Weekend Race Recap
Friday night was full of suprises. Literally full. Surprise number 1. It was a 7 truck field and the fans were expecting 6. 2nd surprise, a team Wheelie Contest. GraveDigger vs. the Field. FullBoar and Rolling Thunder teamed up, both hitting the crush cars at the same time, setting the bar at 16. Next came the team of Pastrana 199 and Rolling Thunder, ending with a score of 16 as well. Then came Max D and BullDozer. Both Chuck and Neil slammed into the crush cars and went vertical, with Nail and Max firewalling the throttle and nearly landing past the car stack. It was super impressive, and the judges rewarded them with a 29. Rod Schmidt and GraveDigger would get 2 hits as well. The 1st was vintage Rod Schmidt. Standing the truck straight up and down, stuffing the rear of the truck into the last car in the stack, and nearly remaining in the rocket launch position!!! Slowly, ever so slowly the truck came back to earth and all 4 tires. The second hit was not what Rod wanted. The timing and horsepower did not meet at the same time, resulting in a sub par wheelie and the judges scores reflected it. With only 18 points scored, the win went to Max and Dozer.
Racing
Surprise number three, 7 lucky fans were chosen by the drivers to draw their bracket seeding numbers. Lee O’Donnel an the Pastrana 199 truck were the lucky dog winners, getting the number 1 seed and thus a 1st round bye run, automatically advancing to the semi final.
Brackets
Pastrana 199 BYE RUN
GraveDigger vs. Rolling Thunder Digger wins
FullBoar vs. Max D Max moves on
Destroyer vs. BullDozer Destroyer goes to semi
Semi Final
199 vs. Digger Pastrana 199 goes to main event
Max vs. Destroyer Max wins and moves to main
Final
Max vs. 199 Max D wins in a tight photo finish race.
Surprise number 4. Big Ed and FullBoar laying down one of the fastest donuts of their career. The truck was spinning as wildly as possible with out becoming completely air born. Ed, with the steering wheel out the window laid the pedal on the floor and did not lift until the truck did finally start to lift off of the raceway. FullBoar had started to drift to close to both the crush cars stack and the hockey dashers, so the RII was used. The truck was in mid lift when the RII went off and the truck subsequently flipped over on it lid, still going in circles!!! The judges gave a perfect 30 for Ed’s efforts. Max D and Rolling Thunder both came close with 28’s but the crash made it the best for the fans and the judges. Max D and Neil Elliot had as many revolutions and was lifting way off the ground too, but he kept it in a semblance of control and did not flip over. Sometimes the true driving talent does not win, but the wildest is always the most exciting.
Donut Scores:
BullDozer 23
Destroyer 19
Rolling Thunder 28
Pastrana 199 27
FullBoar 30
Digger 26
Max D 28
Surprise number 5. The freestyle motocross guys put on a great show. Throwing out huge tricks that had the fans on their feet. The crowd had done the cheer off and the win went to Justin Stotzfus, when all of a sudden one of the riders, Dan Newth roared down the in-run and went off the ramp and pulled a perfect BACKFLIP!! The crowd was freaking out, on their feet and cheering for freestyle motocross!!
Monster Jam Freestyle
FullBoar was unable to return after the violent crash in donuts, but that did not matter, because here comes Surprise number 6 AND 7. When all of the truck left running had finished their freestyle runs, and they all did killer by the way, Captains Curse the reigning Freestyle World Champion truck with Alex Blackwell in the seat suddenly appeared and did an encore freestyle performance. Then just when you would think it was over, here come another Max D. Neil Elliot had already done his freestyle and won the event with a 25, and that truck was still on the floor. It was Tom Meents and his Max D!!! Tom put on an encore freestyle as well. The fans in Grand Rapids did not know what hit them. What a super fantastic way to end one of the best Thunder Nationals in History!!
Freestyle Scores:
BullDozer 9
Destroyer 16
Rolling Thunder 13
Pastrana 199 14
Digger 11
Max D 25
Saturday
The Thunder National on Saturday afternoon was one of the best matinee shows I have seen in a while. With freestyle motocross backflips and extra trucks, it was spectacular.
GraveDigger ended up winning the opening event, the Wheelie Contest. It was Digger vs. the Field. With Max D and BullDozer teaming up, FullBoar and Rolling Thunder, and Pastrana 199 and Destroyer, each teamed up against GraveDigger. Max D and Bulldozer again put on a tremendous show, nearly taking the win over Digger. But, the judges were all about Digger and Rod ended up with the win.
Racing Brackets
Rolling Thunder bye run
GraveDigger vs. Destroyer Digger wins
BullDozer vs. 199 199 wins
Max vs. FullBoar Max wins
Semi Final
Rolling Thunder came up short vs. Digger
199 wins over Max
Final
199 and Lee O’Donnel vs. GraveDigger. In a fast race it was 199 in victory lane.
Wheelie Scores:
FullBoar and Rolling Thunder 18
Pastrana 199 and Destroyer 25
Max and Dozer 25
Digger 27
Donut Scores:
BullDozer 14
Destroyer 20
Rolling Thunder 28
199 24
FullBoar 27
Digger 23
Max 29
Freestyle Scores:
BullDozer 14
FullBoar 15
Destroyer 11
Rolling Thunder 9
199 19
Digger 23
Max 28
Saturday Night
The Thunder National fans that have turned out to the Arena in Grand Rapids have gotten the best possible bang for their buck at any venue over the past several years. The suprises in Grand Rapids have been over the top. How can you beat freestyle motocross backflips, additional trucks, a 7 time world champ stopping by to tear up his equipment, and complete and utter metal carnage? The Thunder National in its self was FANtastic event, then add in all of the EXTRA stuff and it was simply awe inspiring and jaw dropping. I have been doing arena shows for many, many years and I have never seen all of the stops pulled out like they have been in Grand Rapids. Maybe in 2004 on the European Tour, that might have been close, but this weekend was over the top. I can’t wait to come back in 2009 just to see what will transpire, and I am sure the fans feel the same way.
To sum up the night, I can give you 2 words. Tom Meents. Suffice it to say, Tom is Maximum Destruction. The multi time world champ came in at the end of the show and did an encore freestyle run that was insane. Tom and Max would continually coax the crowd into a frenzy and then firewall the throttle and leap insanely into the air, and on the final hit, it was only the final hit because after that the truck was upside down and in pieces. Shocks, wheels, 4-link bars, and body damage was the end result for the truck, while the Tom was just fine after a gnarly collision with Destroyer. The crowd, which had been on its feet since Alex Blackwell and Captains Curse came in before Tom and Max, and did their freestyle run. Alex had a good time and a lengthy run, until Tom got into the truck that Neil Elliot had been driving tonight. Tom’s Max D would not start after sitting in the cold weather outside of the building waiting for his chance to surprise the fans in Grand Rapids. After trying to get his truck to fire and it wouldn’t, Tom jumped in Neil’s Max and beat it into the ground. Simply amazing.
Neil Elliot dominated the Thunder National on Saturday night. Teaming up with GraveDigger, probably the only time in history that this will ever happen, in the shy wheelie contest. Digger and Max won the event hands down.
Team Wheelie Scores
FullBoar and Rolling Thunder 16
Pastrana 199 and Destroyer 21
Max and Digger 27
Racing Brackets
Round 1
FullBoar single lane pass and moves to semi final when Rolling Thunder could not make the line due to a mechanical problem.
Destroyer vs. GraveDigger Destroyer wins
Max vs. 199 Max wins
BullDozer Bye Run after fans drew the seeding numbers, Chuck Werner and BullDozer were the number 1 draw and got the bye run.
Semi Final
BullDozer vs. FullBoar Home town Boy Ed Eckert wnis and make the final.
Max vs. Destroyer Max D takes on the Boar in the main event of racing.
Final
Max vs. FullBoar. Max D in a close race takes the win. Again Neil Elliot is the winner.
Donut Contest Scores:
BullDozer 15
Destroyer 13
Rolling Thunder 25
Pastrana 199 14
FullBoar 30
Digger 18
Max D 31 Awarded winning point after tying with Big Ed and FullBoar
Freestyle Scores:
BullDozer DNS
FullBoar DNS
Destroyer DNS
Above 3 trucks did not start due to mechanical problems
Rolling Thunder 14
Pastrana 199 20
Digger 12
Max D 25
The only driver to sweep all 4 event in one show was Neil Elliot. As I wrote earlier , he dominated the Thunder National.
SUNDAY
A hard crash Saturday night during an encore freestyle performance by Tom Meents in Max D kept BullDozer out of action in Sunday. Dozer had to be dimantled and the parts put on Tom's Max so Max amd Tom could entertain the fans on Sunday. Alex Blackwell and Captains Curse, whom had been doing suprise encore freestyle over the course of the weekend was put into service after Dozer was taken out. Alex did an admirable job in Freestyle getting the win, after tying with Digger at 27, Alex was awarded the final point by the Hot Rod Officials. The crowd lovd all of the extras that Thunder Nationals had over the weekend. I know if I lived in Grand Rapids, I would be buying my tickets for 2009!!
In the wheelie competition, Max D took on the Field. Max and Digger teamed up on Saturday night for the 1st and only time in history. But, on Sunday Neil Elliot took the role of taking on the other teams. Stating that it was unnatural for Max and Digger to be on a team, Neil and Max wanted the opportunity to dominate the teams as well as the individual events on Sunday as well. Neil and Max had dominated Saturday night, winning all 4 events and was trying to do the same on Sunday. After winnig the Wheelie Contest and then winning racing and the Donut Contest, it looked as if Neil was on his way to another clean sweep. Unfortunately, Neil did not get his full 60 seconds as his teammate and boss, Tom Meents, came out early for his encore run, keeping Neil from completing his run and the judges scores reflected the short run. Digger and Captains Curse tied, but the additional point was awarded to Captains Curse.
Wheelie Contest Scores:
FullBoar and Rolling Thunder 14
Pastrana 199 and Destroyer 15
Digger and Captains Curse 22
Maximum Destruction 30
Racing Brackets
Round 1
Max D BYE RUN
Captains Curse vs. Destroyer Dan Evans and Destroyer win
FullBoar vs. Pastrana 199 FullBoar wins
GarveDigger vs. Rolling Thunder Digger wins
Semi Final
Max vs. Destroyer Max wins
GarveDigger vs. FullBoar Digger wins
Final
Max D vs. Digger Max wins
Donut Scores:
Destroyer 15
Rolling Thunder 24
Pastrana 199 18
FullBoar 29
Captains Curse 24
Digger 23
Max 30
Freestyle Scores:
Destroyer 18
Rolling Thunder 23
Pastrana 199 22
Digger 27
Max D 26
Captains Curse 28
