East Rutherford, NJ - MetLife Stadium

Path of Destruction
MetLife Stadium
East Rutherford, NJ
June 16, 2012

Saturday 7:00 p.m. – The spectacular debut of Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford thrilled the New York/New Jersey area crowd all night with a series of history and firsts. Adam Anderson and Grave Digger The Legend took home the first ever racing championship trophy from the home of the NFL Giants and Jets, Neil Elliott won the first ever freestyle competition in the state-of-the-art facility, and Maximum Destruction’s Tom Meents came up just short in the first ever attempt at a double back flip.

The final stop on the new Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Path of Destruction tour opened as the first two events did with Dennis Anderson again setting the fast time in qualifying, then the Grave Digger driver extended his oval track winning streak to 22 rounds when he advanced into the semifinals. It would be The Icon’s son who would snap the streak as Adam posted the fastest run of the entire night in the semis, Legend eliminating Grave Digger by .09 of a second in the quickest race of the entire night. Then Adam defeated Marc McDonald and El Toro Loco in the UTI Championship Round.

The Advance Auto Parts Service is our Best Part Freestyle was thrill packed start to finish and saw George Balhan get back on track in Mohawk Warrior. After a couple of disappointing weeks on the tour Balhan was back in form, nailed a back flip and continued through his freestyle to grab the early lead. Linsey Weenk would back flip Lucas Oil Crusader twice, the second 360 being done just for the crowd after all the scores were in. It was Elliott who elicited the loudest roars with a classic Maximum Destruction freestyle that claimed the top score.

Even with Elliott driving his Max-D truck Meents stayed busy, first thrilling the crowd with his tribute freestyle in the FDNY truck. Then Meents closed the night with the highly anticipated double back flip attempt. The ten-time World Champion’s first 360 looked perfect and as the truck rotated to the second flip, about two thirds of the way complete, the truck began to twist sideways, leaving Meents just short of nailing the spectacular move in his first try at it but the crowd was roaring its approval as the event ended in tribute to Meents’ historic attempt.

RACING RESULTS

Fast Qualifier – Grave Digger 18.883

1st round – Grave Digger def. Advance Auto Parts Grinder; Metal Mulisha def. Team Hot Wheels Firestorm; Grave Digger the Legend def. Spider-man; Wolverine def. Monster Mutt; Monster Energy def. Iron Man; Captain America def. Madusa; El Toro Loco def. Lucas Oil Crusader; Maximum Destruction def. Mohawk Warrior

2nd round – Grave Digger def. Metal Mulisha; Grave Digger the Legend def. Wolverine; Captain America def. Monster Energy; El Toro Loco def. Maximum Destruction

Semifinals – Grave Digger the Legend def. Grave Digger; El Toro Loco def. Captain America

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - GRAVE DIGGER THE LEGEND DEFEATED EL TORO LOCO

FREESTYLE RESULTS

MAXIMUM DESTRUCTION 27 (25 + 2 bonus points)
Advance Auto Parts Grinder 26 (23 + 3)
Iron Man 24 (22 + 2)
Mohawk Warrior 23 (21 + 2)
Monster Energy 23 (20 + 3)
Grave Digger 23
El Toro Loco 22 (19 + 3)
Lucas Oil Crusader 22 (20 + 2)
Spider-man 21 (19 + 2)
Captain America 21 (18 + 3)
Madusa 18 (15 + 3)
Metal Mulisha 18
Monster Mutt 18
Team Hot Wheels Firestorm 16
Wolverine 6
Grave Digger the Legend 3

By Scott Douglass