A sell out crowd in Angel's Stadium proved once again that Anaheim just may be the center of the monster truck universe. These fans kept the show going from start to finish. All twelve monster trucks ran well in the qualifying round, as it would be Round One of racing that delivered the surprise finishes. Pastrana 199, Dragon Slayer, Team Suzuki, all moved to Round Two before Shocker took down Grave Digger. After Partriot powered past Power Forward, it would be Blue Thunder that ended Obsession’s chance at three straight racing victories in Anaheim, dating back to 2004. After Patriot took out Team Suzuki, and Shocker knocked out Blue Thunder, it was Pastrana 199 and Dragon Slayer earning their chance in the Semi Finals.

In the Semi’s, two evenly matched races were staged for the fans in Anaheim. Pastrana 199 would edge Shocker at the line, and Patriot powered past Dragon Slayer. With 2004’s rookie of the year Paul Cohen in Pastrana 199 facing the fastest truck through the race course, we knew we had a great final on the way. The tight turn the trucks had to make to line up on the crush car stack made the difference. Dan Rodoni took the turn the fastest of anyone all evening, and the finals would not be any different. The Patriot took the checkered flag, and the Anaheim racing title.

Pro Stadium Truck’s ran strong, but had difficulty with the camel-back obstacle on in the left lane. In both the qualifying and first round of racing, one truck flipped end over end attempting to clear the second hump. While most trucks had a tough time on this one obstacle, the four truck in the semi’s seemed to figure it out early. Tom Jones overcame some engine trouble to edge Brian Spady, and Randy Avery just made it past Dan Perry for a shot at the racing victory. Both trucks ran strong without problems, but it was clearly Tom Jones that would take the checkered flag, and the points, tonight.

Quad Wars brought Team Nevada in to take on the home team of So Cal. After some friction early in the pits, the Nevada team captain seemed to really want to get on the bad side of this Anaheim crowd. It didn’t take him long, as he told the crowd that he expects and easy victory, and an easy night. Nevada began with a victory in Round One, but in Round Two, Team So Cal dominated the course. The finals would only see a repeat of Round Two, as So Cal sent Nevada home humiliated, and without any points.

In Freestyle, it would be Monster Mutt that would set the pace early. After a 22 score for Captain Insano, an 18 from Shocker, and a 14 from Natural High, B. Winston got the crowd on their feet as he danced his monster truck across the track… on the nose of the Mutt. Coming off of the crush cars, the Mutt nosed straight down, and it looked to all like he was going end over end. He kept on the gas, and managed to skip along the dirt three times totally vertical before dropping the monster safely on all fours… and, then completing freestyle. The crowd responded with a 27, the highest mark of the night so far.

Patriot’s 23, Obsession’s 24, and Power Forward’s 25 all fell short of the mark set by Monster Mutt. But it got close… real close. The next three trucks, Blue Thunder, Pastrana 199, and Team Suzuki all scored 26 with great runs. Then came Digger. Charlie was determined to redeem himself after the loss in racing, and ensure that a Digger truck would again win Freestyle in front of the Anaheim crowd. To get the crowd screaming, Charlie cut the track sideways, hit the bus in the freestyle stack at full speed, spun into the best doughnut of the night, and completely cleared the table-top with some sick air. Then, at full speed, Charlie hit the final car stack, and rolled Grave Digger on to it’s side. The crowd went wild, and scored the run a perfect 30 for the freestyle victory.