Weekend Race Recap
FRIDAY -
Ready to be thrilled, the fans in the Hampton Coliseum were on their feet and ready for Monster Jam brought to you by Advanced Auto Parts, Ford Trucks and Hardee's, Home of the Thick burger. With the track in great shape our drivers were staged and ready to battle it out.
These fans were thrilled when they saw our monsters come to the line for the Advance Auto Parts Wheelie Competition and both drivers and fans alike were salivating for some big air. Anger Management was first to attack the cars earning a score of 10 from our Monsters on Main Street judges. The big cats were up next, Predator and Prowler. Prowler, missing a fang from a Monster Jam Freestyle altercation earlier this season, earned a 13 with his wheelie. His teammate, Predator, made an almost identical wheelie and the judges gave him an identical score. 13 for Predator too. Mopar Magic decided to take a different approach to the stacks for his wheelie as he backed up from the cars to get a better run at them. He didn't speed to the cars, but tip-toed up to them and then goosed the throttle at the perfect time to launch an awesome wheelie. The fans went crazy and the judges awarded him a 22. A new leader. American Guardian had a tough row to hoe and could only put up a 10. Sitting in the pits, Stone Crusher had a plan. He was going to take the same approach as his teammate Mopar Magic, and stay back away from the line and sneak up on the cars. As his front tires started to climb the cars, he bopped the throttle to sky even higher than Mopar Magic! Scores were up….25! Stone Crusher takes the first win in the first event of the night.
Primed from wheelies, the fans wanted to see how fast our monsters could race to the Built Ford Tough finish line. First up, Predator versus Mopar Magic, with Predator taking the win with a big margin on the finish. American Guardian came to the line to take on Prowler, but got edged out in a fast race. Prowler advances. Stone Crusher, primed from his win in racing, took out Anger Management in another fast race. Prowler went on to face Stone Crusher in the semis, but Stone Crusher's adrenaline was too much and he moved on the racing finals. Predator faced fast loser Anger Management in our last semi-final round. It was very close at the finish, but Anger Management redeemed himself and took a win. With the crowd behind them after two amazing waves, Anger Management and Stone Crusher were staged for the final. They fired and as the light turned green, both trucks skied high in the air and bounced across the finish line. Stone Crusher wins!!!!
What a great show so far, with the best yet to come….Hardee's Freestyle! Setting the bar high, Anger Management busted out a 16 right off the bat and kept it simply yet exciting. Prowler scratched his way out of the pits and unleashed his big cat on the track. He skied over the stacks and the landing was so rough that the tailgate area on his body came halfway off. That didn't stop him and he continued his run and until it came completely off. A crazy run that earned him an 18. Sticking to the basics, Predator was very contained and didn't hit the course with his usual gusto and we found out after his run that he only scored a 14 because he broke a front right wheel housing, totally inhibiting his run. The crowd was looking for more action like that of Prowler and Mopar Magic was the one to bring them back to their feet. His 17 was filled with wheelies and some big air followed by a slap wheelie. American Guardian put up a low score in wheelies, but that wouldn't be the case for Hae's Freestyle. He had the crowd going with bigger air than we had seen all night and earned himself a 20, our new leader. With one truck to go, that 20 was going to be hard to beat. Stone Crusher, winning both racing and wheelie competitions tonight, again had the opportunity to sit back and watch so he knew what he had to do to win. Our fans thought Mopar Magic's air was big, but it was nothin' compared to that of Stone Crusher. He even hit two slap wheelies coming off the blue cars! His score showed it with a 24! Stone Crusher swept the night. With our trucks putting on a spectacular performance tonight, I can't wait to see what they have in store for us tomorrow.
SATURDAY 2pm -
Quick thinking and fast repairs seemed to be the theme of the day as we started off our Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits with two trucks making rapid repairs. Predator driver Larry Jarzel, with the broken front right axle housing, was in the pit area helping American Guardian repair a broken locker so that its driver, Rick Raab, could help him weld on that broken axle housing. As the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits was winding down, the trucks were almost all back together again and we all had our fingers crossed that there would be no more mechanical breakdowns.
Advance Auto Parts Wheelie competition kicked off with a 14 from Anger Management. Prowler eased up on the cars for a respectable 17. Predator, only able to run wheel rear drive after trying to fix the axle housing, had enough rear wheel power to land a 15. But as he was coming off the track, the front end locked up. More drama for Predator as the axle locked up and they had to take a gear out of the planetary in order to get it ready for freestyle. Mopar Magic stated earlier that he was a little upset about getting beat by his teammate last night and really powered it on. He skied up so high on his wheelie that he got perpendicular land landed on the rear bumper. Awesome! The judges awarded him a well deserved 23. American Guardian and Stone Crusher were no match for Mopar Magic scoring a 20 and a nineteen respectively.
Predator was thrashing on his machine once again to try to make it to the first round of racing since he was in the last pair. Stone Crusher took out Anger Management in the first pair and Prowler was sent back to the pits with his tail between his tires after getting beat by American Guardian. Predator didn’t get his rig back together to make it out for racing so Mopar Magic made a bye run with some big air. Prowler came back as fast loser to face Stone Crusher, but wasn’t fast enough as Stone Crusher rolled into the finals. Mopar Magic didn’t have much competition in the first round but he had more than he could handle in American Guardian. Stone Crusher faced a fast American Guardian in our Built Ford Tough Racing Finals. It was a close finish and all of the hard work in the pits paid off as American Guardian took home the win.
Hardee’s Freestyle was up next and as you checked out the pits, the wrenches were down and all the drivers were strapped in to their trucks and ready to rock this crowd. Anger Management stuck to basics and landed a 15. Sticking to jumps and air, Prowler ended his freestyle with a 15 as well. Predator abused the cars for some great wheelies and then ended his run with a donut that kicked up the dirt and really got the fans on their feet. Riding high from his win in racing, Mopar Magic went for big air followed by slap wheelies on the landing and wowed the judges to earn our new top score of 23. The action only got better as American Guardian flew high, cross threaded the course and bopped the throttle for a wheelie up on the cars with unbelievable control walked it across the entire stack. That amazing run earned a 25. Stone Crusher really had his hand full as he had been sitting back and watching from the cockpit of his truck. The theme of his sixty seconds was the biggest air of the afternoon and followed by small slap wheelies. His quick agile turns helped him to earn a 27 from the judges to take his second freestyle win of the weekend.
I can’t wait to see what the monsters have in store for us tonight after such a spectacular afternoon show.
SATURDAY 7pm -
The Hampton Coliseum was sold out and everyone was ready for Monster Jam with flags waving and cyclones turning to welcome our drivers to the floor. The energy from the fans was amazing as they welcomed our drivers during introductions.
With the Advance Auto Parts Wheelie competition just moments away, our tech officials told us that Predator, plagued by mechanical breakage all weekend, was broke and would not make it out for competition. Anger Management shot out of the pits and rolled straight to the trucks for a 12. Prowler busted the throttle loose as he hit the cars to post a 17. Mopar Magic knew that he had to bring his "A" game with two trucks behind him. He impressed our Monsters on Main Street judges to earn a 20. American Guardian tasted victory with a racing win in the afternoon session, but that taste soon left his palette when he skied up for a 19, putting him one point behind Mopar Magic who knew his 20 might not be good enough with Stone Crusher waiting in the pits. With the hometown crowd behind him, Steve Sims launched the Stone Crusher for a 27! He takes the win again!
For the first time ever in Monster Jam history, our monsters competed in side-by-side TEAM Wheelie competition. The big cats of Predator and Prowler were up first and side by side rolled to the line and launched in unison. They scored a 17 to start it up. Anger Management and American Guardian were up next, earning straight sixes for an 18. With our previous winners from the weekend teamed up, Stone Crusher and Mopar Magic rolled out of the pits taking the slow approach to the cars and then poured on the Torco! It was a spectacular site as the both cleared the cars easily and both landed on the rear tires with the bumpers almost hitting the cars. The crowd and judges went crazy and they earned a 27 to take the win in a Monster Jam first.
With racing up next, the good news came in that Predator was fixed and ready to roll. He was still running on rear wheel drive only since he broke the axle housing in last night's freestyle. Mopar Magic proved that all wheel drive is what was needed to compete as he sent predator back to the pits. American Guardian met Prowler at the line for more intense racing and the American Guardian came out on top to head into the semi-finals. Stone Crusher took out Anger Management to finish out round one. American Guardian went up against Mopar Magic and they both were flyin' high and had barely landed when American Guardian crossed the Ford Finish Line first. He's headed to the finals. Prowler came back as the fast loser from round one to face Stone Crusher. The big cat gave it all he had but Stone Crusher was on a roll and ridin' high from the double wheelie wins. Stone Crusher advanced and went straight to the Advance Auto Parts starting line to wait for American Guardian. With the hometown crowd behind Stone Crusher, American Guardian had his work cut out for him. In an extremely close finish, American Guardian ousted the hometown boy to take his second racing win of the weekend.
After a brief intermission to let the dust settle and the motors cool, we were ready for fast and furious Hardee's Freestyle action. Anger Management and Prowler let it rip the course sticking to basics and each scored a 15. Predator crossed his fingers to keep the evil mechanical breakage away from his monster. He hit the floor tearing it up with his rear wheels only to tear up the van and launch for some air. His score up and it's a 17. American Guardian blasted out of the pits and immediately hit the van and earned some frequent flyer miles with that air. He crossed the stacks and launched into a slap wheelie. The judges were impressed and awarded him a 24. Mopar Magic was rockin' the course with air and wheelies until he went up for a wheelie after he hit the van and crashed down so hard that the left rear tire came off. Even though he didn't use the full time allotted, he still earned an impressive 19. American Guardian has the lead, but Stone Crusher has been saving it up for this hometown crowd. He took a lesson from American Guardian and crashed the van first for big air and that was the name of his game. He soared over the crush cars and landed in slap wheelies then went back for more air. He cross threaded the course and ended with air and a sideways stop. The fans were on their feet as the scores rang out for a total of 28. The hometown boy put on an amazing show this weekend for this hometown crowd.
I can't wait to come back to Hampton on November 14 and 15 to see what our Monsters have in store for us!
Monster Jam Announcer Leslie Mears
