Tampa, FL - Raymond James Stadium

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Trucks: USHRA Monster Trucks including Grave Digger® driven by Dennis Anderson, Maximum Destruction® driven by Neil Elliott, El Toro Loco® driven by Chuck Werner, Advance Auto Parts Grinder℠ driven by Lupe Soza, Madusa, Avenger driven by Jim Koehler, Wrecking Crew driven by Steve Koehler, Brutus driven by Chris Bergeron, Spike driven by Rich Helgendorf, Eradicator driven by Andy Slifko, Backdraft driven by Jeremy Slifko, Gunslinger driven by Scott Hartsock, Nitemare driven by Andy Hoffman, War Wizard driven by Randy Moore, Predator, and Pouncer!

Saturday 7:00 p.m. – Reigning World Freestyle Champion Jim Koehler competed in Tampa for the first time and showed the standing room only crowd his championship form to power Avenger to the freestyle victory after Dennis Anderson got back on the winning track, claiming the racing trophy in Grave Digger Saturday night at Raymond James Stadium.

Setting a new attendance record in a facility that has hosted sold out Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam events annually for several years had the 16 truck field pumped up from the start and the fans were excited about the debut of a new race course in Tampa, called Anaheim Style with a circuit that featured the trucks starting side-by-side on a table top, turning away from each other before negotiating a tight turn at the far end of the track, then a long powerful straightaway into the final turn and back over the table top to cross to finish line. It appeared that the tricky course had thrown Grave Digger the biggest curve ball as Anderson was one of three drivers that made mistakes and did not compete course in qualifying while Neil Elliott grabbed the top seed in the race bracket after laying down the fastest run in the time trials behind the wheel of Maximum Destruction.

After a pep talk from Grave Digger Crew Chief Dustin Brown Anderson figured out the circuit by round one when he posted the fastest time of the night right off the bat in his first round win over Chuck Werner in El Toro Loco. From their Grave Digger marched impressively through the bottom half of the bracket while Maximum Destruction was looking equally as sharp advancing through the upper part of the ladders, giving the roaring crowd what it was hoping for, a Grave Digger vs. Maximum Destruction match-up in the UTI Championship Round for the second straight week. One week earlier Elliott beat Anderson by .03 of a second to taking the race trophy at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, but this time Anderson exacted his measure of revenge with Grave Digger outlasting Maximum Destruction in the finale.

The Advance Auto Parts Service is our Best Part Freestyle competition saw Team Scream’s Steve Koehler take the hot seat early on, his wild Wrecking Crew freestyle performance would keep the lead for more than half of the competition. It would be Florida favorite Scott Hartsock in Gunslinger who would rest the lead away from Wrecking Crew with a big air assault in front of his home state fans. Gunslinger stayed in front until phenom Jeremy Slifko brought the crowd to its feet with an amazing freestyle that saw Slifko going over the ragged edge, rolling Backdraft twice and both times the truck came back around onto its wheels and Slifko continued but the truck eventually broke with time left on the clock to keep Backdraft from earning bonus points, which it would take to win on this night.

Avenger was next and the two-time World Freestyle Champion brought his best to his Tampa debut, also rolling his truck but coming back on to the wheels and continuing from there to hit every obstacle on the track with the night’s biggest air and breathtaking, huge sky wheelies that he continued to nail the through the bonus time. Maximum Destruction and Advance Auto Parts Grinder recorded strong runs that came up short of Avenger’s score and when Grave Digger broke his wheel off with time still remaining on the regulation clock Avenger had secured the freestyle triumph.

RACING RESULTS

Fast Qualifier – Maximum Destruction 23.40

1st round – Maximum Destruction def. Avenger; Madusa def. Storm Damage; Advance Auto Parts Grinder def. War Wizard; Gunslinger def. Spike; Grave Digger def. El
Toro Loco; Eradicator def. Nitemare; Hurricane Force bye run due to Wrecking Crew’s electrical problems; Brutus def. Backdraft

2nd round – Maximum Destruction def. Madusa; Advance Auto Parts Grinder def. Gunslinger; Grave Digger def. Eradicator; Brutus def. El Toro Loco (El Toro Loco returned as fastest 1st round lower when Hurricane Force was unable to return

Semifinals – Maximum Destruction def. Advance Auto Parts Grinder; Grave Digger def. Brutus

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - GRAVE DIGGER DEFEATED MAXIMUM DESTRUCTION

FREESTYLE RESULTS
AVENGER (Jim Koehler) 30 (26 + 4 bonus points)
Advance Auto Parts Grinder (Lupe Soza) 28 (25 + 3)
Maximum Destruction (Neil Elliott) 27 (24 + 3)
Backdraft (Jeremy Slifko) 24
Gunslinger (Scott Hartsock) 23
Wrecking Crew (Steve Koehler) 22 (21 + 1)
Brutus (Chris Bergeron) 20
Grave Digger (Dennis Anderson) 17
Madusa (Madusa) 16
El Toro Loco (Chuck Werner) 16
Eradicator (Andy Slifko) 15
Storm Damage (Tim Mente) 12 (11 + 1)
Spike (Jeff Anderson) 8
Hurricane Force (Steve Thompson) 7
War Wizard (Randy Moore) 7
Nitemare (Andy Hoffman) 6

By Scott Douglass