The crowd at the Mobile Civic Center joined us in the cool air as Subway Restaurants presented the Southern Ford Dealers Monster Jam brought to you by series sponsors Advance Auto Parts and Ford Trucks. But the cool would only last for a short time as the Monster Trucks heated up the arena in a hurry.
The night kicked off with the Monster Jam Wheelie Competition. The cars were staged five deep and were ready to be destroyed. Cowboy bolted up on the cars to earn a respectable nine followed by the 12 of Martial Law. The crowd was looking for just a bit more as Instigator approached the Advance Auto Parts starting line. He poured on the Torco and shot up in the air to the last car, floating down to the sounds of the crowd. Instigator earned an 18 to be the man to beat. Gunslinger got in the throttle a little late and only earned a 10. Instigator had a shot at the win with only one truck left, but that one truck was Grave Digger. He blasted from the pits with authority to be staged. The crowd was pumped as Grave Digger walked the truck to the cars and let loose of the throttle roaring through the air and landing the bumper of the truck on the last car. He walked it on out and brought it down on all fours to the roar of the crowd. The judges liked what they saw and awarded Grave Digger a 23 to take the win in the first competition of the night.
With adrenaline pumping and the atmosphere heating up, the Monster Jam Racing competition got underway. The bracket for racing was decided before the show as some young fans of Monster Jam helped out our Superstars by drawing chips for them. Gunslinger made a great pass as the bye round was run first. Cowboy faced Instigator in the second pair and in a close race Cowboy edged him out. Martial Law and Grave Digger comprised the final pair with Grave Digger coming out on top and moving on. Gunslinger faced Instigator, who came back as the fast loser, in the first pair of the semi-finals. Another close one, but Gunslinger was cocked, locked and ready to rock winning by a bumper. The final pair of the semi-final placed Grave Digger and Cowboy at the starting line together. While the crowd was mostly behind Grave Digger, there were several that thought Cowboy had a shot. As the lights went green, Grave Digger was too fast off the line and left Cowboy behind. Instigator came back in the consolation round to face Cowboy, a repeat of the first match up of round one. The crowd got another great race, but the same outcome as the first round with Cowboy securing the number three spot in Monster Jam Racing for the night. Now that third place was settled, we could move on to the Monster Jam racing finals. With Gunslinger and Grave Digger set at the line, no one was sure who was going to come out on top. The light turned green and both trucks launched from the line and hit the cars a little sideways. Neither one was going straight as they crossed the Built Ford Tough Finish line but Grave Digger got there first. Grave Digger wins racing!
After a short break to let the engines cool from racing, the show resumed with the Subway Donut contest. Instigator was first out of the pits and was ready for action after some tough rounds of racing. As soon as the truck hit the Subway Donut area, it immediately begin to whirl. As the first competitor out, he set the bar high with a 19. Martial Law was out next and couldn't compare to Instigator with his donut and score of 14. Cowboy, who placed third in racing, was trying to move himself to the head of the pack, but couldn't get his donut going. His score, 5. Gunslinger was next and followed the lead of Instigator. He didn't waste any time and immediately began to rotate feverishly spinning for what seemed like an endless time. When he finally stopped, the judges declared that there was a new leader with a score of 23. Grave Digger came out last and had a tough run to beat. His donut began at the far end of the donut, as far as he could get from the cars, and be mashed the throttle and turned on the rear steer. As the donut began to get faster and faster, the truck began to walk across the floor. Grave Digger got out of the throttle to help keep the truck on course and then would get right back in it to keep it going. He did this until the truck had made its way all the way down to the crush cars. The crowd loved it and the judges gave it a 25. Grave Digger edges out Gunslinger by two points.
As we prepared for the Southern Ford Dealers Freestyle competition, word came in from our USHRA technical officials that Instigator broke the front steering on his truck and would not be able to make it out for the competition. A disappointed Lionel Easler slumped in the pits and awaited the beginning of the competition. Martial Law would be the first official competitor and circled around to the white crush cars and hit them hard. He circled back around and immediately set himself up to go after the van stack in the middle and mashed the throttle to attack it. It seemed as if he was having a tough time getting over it and as he came down, the truck sat right on top of the van and he was hung up. Using a rocking forward and reverse combination that all drivers use when stuck, he finally got the truck free but time was out on his freestyle run. He only scored a 9. Cowboy came out next and hit things hard as he caught some air whipping around the course. Things were starting to heat up as he earned a 12. Gunslinger busted loose next, caught some big air and made quick turns to utilize his time wisely. Close to the end of his run, he pulled the truck up to the van stack and put his arms out the window to pump up the crowd. His time expired as they gave him some encouragement, then he threw it in reverse and sailed through the air over the van stack and into the donut area. Turning a quick donut, he then waved to the crowd and headed into the pits. Since the big air and the donut didn't count, Gunslinger only scored a 15. One truck remained and it would be hard to tell what Grave Digger driver Pablo Huffaker had in store for the fans. He circled the floor and then quickly went for some big air over the cars. It was one of the biggest moves that we had seen all night and he turned slightly crossways in the air and landed the same way close to disaster. He saved it and continued mayhem on the floor whipping around for more intense air and even crossing up the cars at one time. The run continued way after the lights turned red and after a quick donut the run ended as Grave Digger plopped the beast up on top of the blue crush cars. The judges scores, which had been in for a while, were released for a total of 23. Grave Digger takes the Southern Ford Dealers Freestyle competition and makes it a clean sweep tonight at the Mobile Civic Center.
With all the action that we saw tonight, I can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow.
Saturday Night
The rain was pouring down outside the Mobile Civic Center but it didn't keep the loyal Monster Jam fans away from our Monster Jam Party in the Pits. As the venue filled up, you could tell that everyone was ready as Subway Restaurants presented the Southern Ford Dealers Monster brought to you by series sponsors Advance Auto Parts and Ford Trucks.
The night kicked off with the introduction of our Monster Jam superstars but excitement for the start of the show soon turned into intensity for Team Grave Digger driver Pablo Huffaker. As the truck came onto the floor during "Bad to the Bone", Huffaker tried to turn into a donut when suddenly the truck came to a dead stop. Some speculated at first thought it was a broken crank shaft, but after further inspection by crew chief Aaron Basl, we soon found out that it was a broken input shaft in the transmission. To fix this problem during the show would be tough as it is usually a task that takes at least 90 minutes to accomplish. But as the rest of our Monster Trucks settled in for the donut contest, crew members from Cowboy, Martial Law and Instigator came over to lend a hand. This would leave one question in everyone's mind during the show. Would they get a chance to see the legendary Grave Digger in action?
The Monster Jam Wheelie competition began as the crew members feverishly worked on Grave Digger. Cowboy came out first and scored a 7. Martial Law, who had worked most of the day repairing popped tires from Friday night's performance, busted out a wheelie for a 14. Instigator was up next and did a great job at hitting the throttle at the most opportune time and took the lead with a 15. Gunslinger was last out and tried to replicate the maneuver of Instigator but didn't quite do it as well and only scored a 12. Instigator starts the night off with a win in the Monster Jam Wheelie competition.
Racing brackets had been drawn before the show by some of the young fans of Monster Jam, but with Grave Digger still in pieces adjustments to the brackets were made. The first pair output Cowboy against Instigator. This was a match that Cowboy had won twice on Friday night but as they say in all sports, it's hard to beat someone three times in a row. Instigator proved the old saying true as he took out Cowboy by half a truck length. Gunslinger came to the line to face Martial Law. As the lights dropped from red to green, it was Gunslinger all the way and moving on to the finals. The consolation match up for third place paired Cowboy against Martial Law. Cowboy took the lead right off the line and rolled on to a third place finish in Monster Jam racing. The crowd was pumped as Gunslinger and Instigator headed out to get set for Monster Jam Racing finals. Being the first off the line would be key for Instigator as Gunslinger's reflexes seemed to be lightening fast tonight. The lights changed and it was Gunslinger first off the Advance Auto Parts starting line again! That edge was all he needed and he soared on to take the win in our second competition.
Before taking a break to let the Monster Trucks cool down, there were sounds from the pits that delighted the fans. It was the sound of the black and green wrecking machine firing up and testing out the new tranny that they had just installed. A few more bops of the throttle gave the crowd more excitement, knowing that they would get to see the legendary truck in action for the Subway Donut competition and Southern Ford Dealers Freestyle.
The Subway Donut competition started off with some real excitement as Cowboy busted loose a crazy donut for a score of 18. An impressive score as our official Monster Jam judges have been tough to impress all weekend. Martial Law came out next and couldn't seem to get the truck to bust loose and only earned an 8. Instigator, looking for his second win of the night, held nothing back as he turned the truck into a crazy spin as the tires sent up a little smoke and left some rubber behind. His score, 21! A new leader! Gunslinger was primed from the racing win and decided to get a little extra motivation from the fans as he took a parade lap before heading to the Subway Donut area on the floor. He started with a broad circle that tightened up right away into a whirling frenzy. Gunslinger was spinning amazingly fast and surprisingly was staying in one spot. When he finally came to a stop, the crowd let him know how much they enjoyed his performance. The judges liked it too as Gunslinger was awarded a 24. Grave Digger rolled out next and made a special lap around the floor of the Mobile Civic Center to let the fans know that he was ready for action. He began his donut and started spinning, but couldn't seem to get the truck to stay in one place. Grave Digger had to get out of the throttle to steer the Monster Truck back towards the center of the floor and basically begin his donut again. He spun for a long time, and the judges rightly awarded him a 21. That gave Gunslinger's fast spin the win for the Subway Donut Contest. Two out of three ain't bad, but could Gunslinger use this momentum to take the win in the Southern Ford Dealers Freestyle competition? Only time would tell.
The air was intense and the crowd ready for mayhem as the Southern Ford Dealers Freestyle competition began. Instigator stuck to basic moves with some wheelies and air to kick things off with a 12. Martial Law rolled out next and immediately went for the van stack first and launched the truck. He followed that up with some cool wheelies and quick turns to land a score of 17. Cowboy spurred his truck and attacked the floor looking to lasso up a good score. He utilized the van stack for some cool air and then killed the crush cars with wheelies. His score was a 19. This competition was really heating up! Gunslinger took a parade lap for the crowd and then began by squaring up the van stack and just letting it rip. It was by far the biggest air of the night. He whipped back around for a half eight and then attacked the cars with some wheelies. He came back and went for the van stack again, this time popping a mini slap wheelie close to the wall. He backed up and ended the run with a 5 revolution donut and awaited his scores which totaled 24. Pumped up because he took the lead, Gunslinger headed back into the pits to observe the run of the final competitor. Barking the throttle in the pits, Grave Digger made sure that his motor was good and warm before heading to the floor. Since he missed the wheelie competition, he made his first maneuver a killer one. He bopped the throttle and skied the truck up landing the bumper between the fourth and fifth cars and scooting the fifth car a little further out on the floor. The black and green machine whipped around the floor faster than any of our other competitors making good use of his 60 seconds. The next move was huge air off the van stack turned into a killer slap wheelie. Rounding the corner and heading back for more, he wheelied of the set of cars that he separated earlier and landed way past the last car, leaving them all untouched but the first one. As a finale, another launch followed by a slap wheelie and then a cross threaded move that ending in a whirl of a donut. The crowd was on their feet as they heard the scores, 9, 9, 7 for a total of 25! Grave Digger excites the crowd and the judges with a big win in the Southern Ford Dealers Freestyle competition!
What an exciting weekend filled with surprises here at the Mobile Civic Center!
By Monster Jam Announcer Leslie Mears
