Weekend Race Recap
by Scott Douglass
FRIDAY 7:30 p.m. - Ricky Ownley had a huge Virginia crowd roaring from the start when he flipped his Mopar Magic twice during the racing competition, but the wins went to Scott Hartsock, who drove Gunslinger to the racing bracket victory, and Randy Brown, who won freestyle in Grave Digger Friday night at the Roanoke Civic Center.
The Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam presented by Ford Trucks got off to a wild start when Ownley, the first to qualify, flipped Mopar Magic onto its roof after finishing his qualifying pass. Hartsock went on to set the fast time, and Mopar sustained mostly cosmetic damage, allowing Ownley to make it into the race bracket. Hartsock rolled through his half of the racing bracket to earn a spot in the Built Ford Tough Championship Race, where the opponent for Gunslinger would be, you guessed it, Mopar Magic. Ownley recorded triumphs over his teammate, Steve Sims in Stone Crusher, then Grave Digger for his spot in the finale. The final race was a virtual photo finish on the straight line course, with Gunslinger edging Mopar Magic by about six inches. With Ownley going all out for the win, he again lost control of Mopar after the finish and rolled the truck again, this time end over end, landing back on the wheels, but the second rollover caused more substantial damage and Mopar Magic was unable to freestyle. Still the crowd cheered approvingly when Ownley said in an interview "I did already freestyle during racing, didn't I?" Just for fun all three judges scored Ownley with unofficial scores of "10" in response to that question.
The Advance Auto Parts Freestyle Competition saw the native Virginian, Sims, from Virginia Beach, grab the lead with an impressive run that included the night's best sky wheelies. But Brown was ready to make amends to his Grave Digger fans for coming up short in racing and hit the track on fire. Brown's run included the best donuts of the night and far and away the biggest air of the event to record the win, fuel pump problems shutting the truck down just as the clock expired, Grave Digger coming out three points better than Stone Crusher in the scoring of the three fans selected as judges to cap off an outstanding start to a three-event weekend in Roanoke.
RACING RESULTS
Fast Qualifier - Gunslinger
1st Round - Gunslinger bye run; Cowboy def El Toro Loco; Mopar Magic def Stone Crusher; Grave Digger def Destroyer
Semifinals - Gunslinger def Cowboy; Mopar Magic def Grave Digger
BUILT FORD TOUGH CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - GUNSLINGER DEFEATED MOPAR MAGIC
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 27
Stone Crusher 24
El Toro Loco 23
Cowboy 19
Destroyer 18
Gunslinger 18
SATURDAY 2:00 P.M. - Ricky Ownley gained revenge for his loss to Scott Hartsock in Friday night's championship race by driving Mopar Magic to victory over Hartsock's Gunslinger in the racing finals Saturday afternoon, then Randy Brown won his second straight freestyle competition of the weekend in front of a sold-out Roanoke Civic Center.
The event began with a surprise as Brandon Harrington, in just his second event driving Cowboy, set the fastest qualifying time to earn the number one seed in the racing bracket and a first round bye. Harrington was knocked out of the race competition in the semifinals by his teammate Hartsock who had Gunslinger in its second straight Roanoke final. In the bottom half of the bracket Mopar Magic eliminated Grave Digger first, then Steve Sims in Stone Crusher to put Ownley up against Hartsock again for the event win. In Friday night's photo finish Ownley disputed the officials ruling that Gunslinger had won by inches, so this time he left no doubt by driving Mopar Magic to a clear cut victory in the Built Ford Tough Championship Race.
Nathan Weenk then showed the capacity crowd how the El Toro Loco team has won the world freestyle title in the past with an exciting performance that grabbed the early lead until Virginian Steve Sims rocked the house with a huge air, wild donut filled run that edged El Toro by one point for the lead. For the second straight event Sims' Stone Crusher Ford was destined to finish in the runner-up spot as Brown again brought his "A" game to the state where the Grave Digger legend was born 26 years ago. Brown ended a run that included some massive air and a complete smash down of the van in the middle obstacle with a lengthy set of donuts that created a dirt haze around the black and green wrecking machine, then Grave Digger went straight into the day's only cross-thread move to secure the Advance Auto Parts Freestyle Competition victory.
RACING RESULTS
Fast Qualifier - Cowboy
1st Round - Cowboy bye run; Gunslinger def Destroyer; Mopar Magic def Grave Digger; Stone Crusher def El Toro Loco
Semifinals - Gunslinger def Cowboy; Mopar Magic def Stone Crusher
BUILT FORD TOUGH CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - MOPAR MAGIC DEFEATED GUNSLINGER
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 29
Stone Crusher 26
El Toro Loco 25
Mopar Magic 20
Gunslinger 20
Cowboy 19
Destroyer 19
SATURDAY 7:30 P.M. - Randy Brown completed a weekend sweep by powering his Grave Digger to yet another Advance Auto Parts Freestyle Competition victory against a stacked field in Roanoke's Civic Center, and Ricky Ownley wrapped up an impressive weekend with another racing event triumph driving Mopar Magic in front of a second straight sold out crowd Saturday night.
After Brandon Harrington's quick reaction time helped the Cowboy driver grab the top seed in racing with the fastest qualifying time he rolled through the upper bracket to move into the final race in his first weekend driving Cowboy after being away from Monster Jam for almost two years. In the bottom half of the bracket Ownley opened with a first round win over Nathan Weenk in El Toro Loco to set-up a semifinal showdown with nemesis Scott Hartsock and Gunslinger, whom he had battled in the championship round each of the first two Roanoke events. In the semis it was Ownley winning the rubber match between the pair as Mopar Magic eeked out another close win over Gunslinger to advance to the finals. To no one's surprise the Built Ford Tough Championship Race saw Mopar Magic and Cowboy separated by just a few feet at the stripe, with Mopar's lower line across the finish line proving to be the difference as Ownley made Mopar Magic a winner again in Virginia.
The Advance Auto Parts freestyle competition saw Steve Sims and Stone Crusher for the third straight time turn on his home state fans with a blistering performance that again had the lead until Brown brought Grave Digger out for one more freestyle. Brown wrapped up the trio of events in the hometown headquarters of Advance Auto Parts with his best run of the weekend, which is saying something considering his strength Friday night and Saturday afternoon. After filling the clock with the biggest air and the wildest donuts of the weekend, not to mention a series of impressive cross-thread maneuvers, Brown continued on in Grave Digger with even more high energy freestyle action for at least a full minute after he filled the clock and all three judges gave Brown a perfect 10 to compete the freestyle sweep for Grave Digger in Roanoke.
RACING RESULTS
Fast Qualifier - Cowboy
1st Round - Cowboy bye run; Stone Crusher def Destroyer; Mopar Magic def El Toro Loco; Gunslinger def Grave Digger
Semifinals - Cowboy def Stone Crusher; Mopar Magic def Gunslinger
BUILT FORD TOUGH CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - MOPAR MAGIC DEFEATED COWBOY
ADVANCE AUTO PARTS FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 30
Stone Crusher 25
El Toro Loco 24
Mopar Magic 21
Destroyer 20
Gunslinger 18
Cowboy 14
