Weekend Race Recap
Friday 7:30 p.m. - Bruce Haney drove Bad News the win in the Championship Race while Gary Porter powered Grave Digger to the Freestyle Competition and Wheelie Contest wins to open a three event weekend at the Columbus (GA) Civic Center.
Haney was on top of his racing game right from the start of this weekend in Dixie, opening his march to the finals by eliminating fellow Floridian Lionel Easler in Instigator, then upsetting Porter and the Digger to put Bad News into the finale. His Championship Race opponent was Whit Tarlton, who overcame a first round loss in Monster Mutt when he moved on as the fast loser of that round, then knocked off Ed Eckert and Full Boar to reach the finals. The Championship Race saw Bad News come home a close winner over the Mutt.
In freestyle it was Tarlton who really turned the Georgia crowd on, using several big air leaps over the van stack in the center of the floor to move into the top spot, but in the end it was Porter's combination of crowd pleasing donuts and huge leaps over every obstacle that earned Grave Digger the freestyle victory. Earlier Porter had opened the weekend's competition by edging Easler and Instigator for the wheelie win.
RACING RESULTS
1st round - Full Boar bye run; Bad News def Instigator; Grave Digger def Monster Mutt (Monster Mutt advanced to semifinals as fastest loser)
Semifinals - Monster Mutt def Full Boar; Bad News def Grave Digger
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - BAD NEWS DEFEATED MONSTER MUTT
FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 29
Monster Mutt 27
Instigator 22
Bad News 21
Full Boar 20
WHEELIE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 26
Instigator 23
Monster Mutt 22
Full Boar 18
Bad News 15
Saturday 2:00 p.m. - Throughout the season Whit Tarlton has driven his Monster Mutt hard and pushed Team Grave Digger driver Gary Porter week after week, forcing Porter to turn in huge freestyle performances to grab victories, which for the mostpart, Porter has been able to do. But Saturday afternoon at the Columbus Civic Center it was Tarlton's combination of wild donuts and ragged edge sky wheelies that the judges liked a little better, the judges scoring Monster Mutt the Freestyle Competition winner after Bruce Haney and Bad News had won the Racing Competition for the second straight event in the west Georgia city.
The afternoon matinee started with Porter winning the wheelie contest in no doubt fashion, his brilliantly executed sky wheelie earning the victory in the scoring by the three Georgia fans serving as judges.
In the racing bracket Haney dominated for the second straight day, this time grabbing the win over Grave Digger in the Championship Race to give the Bad News Team its second consecutive Columbus racing triumph.
Then in freestyle it was Tarlton who brought the fans to their feet with his high energy performance and even though Porter also laid down a blistering freestyle the judges scored Monster Mutt a one point winner over Grave Digger in freestyle.
RACING RESULTS
1st round - Full Boar bye run; Bad News def Grave Digger; Instigator def Monster Mutt (Grave Digger advanced to semifinals as fastest loser)
Semifinals - Grave Digger def Full Boar; Bad News def Instigator
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - BAD NEWS DEFEATED GRAVE DIGGER
FREESTYLE RESULTS
MONSTER MUTT 25
Grave Digger 24
Bad News 22
Instigator 20
Full Boar 15
WHEELIE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 26
Monster Mutt 25
Full Boar 21
Instigator 21
Bad News 19
Saturday 7:30 p.m. - Drawing inspiration from Brianna, a young fan in attendance who has been fighting back from serious head injuries with Grave Digger having a major impact on her recovery, Gary Porter bounced back from an up and down weekend to sweep all three disciplines, winning the racing, freestyle, and wheelie contest in the finale of a three event weekend in Columbus, GA.
Hearing Brianna's story clearly had a major impact on an emotional Porter who got choked up in his winner's interviews while dedicating all three victories to the brave girl who helped fuel Digger's Saturday night domination. After suffering her injuries, according to her parents, it was Grave Digger DVD's and other merchandise that the girl first began to respond to after her injuries and surgeries. Porter not only had Brianna draw his number for his position in the racing bracket, he said he ran the whole night like he had his inspirational fan in the seat beside him.
The action on the track started with Porter nailing the best wheelie of the weekend, a near perfect sky wheelie that planted Grave Digger on its tail and was a clear winner in the night's first competition.
Next it was racing, where Porter snapped Bruce Haney's racing event win streak, Grave Digger edging Bad News by inches to win the Championship Race. Then the 23-year Monster Jam veteran finished off the weekend with the best freestyle of any of the trio of events in the Columbus Civic Center, a classic Grave Digger freestyle that had every fan standing and cheering as Porter completed the sweep of all three Saturday night competitions for all of his fans, and one special fan in particular.
RACING RESULTS
1st round - Instigator bye run; Monster Mutt def Bad News; Grave Digger def Full Boar (Bad News advanced to semifinals as fastest round one loser)
Semifinals - Bad News def Instigator; Grave Digger def Monster Mutt
FINALS - GRAVE DIGGER DEFEATED BAD NEWS
FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 29
Monster Mutt 24
Bad News 21
Instigator 20
Full Boar 17
WHEELIE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 27
Monster Mutt 22
Instigator 21
Full Boar 18
Bad News 18
