Weekend Race Recap
Friday
(Grand Forks, ND) The United States Hot Rod Association Thunder Nationals Series rolled into the Alerus Center on Friday, March 12. The event featured high-flying Monster Trucks, Quad Wars, Legend Cars, and the Jet Quad. It was a motor sports evening to remember for the dedicated North Dakota crowd.
U.S.H.R.A. Technical Officials Butch Chapin, Les Alsworth, and Galen Ogden did a great job of setting up the Chicago-style Monster Truck course for the evening’s action. The event kicked off with the Monster Truck Wheelie Contest. The Advance Auto Parts judges were each given a series of scorecards and briefed on the rules of Thunder Nationals competition. Full Boar kicked it off with a score of 21 points, which remained the high score until Devastator upped the ante with 26. Grave Digger scored 25, while Rolling Thunder generated 20. High score and the Wheelie Contest win went to Mike Vaters in Black Stallion with 29.
The Monster Truck Donut Contest was extremely entertaining on the asphalt surface. The slick track allowed the trucks to generate some awesome high speed donut maneuvers. High score was captured by Ed Eckert in Full Boar, earning a perfect score of 30 points. No one else even came close.
The Advance Auto Parts Monster Truck Freestyle featured all five trucks in competition. Jim Bendzick in Rolling Thunder held the high score of 24, before Mike Vaters raised the bar with a 27. But tonight it was to be the legendary machine from Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina bringing the crowd to its feet. Rod Schmidt in Grave Digger exploded on to the floor of the Alerus Center and simply decimated everything in his path. Parts flew everywhere as Digger performed Sky Wheelies, Donuts, and Long Jumps with the greatest of ease. The final scores added up as follows:
FULL BOAR 22
ROLLING THUNDER 24
DEVASTATOR 21
BLACK STALLION 27
GRAVE DIGGER 30
FREESTYLE WINNER: GRAVE DIGGER WITH A PERFECT 30!
Revolutions Powersports Quad Wars pitted Team Minnesota up against hometown Team North Dakota. Team Minnesota took Heat One, with Team North Dakota evening the score with a win in Heat Two. The Quad Wars Final saw Team North Dakota get out to the early lead. However, Team Minnesota battled back with two very fast riders and stole the lead. North Dakota struggled the rest of the way, leaving Team Minnesota with the Quad Wars win. Minnesota was thrilled with the big victory.
Monster Truck Racing was the final event for the evening. Black Stallion set fast qualifying time with an 18.32 second run. In the next round, Devastator eliminated Grave Digger in the semi-final, while Black Stallion made quick work of Rolling Thunder. Soon after, the crowd was staring at three thousand horsepower at the starting line, with Devastator and Black Stallion taking their positions. Mike Vaters showed why he is a five-time Thunder Nationals Champion when the lights turned green. He powered the Black Stallion entry to a simply unbelievable performance in taking the racing win.
The Advance Auto Parts Pit Party begins at 5:30 P.M. on Saturday. Be sure to come down to the Alerus Center for a great tutorial on the inner workings of a Monster Truck. We plan to talk to all of the drivers and help to educate our fans on the finer points of racing and freestyle competition. It will be an event you certainly do not want to miss!
We’ll see you there!
(Darren Pallen, USHRA Announcer)
Saturday
(Grand Forks, ND) The Advance Auto Parts Thunder Nationals Pit Party was a well-attended affair on Saturday evening. With trucks like Grave Digger and five-time Thunder Nationals Champion Black Stallion in the building, Monster Truck fans collected thousands of autographs and asked many questions about the upcoming event. The Pit Parties are always awesome, because there is simply no other motor sports assembly in the world where you can get this close and personal with the drivers and their machines.
Saturday’s show started off with the Monster Truck Wheelie Contest. The judging was very accurate as Full Boar started off with a score of 13. Rolling Thunder scored 16, then Devastator improved things with an 18. Mike Vaters in Black Stallion then wowed the crowd with a near-perfect 29. However, the 29 was not enough as Grave Digger pointed his bumper to the sky and held the wheelie for almost the entire length of the floor. The run was good enough for a perfect 30 and the admiration of the fans.
The Monster Truck Donut Contest followed next. Mike Vaters in Black Stallion held on to a high score of 22 points for a long period of time. Full Boar and driver Ed Eckert had other plans, however, as Eckert brought the Full Boar entry into a huge donut and smoked the tires off en route to a perfect 30. Full Boar was declared the winner.
The Advance Auto Parts Monster Truck Freestyle was an opportunity for the drivers to gain some much-needed points in the overall Thunder Nationals Championship Series. Full Boar entered the course and re-arranged the obstacles in typical Monster Truck fashion. Sky Wheelies and Donuts where seen everywhere as the judges extended a great score of 27 points to Full Boar. Not to be outdone, Mike Vaters in Black Stallion hit the pyramid at full force and performed flawlessly for sixty seconds before receiving a score of 29 points. However, Vaters was disqualified for failing to start within the two minute warning period. Vaters experienced a starter problem, and could not get his truck going within the two minute time frame. In the final freestyle run of the evening, Grave Digger entered the floor and pounded out a solid run of 29 points, good enough for the win. The final scores tallied as follows:
FULL BOAR 27
ROLLING THUNDER 22
DEVASTATOR 25
BLACK STALLION DISQUALIFIED (Missed two minute warning)
GRAVE DIGGER 29
FREESTYLE WINNER: GRAVE DIGGER
Revolutions Powersports Quad Wars heat races ended up in a split between Team Minnesota and Team North Dakota. Soon after, it was time for the Quad Wars Main Event. In a move never seen before in Quad Wars competition, Team Minnesota borrowed USHRA Technical Official Galen Ogden and inserted him into the lineup. Ogden, a long time racing veteran, amazed everyone as he sped away from the pack and took the victory for Team Minnesota. It was simply an incredible ride!
Monster Truck Racing was the final event for the evening. Unfortunately, however, the impressive score of 29 points generated by Grave Digger in freestyle cost driver Rod Schmidt very dearly. He broke the right rear shocks and sway bar and was unable to continue in racing competition. This left the door open for the rest of the points-hungry field to try to score a racing victory. The Monster Truck Racing Final matched Black Stallion against Rolling Thunder. Stallion proved to be the superior truck on the night as driver Mike Vaters powered around the Chicago-style course and took the racing win.
After an absolutely great weekend here at the Alerus Center, our thoughts now turn to the World Finals in Las Vegas on March 20. With sixteen of the top Monster Trucks in the nation and bragging rights on the line, this year’s World Finals is sure to be the most entertaining motor sports event of all time.
Be sure to get to Las Vegas early to enjoy the exciting city before heading to Sam Boyd Stadium for the big show on Saturday night. We want to see all of our fans there.
See you in Vegas!
(Darren Pallen, USHRA Announcer)
