Weekend Race Recap
Saturday 2pm:
Monsters are Back in Stafford
By: Joe Lowe
The monsters returned to Stafford Motor Speedway this Saturday afternoon bringing all the excitement of Chicago Style Roundy Round Racing to the New England track. Freestyle Motocross and Quad Wars also were a part of the event.
From the very beginning one could tell the track was going to be a challenge. Problems began right away for Chris Baker in El Toro Loco. Before the afternoon was out Bulldozer, Mopar Magic, Thrasher and 7 time world champ Maximum Destruction needed attention from their pit crews. Without going into detail you might have said the gods of Stafford were not pleased and did everything they could to create a hostile environment for the monster jam crews. Tom Meents fried a transmission with his winning freestyle. Pat Summa's Thrasher ran hot and experienced motor problems all afternoon. It was everyone working to get the trucks back together for the second event.
Results:
Truck Wheelie Freestyle
Eradicator 12 19
Bulldozer 11 broke
Mopar Magic 13 23
Thrasher 12 18
Stone Crusher 17 13
El Toro Loco DNF 16
Maximum Destruction 22 26
Grave Digger 26 24
Racing Results:
Round One:
Maximum Destruction with a bye run when El Toro Broke
Grave Digger beat Bulldozer
Stone Crusher over Eradicator
Thrasher beat Mopar Magic
Semi-Finals:
Maximum Destruction downed Thrasher
Grave Digger beat Stone Crusher
Finals:
Maximum Destruction defeated Grave Digger
Freestyle Motocross winner was Shawn Conners of E. Dorset Vt. and Quad Wars went to Team New England.
As crews wrenched on the trucks, the driver signed autographs for the fans, hoping to get done in time to help get the trucks ready for the 8pm event.
Saturday Night Monster Jam
By: Joe Lowe
The second of three weekend events at Stafford Motor Speedway began with all trucks ready for the big show. This was no small task given the carnage of the afternoon event that left trucks scattered in the pits like a battlefield during wartime.
Thrasher broke after the qualifying round and could not answer the race call. Later in the second half luck also ran out for Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction. Grave Digger faired well in the afternoon event winning fastest qualifier and the freestyle competition. The action was fast and furious as Stone Crusher driven by Steve Sims, Mopar Magic with Carl Van Horn aboard both scored in the mid to high 20’s forcing both Grave Digger and Max D. to pull out all the stops. The incredible monster freestyle was hands down the most exciting many had ever seen and perhaps the most exciting I had seen since the World Finals or Monster Jams triumphant return to the New Orleans Superdome.
Results:
Truck Wheelie Freestyle
Eradicator 9 19
Bulldozer 11 18
Mopar Magic 14 25
Thrasher 16 17
Stone Crusher 18 23
El Toro Loco 12 19
Maximum Destruction 20 25
Grave Digger 26 27
Race Results:
Round One:
Maximum Destruction over El Toro Loco
Mopar Magic downed Stone Crusher
Grave Digger over Eradicator
Bulldozer bye when Thrasher failed to start
Semi Finals:
Maximum Destruction over Mopar Magic
Bulldozer downed Grave Digger who did not stay on the track
Finals:
Maximum Destruction beat Bulldozer
Freestyle Motocross again brought out the excitement of two wheel action to the fans. With Mike Leslie, Justin Hicks and Shawn Conners going thru the paces that make them a fan favorite.
In Quad Wars Team N.Y. was the winner.
As the fans left the track many promised to return for the 2pm event on Sunday.
Monster Jam Sunday Stafford Motor Speedway
By: Joe Lowe
The beautiful town of Stafford Springs Conn. may have been settled in 1719 but this weekend it was rocked by Monster Jam for the 19th year.
The third and final Monster Jam event of the summer at Stafford was like the reverse of the Month of March. It came in like a lamb but went out like a lion. The long hard weekend featured Chicago Style Roundy Round Racing for the first time and a freestyle course with not one but two big Pyramid jumps plus a wheelie bump. After two event on Saturday, the track began to take its toll on the monsters.
By the end of the afternoon Bulldozer and Stone Crusher both suffered motor problems. Carl Van Horn rolled Mopar Magic in freestyle and teammates Grave Digger and El Toro Loco both were leaking fluid. All that said, within two minutes of the events ending, a thunderstorm struck the track. The storm didn’t cancel the autograph session, it merely delayed it until track officials were able to move things to the clubhouse where fans and drivers could socialize in safe dry conditions.
Grave Digger began the day strong with a win in the wheelie contest but that is where the good times ended for the black and green wrecking machine. Digger was the slowest qualifier bringing him up against fastest and arch enemy Maximum Destruction in race one of round number one. Max D was too much for Randy Brown on Sunday. Grave Digger also could not pull out enough points to win the freestyle. Maximum Destruction beat him again by one point.
Strong showings from El Toro Loco and Mopar Magic in qualifying and from Eradicator and Thrasher in racing proved it was going to be anybodies race. The real winner was the fans who enjoyed one action packed Sunday event.
Results:
Truck Wheelie Freestyle
Eradicator 15 22
Bulldozer 13 20
Mopar Magic 13 23
Thrasher 16 21
Stone Crusher 18 broke
El Toro Loco 14 17
Maximum Destruction 18 26
Grave Digger 22 25
In Quad Wars Team New England was victorious in the main. Freestyle Motocross gave fans a treat with a jam session featuring an incredible bag of trick bringing the entire grandstand to their feet cheering with excitement.
Race Results:
Round One:
Maximum Destruction defeated Grave Digger
Thrasher over Eradicator
Mopar Magic downed Bulldozer
El Toro Loco bye run with Stone Crusher failing to answer the call
Round Two:
Max D downed El Toro Loco
Mopar Magic over Thrasher
Final:
Mopar Magic beat Maximum Destruction to win the race portion of Monster Jam.
When all was said and done many new Monster Jam fans were created this weekend in New England. The fans also loved the Chicago Style course and the opportunity to meet new drivers Chris Baker in El Toro Loco and Carl Van Horn in his new ride Mopar Magic.
Tickets for the 2009 Monster Jam at Stafford Motor Speedway go on sale at Midnight tonight with adult tickets $5 off thru next Sunday night thru Ticketmaster.com.
