Safe auto knew he had to top it but fell short with a 24 but the crowd favorite Superman almost took the lead as he scored a 27 for second place. Avenger was last to go and walked his wheelie a good distance across the cars but only scored a 23 giving Brutus the first win of the night.
Racing was fast and fierce on the Chicago style track that gave the fans a new look and exciting racing for the first time. In round one racing Safe Auto took out Avenger, Predator took out Prowler and Superman beat Brutus. This set up an awesome semi finals that found Safe Auto the truck to beat with the fastest round one time. Superman faced off against Predator and won by a half a truck length and Safe Auto beat fast looser Prowler who broke at the drop of the green flag. In the finals the crowd was cheering more for Superman but at the finish Safe Auto Minimizer was the winner in the closest race of the night.
The Built Ford tough freestyle contest was next and with the van stack and freestyle hill free game we knew anything could happen. Prowler was first out and started off with a huge hit off the van stack but broke the rear end of the truck and only scored a 15. Predator filled the clock on his run and took the early lead with an 18. Brutus also flew high off the van stack and used the whole course for a 21. Safe Auto was looking for another win and spun some huge doughnuts and slap wheelies for the lead with a 26. The 2003 world finals champion was next and Kohler cruised his Avenger through the course for a score of 22 that fell short of a win. Superman was last and Fortune knew he had to wow the judges to get a win for the screaming fans who came to see him. When the dust settled and the scores were shown Superman took the win with a near perfect score of 29 as the crowd cheered for more.
The Monster jam fans were also treated to Freestyle Motor cross and Galactron vs. Reptar.
Saturday 2:00
Party in the pits was first on the agenda this morning with over three thousand fans on hand to see their favorite monster trucks. The floor was cleared at 12:30 to set up for the rest of the fans to join us at 1:00 for some high flying Monster Jam action.
We started the day off with the wheelie competition that saw each truck battle it out for the first win of the show. Prowler was first and hit the two stack of cars hard for a score of 18. Predator was next and fell one point short as he spun the tires to much on this loose track. Superman was again the crowd favorite took the lead with his two hits with a score of 21, but Brutus was looking to go back to back with a win and took the lead with a 26. Safe Auto was up next and known for wheelies only scored a 20 leaving a little bit of room for Avenger. Kohler knew he had to win over the crowd so he mashed the gas on his second hit and twisted the Avenger in the air for the best wheelie of the weekend and the win with a score of 26.
The Advance Auto parts Monster Jam racing was next and the first round saw some great races. Safe Auto again was the fastest by taking out Prowler in round one who broke a sway arm and would be out for the rest of the show. Superman showed he wanted to make it to the finals and beat predator by a truck length. The best match up was team scream going at it and Brutus took the bragging rights for the day by beating Avenger. In the semi finals Safe Auto advanced over fast looser Predator and Super man took out Brutus. In the finals the track officials new this would be a fast race on the Chicago style track and when the dust settled Safe Auto showed the fans just how good of a racer he is with the win over Superman.
With two different winners for the day, was this leading us to another different winner in freestyle or would Safe Auto get a chance to double down. Predator started things off first in freestyle and cleared every thing on the track for a score of 19 but that didn't last long as Bergeron skied Brutus in to the lead with a 23. Safe Auto was next and had a solid run but the judges were tough and only scored him a 24. It seemed one of the last trucks remaining could score higher but Avenger only tied Safe Auto on his run with a 24. Superman had plenty of room to take his second straight freestyle win and he showed what a 5 time world finals competitor can do. Fortune flew his truck hard and high for the win with a score of 26 and had the crowd on their feet wanting more. Chad told the crowd to come back tonight to see him win again giving the other five trucks a challenge I hope he can keep. We will see!!!
Saturday 7:30
A sold out crowd packed the Charleston Civic center for the last Monster Jam of the weekend. With help from Jim Kohler on the microphone the crowd went crazy every time Jim would go up in to the stands with the crowd along with his color commentary it won't be the same if he doesn't come back next year.
We started the night off with the Wendy's wheelie competition and Avenger again wowed the crowed with to huge wheelies for the weekends only perfect score of 30. Brutus followed in second with a 26 and Safe Auto was right behind them with a 25. Superman and Predator tied with scores of 23 and Prowler finished with a solid 24. The track was slick from all the water that was sprayed on it to keep the dust down which made for some exciting action.
Racing proved to be one of those moments as the trucks could now slide through the turns which made racing tonight faster than it had been early in the day. Predator was the surprise as Jarzel raced his way to the finals for the first time this weekend. Predator took out Prowler in round one and then beat Superman in a very close race to make it to the finals. Safe Auto was also just as fast as he beat Avenger in round one and then defeated fast looser Brutus to advance. In the finals race it was clear that each truck had to focus on hitting the car stacks with both front tires and not to hit a turning pole as some of the other trucks had done in rounds one and two. When the green light came on both trucks powered off the line but Predator slid to far in the first turn giving Safe Auto a clean win for the third time this weekend. Also in round one Superman beat Brutus.
The Built ford tough freestyle competition was next and Prowler started us off with a clean run and a score of 19. Lenny Kuilder was a bit disappointed because he had some special fans cheering him on and his rear steering was giving him problems so he was unable to hit the big freestyle hill as planned. Predator wowed the judges with some sick air off the van stack and a pop wheelie off the back side of the freestyle motocross hill to take the lead with a 25. This score would stand for a while as Brutus only scored a 21 because of some engine problems and Avenger was cut short of his sixty seconds because of a fire in truck that made him shut down and get out giving him a 24. The big thrills were still to come as Safe Auto jumped to a big lead of 29 with some sick air off the freestyle hill and fast doughnuts at both ends of the arena as the crowd went wild. This left us with Superman the last truck to go and Chad Fortune drove the cape off his truck and tied Safe Auto with a 29. With the change in the rules there was not a cheer off and the extra USHRA official who kept score along with our judges scored Superman one point higher giving Chad his third straight freestyle victory.
Again the crowd was treated to some sick freestyle motocross from the three riders who through out some awesome tricks and finished with a train. This was definitely the place to be the whole weekend and I look forward to coming back to Charleston some time in the near future for more Monster Jam.
Monster Jam Announcer, Greg Whitacre
