Weekend Race Recap
During one of the harshest winters in the last 2 decades in Spokane, Monster Jam rolled into the Arena. With the weather outside just starting to let up, and spring seemingly in the air, the thaw has started. With the thaw, everything is wet. Spokane has been under several feet of snow for over a month, and the Hot Rod Raceway showed it. Kelly and Skip with Dirt Wurx have been working non-stop trying to keep the track in shape. It wasn't quite mud, more like a sandy soup, which made traction nearly impossible for the Monsters. If you’re a true Monster Jam fan, you know that the trucks don't go very well in mud or soup. Everyone did their best and the fans appreciate the effort put out by all. The track was barely walkable, let alone let the trucks and drivers do what they do.
Bulldozer, with Chucky Crash in the seat had a mechanical problem that took him out of racing and then gave him fits in freestyle. Some kind of electrical gremlin bit the Bull and made for a long night for Kevin Lewis and Chuck, trying to work the bugs out.
Max D also had a run of bad luck when he too had a mechanical that took Neil and Max out of the semifinal. They got it working for Freestyle, and Neil gave the fans what they have come to expect from the King of Freestyle.
Jeff Bainter raced his way to the semi final by being the fastest loser from round number one. Captain USA has a tremendous fan base in the Spokane area and they were all cheering for him to win the semi. In the final turn the track was just too slick to hold the hard charging Captain.
Kelvin Rammer came back to fill the empty slot left by Bull Dozer. Natural High came up short to the Patriot, setting up a teammate show down between The Patriot and Tropical Thunder. Phil Foster came out on top in a mud fest final round. Both guys had their opportunities to win it outright, but both guys battled slide outs on both ends of the tracks with Thunder going to victory lane.
Brackets:
Patriot vs. Natural High Patriot wins
BullDozer vs. Captain USA Dozer wins, then breaks rear steer. Cannot return
Max vs. Tropical Thunder Max wins but has mechanical. Does not return
Semi Final
Patriot vs. Captain USA (fast loser) Patriot wins
Tropical Thunder vs. Natural High Thunder wins
Final
Patriot vs. Tropical Thunder Thunder wins it all.
Wheelie Scores:
Tropical Thunder 16
Captain USA 16
Natural High 21
Bulldozer 20
The Patriot 19
Max D 23
Freestyle Scores:
Bulldozer 11
Natural High 17
Tropical Thunder 21
The Patriot 24
Captain USA 26
Max D 27
Saturday
Neil Elliot made the fan base for Maximum Destruction even larger today in Spokane. A perfect day for Neil and Max. Every contest, every main event, every competition on this day was won by Neil. The only loss of the day was a first round racing loss on Saturday night, but he was able to redeem himself by returning as the fastest loser. He had round one in the books but too much speed and not enough traction turned Max toward the turn pole. Neil dynamited the brakes and slammed it in reverse, adjusted and stomped the throttle, nearly winning it outright. The skywheelies Neil performed were outstanding. Vertical, clearing the stack of racing crush cars, turning slightly in mid-air, made for FANtastic action.
Kelvin Rammer and Natural High are also super exciting to watch. The truck it flat out one of the best wheelie trucks on tour. Kelvin had some bad luck in the afternoon, losing the blower belt in Freestyle which ended his run. He had started so strong and looked to be putting in one of the best freestyles of the weekend. Darn failing parts!!
Roger Stidell and Captain USA also had a stellar day. Winning a round of racing and then holding the lead in Freestyle on Saturday night until Dan and The Patriot took him off the hot seat. The rookie is going to be one to keep an eye on.
Tropical Thunder and The Patriot, driven by Phil Foster and Dan Radoni both beat their truck as hard as possible, giving the fans a memorable day in the Spokane Arena. Radoni had a cyclone and a couple of donuts that gave the fans a real TASTE and FEEL of the Hot Rod Raceway.
Chucky Crash and BullDozer made a great showing over the course of the day. Winning racing rounds and setting the bar in Freestyle, stepping up the pace and making the rest of the best work even harder to out score him.
Racing Brackets 2pm
Captain USA vs. Patriot. Dan and Patriot go to semi
Tropical Thunder vs. Bulldozer Dozer wins
Max vs. Natural High Max moves on
Semi Final
Patriot vs. Tropical Thunder (fast loser) Tropical Thunder wins
Max vs. Dozer Max is the man
Final
Tropical Thunder loses to Max D
Wheelie Contest Scores 2pm
Tropical Thunder 17
Captain USA 18
Natural High 28
Bulldozer 24
The Patriot 29
Max D 30
Freestyle Scores 2pm
Captain USA 16
Bulldozer 15
Natural High 15
Tropical Thunder 24
Patriot 22
Max D 28
Saturday Night Racing Brackets
Captain USA vs. Patriot Rookie Roger wins in Captain USA
Bulldozer vs. Tropical Thunder Chucky Crash and Dozer move rounds
Max D vs. Natural High Highlight for Natural High, Kelvin wins
Semi Final
Captain USA vs. Max D (fast loser) Max wins
Bulldozer vs. Natural High Dozer wins
Final
Max wins vs. teammate Bulldozer
Wheelie Contest Scores
Tropical Thunder 18
Captain USA 16
Natural High 26
BullDozer 22
Patriot 20
Max D 23
Freestyle Score
Captain USA 23
Bulldozer 22
Natural High 19
Tropical Thunder 17
Patriot 24
Max 29
SUNDAY
Kelvin Rammer and Natural High got on the podium on the final day of Monster Jam in Spokane. All weekend long the pair had been wowing the crowd, but the numbers were never there for them in the end. But, today it was unmistakable who the winner in the Wheelie Contest was. Natural High slammed into the back side of the crush cars and immediately went straight up, as far past vertical as you can get with out doing a backflop, then settled into the last car in the stack, jacking up the tailgate and bedsides. Natural High is one of the best at slap wheelies as well. Kelvin and team are building a new truck, but I hope the wheelie ability will be something they incorporate into the new ride.
The rest of the afternoon belonged to the Copenhagen Kid, Neil Elliot. The way he drove the truck in the turns during Chicago Style Obstacle Course Racing was simply amazing. When everyone else was trying to figure a way around the sloppy course, Neil would drive it as tight to the turn pole as possible, steer into the turn and STOMP the throttle. It was like watching a sprint car on a dirt track. All 4 tires blowing the soupy mess of sand and dirt that made up the Hot Rod Raceway all over the arena and the fans. Usually you might get some dirt in the stands during a donut, but Neil and Max were sending chunks all over!!! I caught some square between the eyes!
Dan Radoni and Roger Stidel also stood out today. Dan in the Patriot and Roger in Captain USA. Both guys were high energy the entire time they were on the track. Keeping the RPM's screaming to the moon, with great momentum both guys tore it up in freestyle. Roger is such a super guy, and a fan friendly person. He truly loves what he is getting to do and repeatedly thanked Jeff Bainter, the owner of Captain USA, for the opportunity to entertain the fans Jeff has created over the years in Spokane. The Kalispel Tribe of Indians and the Tire Factory were both super stoked to be supporting Jeff, Roger and Captain USA. Radoni is one of the guys who is always in it to win it, and today was no different. He came up just short of victory lane in racing, but the guy knows how to drive a truck.
Racing Brackets:
Patriot vs. Captain USA Photo finish and win to Patriot
BullDozer vs. Tropical Thunder Chucky Crash and BullDozer win
Max D vs. Natural High Max moves on
Semi Final
Patriot vs. Tropical Thunder (fast loser) Patriot wins
Max d vs. BullDozer Neil and Max win
Final
Max D vs. The Patriot Maximum Destruction victorious
Wheelie Contest Scores:
Tropical Thunder 15
Captain USA 20
Natural High 28
BullDozer 19
The Patriot 14
Max D 27
Freestyle Scores:
Captain USA 20
BullDozer 21
Natural High 19
Tropical Thunder 17
Patriot 23
Max D 29
