Weekend Race Recap
Saturday 2:00
Gothenberg Sweden was rocking again to Monster Jam for the second straight year. The weather was much cooler than the last time we were here and the rain and wind held out. There were many firsts for the fans of Sweden as they saw Donkey Kong for the first time along with Superman and Jurassic Attack.
The day started off with qualifying which is done on one of the biggest tracks on the European tour which is also the fastest. Thor the only Swedish truck running today was the crowd favorite and had the second fastest time next to Max. D. Donkey Kong was third quickest followed by the rookie Cam McQueen in Jurassic Attack.
In round one of racing the excitement started when Donkey Kong edged out Grave Digger by less than a half of a tire as well as the roll over of the day when Thor defeated El Toro Loco with a violent crash at the end. Thor was unable to make it back for racing or freestyle but promised he would be ready for tomorrow. In round one racing Taz defeated Jurassic Attack, Superman took out Monster Mutt and Maximum Destruction beat Jetix. Grave Digger came back in round two as the fast looser but was still beaten by a very fast Max D. Taz also was getting faster from round to round and he defeated Donkey Kong in his Match up. The last race in round two went to El Toro Loco who had a second chance as he took out Superman. It still was Max D. who was taking the fastest times and it would show as he made it to the finals by beating Superman as well as Taz taking out El Toro Loco. In the finals Meentz had the early lead and Taz was trying to make up some ground but blew an engine half way through the race giving Max D. the first win of the day.
Freestyle was next and the huge stadium floor was packed with obstacles that would intimidate any Monster Truck driver. The first to tackle the freestyle course was rookie Cam McQueen as he scored an impressive 11 to take the early lead. With only 8 trucks to go Donkey Kong flew high and far to gain the lead with a 19 only to fall short to a thrilling performance by Grave Digger who scored a 25. Jetix also was unable to take the lead with his score of 17 as well as Superman score of 17. El Toro was next and and matched Diggers score for a tie with some huge air off of all of the obstacles. Monster Mutt fell short on his run with a score of 23 leaving only Max D. to go. The crowd was waving there flags when Meentz came to the floor and he went big right at the start breaking the right rear bolt that holds on the sway arm. With the truck hurting Meentz continued until he cyclone the truck into the ground giving him a score of 23 and not doubling down. The judges conferred and gave the win by one extra point to El Toro Loco for his first European victory.
Sunday 2:00
Monster Jam fans stormed into the Ullevi stadium for another action packed Monster Jam series that started in the rain but ended in beautiful sun filled skies. Grave Digger took the racing trophy and El Toro Loco again amazed the crowd and judges to sweep the freestyle competition for the weekend.
Grave Digger was the fastest truck in qualifying with a time of 13.71 sec. followed by Monster Mutt with a 13.77 sec. run. Grave Digger took the finals victory over El Toro Loco in a very close race that had the Swedish fans on there feet. Chad Tingler drove Digger to victory in round one by defeating Taz, round two by beating fast looser Thor and the semi finals by taking out fast looser Maximum Destruction in another close and thrilling race. Tingler was able to flat track his Digger truck enough on the wet and slippery track that kept his truck under control unlike the competition as all trucks had at one time or two spin out in the turns. In other action Max D. defeated Superman in round one and Jetix beat Thor as well as Monster Mutt defeating Donkey Kong. El Toro Loco made it to the finals by taking out Jurassic Attack in round one , Max D. in round two and Monster Mutt in the semi finals.
In freestyle action the fans got to see some wicked air crazy doughnuts and wild rollovers. Jurassic Attack took the first score of the day with another solid performance and a score of 13. Thor took the lead by one with a score of 14 but Donkey Kong took that away with some sick air and a score of 23. Only two other trucks would score higher than Donkey Kong and one of them was Max D. who took a 24 and didn't even fill the clock because of a roll over offf the back side of the huge FMX hill. El Toro Loco was the other truck scoring higher than both as Damon Bradshaw took his second freestyle win with a score of 26 that included the longest jump and highest air that any truck would get for the whole weekend. Other scores were Grave Digger and Monster Mutt 21, Jetix 16,Superman 19 and Taz 11.
Some of the biggest talk of the weekend was about the bad luck Adam Anderson is having over here on the Europe tour. This weekend alone, he had only made four trips around the stadium floor in two whole shows, one because of a blown engine and two because of a broken axle that happen in freestyle. I hope this bad luck quits for the reigning world champion because it’s hard enough to win with the best in the business trying to take you out let alone just holding on to the world title.
Monster Jam Announcer--Greg Whitacre
