Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome

Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam
Tacoma Dome
Tacoma, WA
January 14-16, 2011

Bounty Hunter has a perfect night as Jimmy Creten not only scored his first Double Down For 2011, but he also received his bid to the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam World Finals. The lag was presented before the start of the show and the 5th truck to qualify for the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam World Finals showed why he deserved it. Bounty Hunter outlasted the field of fourteen Monster Trucks, that's right fourteen - which was also a first for Tacoma and the Great fans. The additional trucks that were added to this schedule came when the Atlanta show was rebooked for Febuary 12th due to the Falcons playing at home for the NFL Playoffs. The four added trucks were Mohawk Warrior, Lucas Oil Crusader , Advance Auto Parts Grinder, and Superman.

A few more firsts for the night was the Debut of the Monster Mutt Rottweiler and Grave Digger The Legend driven by the veteran Tony Farrell. Farrell never missed a beat by taking a year off from Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam as he placed second in Freestyle, one point from a tie with Bounty Hunter. By no means was it easy for Bounty Hunter all night as a little bit of luck also fell his way. Creten was taken out in round one of racing by an impressive Superman only to get a second chance as fast looser and made his way to the finals defeating George Balhan in Mohawk Warrior. Balhan had a great come back from his last week disapointment in Houston.

Here are tonights results:

Racing Round one: Superman def. Bounty Hunter, Monster Mutt Rottweiler def. Captain USA, Iron Outlaw def. Grave Digger (Digger won but 5 second penalty), Mohawk Warrior def. El Toro Loco, Grinder def. Grave Digger The Legend, The Patriot def. Western Renegade, Tropical Thunder def. Lucas Oil Crusader (Crusader rolled in last turn).

Round Two: Superman def. Monster Mutt Rottweiler, Mohawk def. Iron Outlaw, The Patriot def. Grinder, Bounty Hunter(fast looser) def. Tropical Thunder.

Semi Finals: Mohawk Warrior def. Superman, Bounty Hunter def. The Patriot

Finals Bounty Hunter def. Mohawk Warrior

Freestyle
Bounty Hunter 24
Grave Digger The Legend 23
Grave Digger 23
Iron Outlaw 22
Grinder 21
Mohawk Warrior 20
El Toro Loco 18
Superman 16
Captain USA 15
Monster Mutt Rottweiler 15
Tropical Thunder 14
Lucas Oil Crusader 14
Western Renegade 12
Tropical Thunder Broke

By the way there is four more shows here in Tacoma before the weekend is over, which is another first with 14 trucks. Till tomorrow!

Advance Auto Parts MOnster Jam Announcer, Greg Whitacre.

The all new Grave Digger The Legend is here to stay and veteran driver Tony Farrell is back. Farrell coming off a 1 year brake never missed a beat and has already recorded his first major freestyle victory. I say major because of a 14 truck field with 2 world champions and 7 World finals trucks along with 5 World finals veterans. Linsey Weenk also had a great day as he made it the the UTI racing championship and defeat Patriot in true fasion for his new sponsor.

There was some spectacular moments in both racing and freestyle. Some that stands out was a end over end roll over by El Toro Loco in round two of racing as he crossed the finish line sideways and rolled the truck twice loosing a horn. The Rookie driver Bari Musawwir experienced his first roll over in his carrer and the fans loved it. Charles Benns, piloting the new Monster Mutt Rottweiler, also had a spectacular roll over at the end of his freestyle igniting the fans and himself. Tropical Thunder was again superb in racing making it to the finals only to have to pass up the oppurtunity because of mechanical problems. Andrew Peckham, the driver of Tropical Thunder, not only defeated Grave Digger in round one but took out Bounty Hunter in round two. That was huge! Both Racing and freestyle were tight competitions all day and here are the results.

Round one racing: The Patriot def. Captain USA, Advance Auto Parts Grinder def. Superman, Tropical Thunder def. Grave Digger, Bounty Hunter def. El Toro Loco, Lucas Oil Crusader def. Mohawk Warrior, Monster Mutt Rottweiler def. Western Renegade(broke), Iron Outlaw def. Grave Digger The Legend.

Round two: The Patriot def. Advance Auto Parts Grinder, Tropical Thunder def. Bounty Hunter, Lucas Oil Crusader def. Monster Mutt Rottweiler, Iron Outlaw def. El Toro Loco(fast looser).

Semi Finals: Tropical Thunder def. The Patriot, Lucas Oil Crusader def. Iron outlaw.

Finals: Lucas Oil Crusader def. The Patriot (Tropical Thunder broke)

Freestyle
Grave Digger The Legend 27
Grave Digger 25
Bounty Hunter 24
Lucas Oil Crusader 22
Mohawk Warrior 21
Iron Outlaw 19
Advance Auto Parts Grinder 19
Superman 18
El Toro Loco 17
Monster Mutt Rottweiler 16
The Patriot 16
Tropical Thunder 12
Western Renegade Broke
Capatain USA Broke

Another Double Down trophy was given away tonight as Jimmy Creten regained control and swept the field of fourteen Monster Trucks. It was a night of fierce competition with some of the closest and controversial finish in racing yet this year. It was also some of the wildest rides in freestyle that Tacoma has seen in a long time.

The night started off with racing and right away some trucks were haveing mechanical problems. Iron Outlaw crashed in racing loosing by inches to Grave Digger The Legend and thrashed on the truck till freestyle making it out just in time. Rod Schmidt was looking for his first win of the night when he broke a right front wheel off of the Black and Green Wrecking machine in freestyle. But more high lights were to come as Grave Digger The Legend made it to the finals in racing and again wowed the crowd and judges in freestyle to finish another close second. This so far has been the toughest truck line up in a long time. Remeber drivers such as Veteran George Balhan, Chad Fortune and Lupe Soza have yet to see the winners circle. But there is still two more chances tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow night. Here are tonights results:

Round one racing: Lucas Oil Crusader def. El Toro Loco, Tropical Thunder def. Mohawk Warrior, Grave Digger The Legend def. The Patriot, Iron Outlaw def. Captain USA, Superman def. Monster Mutt Rottweiler, Grinder def. Grave Digger, Bounty Hunter bye.

Round two racing: Lucas Oil Crusader def. Tropical Thunder, Grave Digger The Legend def. Iron Outlaw Grinder def. Superman, Bounty hunter def. The Patriot(fast looser).

Semi Finals: Grave Digger The Legend def. Lucas Oil Crusader, Bounty Hunter def. Grinder.

Finals: Bounty Hunter def. Grave Digger The Legend

Freestyle:
Bounty Hunter 28
Grave Digger The Legend 27
Advance Auto Parts Grinder 24
Mohawk Warrioir 23
Superman 22
Lucas Oil Crusader 21
The Patriot 16
Monster Mutt Rottweiler 14
El Toro Loco 13
Tropical Thunder 12
Grave Digger 11
Iron Outlaw 9
Captain USA Broke
Western Renegade Broke

Lucas Oil Crusader and Mohawk Warrior were the big winners of the day as Linsey Weenk drove Lucas Oil Crusader to another Racing victory and George Balhan throtled Mohawk Warrior to his first freestyle win of the weekend.

It was another close day of racing and scoring of freestyle that made for some exciting action. Bounty Hunter looked like he was going to be the one to beat in racing today but in the semi final match up between him and The Patriot, Bounty Hunter rolled over in the final turn ending his chance at back to back wins. El Toro Loco and the new driver Bari Musawwir had a great racing start taking out Tropical Thunder in round one and Grave Digger The Legend in round two. Some other action was the start to Grave Digger The Legend's Freestyle which was off the hook but ended with 56 seconds left on the clock still geting a score of 15. Farrell possibly would have won if he didn't loose power unexpectedly. Linsey Weenk also lost out on a Double Down Trophy by one point in Freestyle only to place second.

Racing Round one: Lucas Oil Crusader def. Iron Outlaw, Grave Digger def. Western Renegade, El Toro Loco def. Tropical Thunder, Grave Digger The Legend BYE, Grinder def. Monster Mutt Rottweiler, Bounty Hunter def. Mohawk Warrior, The Patriot def. Superman.

Racing Round Two: Lucas Oil Crusader def. Grave Digger, El Toro def. Grave Digger The Legend, Bounty Hunter def. Grinder, The Patriot def, Mohawk Warrior (fast looser)

Semi Finals: Lucas Oil Crusader def. El Toro, The Patriot def. Bounty Hunter.

Finals Lucas Oil Crusader def. The Patriot

Freestyle
Mohawk Warrior 23
Lucas Oil Crusader 22
Bounty Hunter 21
Grave Digger 20
Advance Auto Parts Grinder 19
El Toro Loco 17
Monster Mutt Rottweiler 16
Superman 16
Iron outlaw 15
The Patriot 15
Grave Digger The Legend 15
Tropical Thunder Broke

The fans today were great even with their beloved Seattle Seahawks lose to the Chicago Bears. See you Tonight for the last of five awesome shows.

Tacoma, WA loves its Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam and they are the luckiest fans in the land. They were treated to the best Monster Trucks in the world not once, but five times this weekend. The last of five shows proved to be just as exciting as the rest. Grave Digger The Legend won over the crowd with some spectacular air in freestyle ending prematurely in a roll over. Mohawk Warrior was awesome in racing fighting back from the fast loser spot to take out Lucas Oil Crusader. Bounty Hunter grabbed another freestyle victory as his brand new truck seems to be the right combination to be a huge threat at the World Finals.

Racing Round one: Mohawk Warrior def. Grave Digger, The Patriot def. El Toro Loco, Bounty Hunter def. Monster Mutt Rottweiler, Iron Outlaw def. Superman, Lucas Oil Crusader def. Grave Digger The Legend, Grinder def. Tropical Thunder.

Racing Round Two: Lucas Oil Crusader def. Grinder, Iron Outlaw def. Bounty Hunter, The Patriot def. Mohawk Warrior

Semi Finals: Lucas Oil Crusader def. The Patriot, Mohawk Warrior (fast looser) def. Iron Outlaw.

Finals Mohawk Warrior defeats Lucas Oil Crusader

Freestyle
Bounty Hunter 26
Advance Auto Parts Grinder 25
Lucas Oil Crusader 24
Grave Digger 24
Mohawk Warrior 23
Monster Mutt Rottweiler 19
Superman 19
Grave Digger The Legend 18
El Toro Loco 18
The Patriot 16
Iron Outlaw 16
Tropical Thunder Broke

I can't wait until next year and I'm sure the fans can not wait either. Till Next time! Greg Whitacre