Saginaw, MI (Mar. 15-17, 2002) Friday Night Tonight belonged to Grave Digger, who won every race and competition. It began with the high flying wheelie contest, where Digger scored 28 points. The next closest score was Big Dawg at 21. The crowd judging had high expectations. The doughnut contest was the same thing! Digger topped the scores with pure power, out pointing Rambo 28 to 25. In freestyle, Digger blew the crowd away by NEVER lifting off the gas! Not even once! A perfect 30!
In the side by side racing, Big Dawg blew away the competition, but Big Dawg was disqualified for jumping the start! This allowed Rambo to advance, but he was beaten by the fast charging Lil' Miss in round two. In the finals, Lil' Miss ran strong, but Digger was just too much. In every round, Grave Digger simply launched over the stack, clearing it every time on his route to victory.
In Super Trucks, the big story was the last minute addition of local driver Curt Tucker. He shocked the field by taking round one. In round two, Flying Brian McGarvey, the #1 driver four years in a row, regained his composure and won easily. Round three, however, belonged to the local...Curt wins the final!
Pocket Bikes turned out to be the big surprise of the evening. These miniature motorcycles gave a great set of races with only one spill. Hot Rod the clown surprised us all by winning the 3 round!
Serg the "Flying Frenchman" blew away the crowd. He opened the show with the Human Bomb. The crowd was deafening, as Serg emerged with his back engulfed in flames! After five minutes, he finally came to his feet. He also performed the Ring of Fire. He made it look so easy, but that landing was like being dropped out of a two story window with a ramp.
Hot Rod the Clown won over the crowd early....and had them until the very end. He even rode one of the Pocket Bikes to victory in the finals. Every time he came out to charge up the crowd, he'd ask them to "give me something." The crowd would rise to their feet and do just that.
Saturday A sold out venue wanted Grave Digger to repeat his perfect performance from last night. From the wheelie contest to freestyle, Digger did it all. In Freestyle, Digger was the only truck to impress the crowd so much that they awarded a rare score of 30.
The Saginaw fans loved Digger but the other won over a large cheering section as well. All trucks ran great. There were no crashes, roll overs, or stalls...not one single minute of down time. These trucks ran strong all night, and the crowd knew it. They cheered for everyone.
The doughnut contest gave the fans a thrill when Lil' Miss took her hands off the wheel and waved to the crowd and when Rambo hung his steering wheel out of the window. In the wheelie contest, Jocelyn did, again tonight, what she is becoming known for...standing the 1940 Willy's up on its back bumper for an uncomfortably long period of time.
In round #1 of racing, Big Dawg set the tone for the night. He was gunning for Digger, last night's champ. Along with Devastator, Big Dawg moved into round #2 as the fast loser, only to be beaten by Digger. Each time Big Dawg left the start line, he would launch the big Ford into the air, winning over many fans. In the final it would be Big Dawg vs. Digger. Both trucks had the fans whipped into a frenzy. Big Dawg launched so high into the air that when he hit the cement, his back fender went flying, hanging on barely by a single bolt. Digger was just two fast...the crowd got a great race, and Digger fans got their victory.
In Pro Trucks, an extra local driver from Saginaw joined the pack. However, it would be last night's winner, Curt Tucker, also from Saginaw, that won race #1 and #3. In the final Curt bumped #29, Brian McGarvey (who won race #2), forcing him off the track. Both drivers had one win prior.
The Saginaw crowd continued their curiosity with the little, high performance "motorcycles." Hot Rod the Clown jumped on a bike and entered the races again tonight. He was out raced, however, as Eric Uutinen won race #1, Stan Wiggle won race #2, and Paul Taylor from Detroit took the final.
Serg the "Flying Frenchman" again tonight performed not one but two incredible thrill acts. The Human Bomb caught the crowd by surprise as he emerged with his suit in flames. In his ring of fire, everyone jumped out of their seats as the pyro erupted when his motorcycle landed on the cement, with out landing on the ramp.
Again tonight, Hot Rod won the crowd over early with his attempt to ride a scooter over the crush cars and his "trick" bike. Some youngsters were talking about how funny he was while waiting in line to get autographs.
Sunday On the final day in Saginaw, every monster pushed it to the limit...and beyond. All the trucks had run without problems all weekend. Today, however, Devastator spun his rear tire in the doughnut contest, caught the pavement, and locked up the entire truck. He had to be carried off with two loaders. Digger followed with 2 great doughnuts, but blew out his rear end in the process. Digger's crew worked as he sat out freestyle in hopes of getting back in time to race. The crowd recognized Digger for his effort, as he won the doughnut contest, just after winning the wheelie contest. With Digger out of freestyle, Big Dawg saw his chance too take the contest. He pushed the truck...the crowd loved it. He won!
Devastator was out of racing. Digger was fixing a broken axle. He sat out of freestyle, hoping to get back in time for racing. The crowd cheered on the Digger crew, in hopes of getting too see him race.
In the semi final, two trucks running strong all weekend lined up. Lil' Miss v. Big Dawg. Both trucks flew over the crush cars. Dawg would advance. Digger beat out Rambo, to set up the rematch of last nights finals. Dawg v. Digger. The night before was a high flying race won by a bumper. The rematch was exactly the same! The crowd got what they came to see, a great final, and again, Digger wins.
In race #1 of Super Trucks we almost saw a truck go end-over-end, as the trucks bumped each other through the turns. A three way split for wins - the local, Curt Tucker, took race #1. Eric Uutinen and Brian McGarvey won the final two races.
Pocket Bikes are catching on - today's racing was more aggressive, with the bikes bumping and blocking to get position. Hot Rod again found an available bike, put a racing stripe on his WWII looking helmet and gave them a race. He seemed to be the one the were backing. The three winners were Wiggle, Schumaker, and Taylor.
Serg the "Flying Frenchman" amazed the crowd with not one, but two thrill acts. The "Human Bomb" and the "Ring of Fire." Not knowing exactly what to expect, when the human bomb exploded, eyes fell open in disbelief as Serg emerged with his suit on fire.
With Devastator being carted off the track, the downtime gave "Hot Rod" a chance to play with the crowd. Today Hot Rod made 100's of new friends, many of which were on their feet, pumping there arms, wanting more from the clown.
