Weekend Race Recap
Friday 7:30
A beautiful night and a sell out crowd with standing room only came out to watch another fantastic Monster Jam. This was the second time for most fans to see the stars of Monster Jam in less than 5 weeks and I'm sure they will come back for more.
The night started off with the wheelie contest and some high flying action was had by all the trucks. Grave Digger took the win with a score of 25 as the Patriot scored second with a 21. Turtle and Natural High followed with scores of 20 and Obsession was next with a 19. Tropical Thunder rounded out the field of six trucks with a 7 which was not as bad as the score reflected because that was the first wheely the rookie Mike Pappas had done.
Racing was next and the crowd stood up through the whole racing event as they saw Grave Digger take another win. Digger was clearly the crowd favorite but it wasn't easy for the Black and Green Wrecking Machine to get. In round one action, The Patriot took out Turtle in a very close race and Obsession beat out Natural High which would come back as fast looser as well as Digger winning over Tropical Thunder. The semi finals got even faster on the two car stack lanes that gave the fans a longer race than what they seen a month ago. Grave Digger took on Obsession and defeated him by a couple of feet and the surprise came when Natural High came back to beat The Patriot in his semi final race. The final was even closer as Grave Digger inched out Natural High as the crowd was screaming for more.
Freestyle is what the crowd was waiting for and they got what they came for. Obsession was first to go and took a score of 15 that could've been higher if he finished the whole 90 seconds of time. Natural High was next and set the bar high with some of the best slap wheelies I have seen in a long time and took the lead with a 22. Tropical Thunder fell short with a score of 10 and The Patriot fell one point short of a tie with a 21. Aaron Basl drove the wheels off of his turtle truck to take the lead with a 25 with some sick sky wheelies off of the elevated van stack as well as four different doughnuts in his 90 second run. Grave Digger had some room to take the win but he fell short with a score of 24 on a solid performance that had all of what Turtle had but lacked the height off the van stack. The crowd wasn't happy with the results but when Pablo came out to congratulate Basl the crowd again gave out a huge roar.
Saturday 7:30
The warm and sunny day turned to cold and windy as another standing room only sold out crowd watch their favorite monster trucks. After the colors were presented by the 473rd. Marine wing support squadrant the trucks were called to fire there engins for the start of the wheelie competititon. Tropical Thunder was first and Mike Pappas (AKA Shreck) hit the car stack hard and flew the truck far over the stack scoring a 17. Turtle and The Patriot tied with scores of 19 as Natural High wowed the crowd with a high score of 24. Grave Digger couldn't get the lift on his turn and only scored a 22 giving Natural High his first win of the weekend.
Racing was wild as Natural High broke the truck in the semi finals when he landed awkwerd after the last stack of cars and Grave Digger missed the second ramp with his right front tire taking the finals win away. In round one Digger would advance over Tropical thunder and Natural High took out Turtle in a photo finish. The Patriot also advanced getting the buy because Obsession was still out from earlier problems. In the semi finals Digger would win against fast looser Turtle and The Patriot edged out Natural High in another close race that ended the night for Kelvin Ramer. In the finals Grave Digger had the win but was disqualified and The Patriot took home his first victory. Pablo came out to the track after the call was made and protested to the official but it wasn't enough as the crowd boo the whole time.
Freestyle was last and Digger had a point to prove and he did it in style. Grave Digger took the win with some sick air off the mini bus stack and a full throtle 90 seconds with a score of 27. The Patriot was second with a 23 that just edged out last nights winner Turtle who had a 22. Tropicla thundedr steped it up and improved with a score of 14 and Obsession rounded out the field with a 13. The fans were all standing and cheering for Pablo as he told them to come to the autograph session to have all of there souvineers signed by himself and all of the drivers. The biggest high light of the night was a surprise by four of the drivers who came out in there trucks at the same time for a quick hit session that left the crowd wanting some more and that they will get when they come back tomorrow afternoon for another Monste Jam.
Sunday 2:00
A third straight sell out crowd was on hand on the cool but sunny day to watch their favorite Monster trucks battle it out. The wheelie contest was first and Mike Pappas who was behind the wheel of Tropical Thunder for Phil Foster scored first with a 19. Obsession was next and followed with a 16 and Natural High followed with a 17. Kevin Ramer worked on Natural High all night and today just to get it in to competition even if he could only go 80%, but the crowd couldn't tell the difference. Turtle took the lead with a high sky wheelie that scored him a 21 but that didn't last as The Patriot scored a 22 for the lead. Grave Digger had yet to win a wheelie contest and the crowd wanted to see him take the first win. Huffaker mashed the gas and cleared the first four cars and took the win with a score of 23.
Racing was great in all events as Team Fresno took the main in front of there home town crowd and Brian Spady took his second win of the weekend in the Pro Arena trucks. Grave Digger also won in racing on another controversial call. The Patriot met Digger in the finals for a rematch of last night and when the light turned green or did it The Patriot took off beating Digger. The call that came from the official was that Patriot red lighted giving Digger the win. The Sun played a huge part as the drivers were having difficulty seeing the lights. Digger made it to the finals by defeating Obsession in round one and Turtle in the semi finals. The Patriot made his way there by taking wins over Natural High and fast looser Obsession. In other races Turtle beat Tropical Thunder in round one in a very close race.
Freestyle was next and Tropical Thunder and Obsession took the lead with 17 until Natural high put in a solid 19. Turtle again was the one to watch as Basil scored a 21 with some good air and fast doughnuts. The Patriot was next and was looking for redemption and took the lead away with a high tempo freestyle and a score of 22. The judges all weekend were very fair but tough as the highest score in any event was only a 27 and Digger knew he had to let it all hang out to win. The Black and Green Wrecking machine took to the track and when the dust settled and the scores were announced the crowd went crazy for Digger as he took the win with a 25. Grave Digger did have some of the biggest air of the weekend and again told the fans to see him after the show to get an Autograph.
The fans in Fresno are some of the best and I can't wait to come back here to Salinas on May 18th.
Greg Whitacre Monster Jam Announcer
