Weekend Race Recap
Friday
Clear, sunny skies welcomed Monster Jam presented by PartSource to the Scotia Speedway. The superstars of Monster Jam had a relaxing day to prepare them for an exciting night of Monster Jam festivities.
Backdraft kicked off the first event of the night, Monster Jam Wheelie Competition, by cruising to the cars and earning a 17 right off the bat. El Toro Loco pranced to the cars with a little too much grace and didn’t get as much air as he was hoping. He posted a score of 10. Rap Attack took a little attitude to the cars with his jump and the fans rewarded his flight with a 27! Eradicator took a little bit longer approach than his other competitors but goosed the throttle at just the right time to edge out Rap Attack with a 28. With a high score posted, Grave Digger had his work cut out for him. He approached, skied and nimbly came down to the row of the fans a perfect score of 30. What a way to start off the show!
Excitement brewed in the crisp air as the Monster Jam Donut Competition neared. Rap Attack revved the engine out of the pits to turn four of the track to prepare for donuts. As he was turning the truck tighter and tighter into a circle, he just couldn’t seem to get it going and then it popped to the side. Not a typical outing for Rap Attack with a score of 10 but you could see that there was some kind of malfunction. He immediately pitted and began work to fix it. Backdraft circled the truck up quickly and immediately twirled and delighted the fans with smoking tires and fast spins. Checkered flags waved as the scores shot up, 10, 9, and 7. Amazing! That 26 would be tough to beat and was a match for El Toro Loco who only scored a 20. With Eradicator up next, Backdraft knew that he might be in trouble. See, Andy Slifko drives Eradicator and that just happens to be Backdraft driver Jeremy Slifko’s father. Not to be outdone by his son, Eradicator poured on the horsepower and let the ponies gallop away in that circle longer than any of our previous competitors. But, was it good enough to beat his son? Score cards came up and posted a 28! Father out does son this time, but not by much. Grave Digger was sitting in the pits watching all of this take place and with one win under his belt already came out with some super sized momentum. The crowd cheered him on as he approached the donut area. With authority, he planted the throttle on the floor and the truck began to spin like crazy! With the crowd on their feet, the 10s popped up from the judges for another perfect 30! Grave Digger takes the first two wins of the night!
Monster Jam Racing, the third event of the night, was up next and the fans were ready to see these Monster Trucks go fast. And fast they went on the stretched out Chicago style track. The fans didn’t get to see the trucks hit the cars once or twice, but they saw three jumps from each driver during each race. Quick turns and low jumps would be key to take a win in racing. During round one, Backdraft took out El Toro Loco, Eradicator eliminated Rap Attack and Grave Digger took a jolly stroll around the track with the bye run. Backdraft was set to face Eradicator and Grave Digger would match up with fast loser El Toro Loco in the semi-finals. The father versus son match up was close but a misjudged turn by Backdraft gave Eradicator the edge at the finish line. Eradicator moved on to the finals. El Toro Loco was no match for Grave Digger as the black and green wrecking machine was on fire. Grave Digger was focused on that racing win headed into the finals. Staged and ready to run, Grave Digger waited patiently for Eradicator to fire in the pits. The track officials kept signaling for him to start, but nothing was happening. He was taking way too long and the officials put him on the clock. As time expired, Eradicator still would not fire and was out of luck. Backdraft was the fast loser from the semi-finals and made his way to the line to face Grave Digger who had been waiting for what seemed like a long time to get his chance at victory. Would the wait hurt Grave Digger’s chances at another win? When the light turned green and the trucks launched, it was all Grave Digger all the way. He crossed the finish line with gusto and took his third win of the night.
Only the Monster Jam Freestyle Competition remained and the fans were already primed by some amazing tricks from our FMX riders. Rap Attack started off the competition with a 16 followed by a 20 of El Toro Loco. Backdraft had some spring in his ride as he crushed cars and made quick turns to earn a 21. Eradicator fired in the pits and was ready to roll after he missed racing in the finals. After a couple awesome wheelies and quick turns, Eradicator turned up his game and ended his run with an awesome donut. A well deserved 23 was awarded to Eradicator. Of course Grave Digger was the final truck and he had a clean sweep in the back of his mind. He quickly raced down the home stretch in front of the crowd and hit a quick donut in turn one. Then he launched over the cars with speed and agility several times and then hit another donut in turn four. Headed back down the straight stretch he skied over the cars and then hit a single donut and screeched the truck to a stop just short of the fence. The fans were already on their feet and before the scores could be raised, everyone had a sense of what they would be. Perfect 10s again for Grave Digger! It’s a clean sweep for the night with Grave Digger taking all!
Saturday Afternoon-
Yesterday was a great day, but today was going to be hard to beat. The sunny skies provided a great Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits and the light breeze kept everyone cool as the Monster Trucks heated up the track with high powered horsepower.
The first event of the night was the Monster Jam Wheelie competition with Backdraft shooting across the cars first to earn a 17. El Toro Loco was next and earned a 13. Rap Attack, who broke the welds on his transfer case last night, was able to grind off the remnants of the old welds and put new welds in place for the afternoon show. He showed that he was definitely ready to roll with an intense wheelie and a score of 22. Eradicator took a short approach providing the crowd with a wheelie that was good, but not as impressive as last night for a 21. Gave Digger was the last truck out and started his approach to the cars from about 150 feet back. He slowly rolled up to the cars and goosed the throttle at just the right time to soar through the air. Score cards shot up with solid 9's for a 27 to take the win.
Flags were waving high as Backdraft came out for the Monster Jam Donut competition. No time was wasted as the truck barreled out of the pits and immediately rocked out a donut that sent the front wheel completely off the ground as he rotated. Backdraft's score of 17 started off the competition strong. Rap Attack attempted to get the truck to spin into a donut several times, but just couldn't get it to grab. He earned a 7. El Toro Loco performed like his name as he spun the big horns in a tight circle to take the lead with a score of 20. Eradicator busted loose his donut and kept it spinning as the truck started to walk towards the guardrail. He had to shut it down early and the judges took that into consideration. He still earned a 25 to take the lead. Grave Digger whirled into a long donut in turn four where everyone else was competing and when the truck stopped, he took off down the home stretch and let loose another tire smoking crazy donut in turn one. The fans where loving it and everyone got a taste of tire smoke from Grave Digger. From the roar of the crowd, you could tell that he was the winner. The judges awarded him a 29, good enough for the win.
Monster Jam Racing draw gave Eradicator the bye run and he came out first. After getting a good feel for the course, he returned to the pits. El Toro Loco faced Rap Attack for the first match up. It was El Toro Loco all the way and you could tell that there was some major damage to Rap Attack by the way that he was running. We found out that it was a twisted drive shaft that would put him out of competition for the rest of the night. Backdraft faced Grave Digger and the veteran proved to much for the rookie as Grave Digger soared to the finish. Backdraft came back as the fast loser against Eradicator and Eradicator easily cruised across the finish line first. El Toro Loco paired with Grave Digger. The Black and Green Wrecking Machine took out the Crazy Bull easily. Eradicator, who had the problem getting started in the racing finals last night, was the first one out of the pits for the finals. Grave Digger came out next and it was a dead even heat into the first turn. They stayed neck and neck until the final turn when Eradicator took it too wide and Grave Digger nailed it to take the win. A three peat so far for Grave Digger!
Only four trucks were still standing for the Monster Jam Freestyle competition. These drivers were not holding back and their machines were having a tough time holding up. El Toro Loco rolled out with some impressive wheelies and earned straight sixes. Backdraft was trying to catch air and just couldn't get what he was looking and only earned a 14. Eradicator was looking for vengeance after loosing in racing and busted loose some mean donuts and hit the cars for some air. The fans were impressed and he earned a 23. Grave Digger wasn't going to be outdone by Eradicator and immediately turned out a quick wheelie. The jolted down the track, hit the cars and then turned another donut. He hit the cars hard one more time and as he circled to hit the next stack, he slid sideways into the cars. That was a bad sign as we soon found out that he broke a tie rod. He ended his run early and still earned a 23. A tie! Our secret judge decided that Eradicator was our winner since Grave Digger did not fill the full 60 seconds!
Saturday Night -
Saturday night always makes for an exciting Monster Jam as the drivers know that they can punish their Monster Trucks because they are heading to the shop and can get anything fixed during the next week. The trucks here at Scotia Speedworld took that into effect and it was full throttle throughout the entire show.
The final round of competitions began with the Monster Jam Wheelie competition. Backdraft burped the throttle and didn’t get much air to earn a 10. El Toro Loco’s wheelie seemed deflated and he only earned a 12. Rap Attack was up next and he was hoping that all of his hard work between shows would pay off. He twisted the rear drive shaft in the afternoon show and once he got back to the trailer, realized that he didn’t have a spare. Luckily, he found someone that could make him a new one and it arrived right before the show. Rap Attack approached the cars with ease and then launched to cheers from the crowd for a 25. His lead would hold through the run of Eradicator who only scored a 24. Grave Digger was the last to go and began his signature long approach to the cars. The truck gingerly launched through the air and upon landing went right into a slap wheelie. The crowd went crazy and Grave Digger earned the first perfect score of the night to take the Monster Jam Wheelie competition win.
The show immediately proceeded to the donut competition. Backdraft began whirling and lifted the front left tire off the ground as he continued his rotations. He kept it spinning for a long time sending tire smoke into the clear night air. The Monster Jam judges were impressed and awarded him a 23. Rap Attack followed, but just couldn’t seem to get the donut to catch and only scored a 5. Backdraft would hold on to the top spot after the donut of El Toro Loco who was impressive but kept all the rubber down on the pavement for a 20. El Toro Loco was barely back in the pits when Eradicator decided it was time to really turn it up. He started his donut a little closer to the edge of the track in turn four and kept it going as feverishly turned, smoking the tires. Then, he whipped out down the home stretch and headed for turn one. He repeated the same awesome donut for all the fans at the other end of the track! The judges responded to the awesome performance with a 28. After scores were posted, Eradicator he whipped back down the home stretch to way at the fans. Grave Digger came out for his run in the donut competition and started his donut a little too close to the cars and couldn’t hold it as long as he wished. He cut out early and headed down the homestretch to turn a donut for the fans at the other end. The scores only showed a 26, not good enough to top Eradicator’s 28. Eradicator takes the Donut title in tonight’s show.
Grave Digger started off the Monster Jam Racing with the bye run and got a good feel for the course. Backdraft faced Rap Attack who took the win in the first match up of round one. El Toro Loco faced Eradicator whose adrenaline was still pumping after winning the donut competition. El Toro went down with a fight and Eradicator moved on to the semifinals to face Rap Attack. Grave Digger matched up against fast loser El Toro Loco in the first race of the semifinals. Grave Digger easily took the win by nearly half a lap. Rap Attack raced hard but just couldn’t edge out Eradicator. The finals matched up the winners from our two previous competitions, Grave Digger and Eradicator. Could Eradicator take the win from Grave Digger? Red turned to green and they left the PartSource starting line. The race was tied until the last turn and Eradicator took the last turn a little wide giving Grave Digger the edge as he cruised across the finish line.
Ready to cap off an exciting weekend with an amazing freestyle competition, the superstars of Monster Jam readied in the pits for the final competition. El Toro Loco hit the track and immediately started attacking the cars to catch air and then finished his run with a sweet donut. El Toro Loco kicked of Monster Jam Freestyle with a 22. Backdraft followed in the footsteps of El Toro Loco with big air and a donut, but the judges found him not as impressive and awarded him a 19. Rap Attack, having been impressive all night, really poured it on during his run. His big air and wheelies were the most impressive of the night so far earning him a 25. Mixing it up with quick turns and wheelies, Eradicator ended his run with a donut for a score of 21 and he kept going after his scores were posted. He turned out two more donuts and several more hits of the cars before headed back down the home stretch and waved at the fans. Rap Attack’s 25 would be the number to beat for Grave Digger as he mashed the throttle and abused the first set of cars with huge air and a donut in turn one. He hit the second set of cars with the same gusto and immediately turned a donut in turn four. He kept catching air and even hit a slap wheelie before ending his run with a donut on the finish line before lurching the truck at the fence towards the crowd. Skull and crossbones flags flew high with the scorecards that showed a 29. Grave Digger takes three out of four competitions in the final show at Scotia Speedworld!
By Monster Jam Announcer Leslie Mears
