Weekend Race Recap
Thursday:
Randy Brown drove Grave Digger to the racing victory and Rick Raab won freestyle
in American Guardian as the USHRA Monster Jam stars opened a four event weekend
at one of the most popular annual stops on the summer circuit, Speedway 95 just
outside of Bangor, ME.
After American
Guardian experienced mechanical problems in qualifying, the USHRA officials
modified the event format and created a round robin style competition for racing.
Brown in Grave Digger and Alex Blackwell in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
both recorded wins over veteran Dan Evans in Destroyer and newcomer Scott Poirier
in Anger Management, setting up a finals match-up of Digger vs. The Turtle.
Grave Digger edged the Turtle by a half truck length for the win.
Then it was onto
freestyle where Raab was able to fix American Guardian and return to wow the
New England fans with a high energy performance that earned him a perfect score
of 30, also matched by Grave Digger. The event win went to American Guardian
when he won a cheer-off conducted with the entire crowd becoming the event
judges.
Earlier Brown and
Grave Digger easily won the sky wheelie competition.
Eric Calling of Winchester, CT won the Street Warriors competition, and the
trio of Adam Walker, Shawn Connors, and Adam Cousino thrilled the fans through
three rounds of high flying freestyle motocross.
RACING RESULTS
Round One - Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtle def Anger Management; Grave Digger def Destroyer
Round Two - Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtle def Destroyer; Grave Digger def Anger Management
FINALS - GRAVE
DIGGER DEFEATED TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE
FREESTYLE RESULTS
AMERICAN GUARDIAN
30 (won cheer off)
Grave Digger
30
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle 26
Destroyer
22
Anger Management
18
WHEELIE COMPETITION
RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER
30
Destroyer
25
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle 25
American Guardian
21
Anger Management
20
Friday: Alex Blackwell in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shocked
Randy Brown and Grave Digger in the racing final, but Brown came back with a
blistering performance to win the freestyle competition Friday night at Speedway
95.
After Brown set
the fastest time in qualifying Grave Digger got a first round bye, then topped
Dan Evans in Destroyer to earn his berth in the finals. Blackwell drove the
Turtle to victories over Scott Poirier in Anger Management and then Rick Raab
in American Guardian to move into the finale against the Digger. The final race
was close with Blackwell getting the advantage off the starting line, and holding
on for a half-length win to claim the event.
Having lost the
freestyle to Raab on Thursday night and then falling in the racing finals to
Blackwell, Brown let out all the stops in his Friday freestyle, earning a score
of 30 from the judges, a no-doubt about it win for the Grave Digger.
Grave Digger earlier
won the wheelie competition, and Matt Randall won the Street Warriors competition.
RACING RESULTS
Fast Qualifier
- Grave Digger
Round One - Grave
Digger bye run; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle def Anger Management; American
Guardian def Destroyer (Destroyer advanced as fast loser of round one)
Round Two - Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtle def American Guardian; Grave Digger def Destroyer
FINALS - TEENAGE
MUTANT NINJA TURTLE DEFEATED GRAVE DIGGER
FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 30
American Guardian
28
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle 26
Destroyer
24
Anger Management
18
WHEELIE COMPETITION
RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER
30
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle 27
Destroyer
22
Anger Management
21
American Guardian
19
Saturday 2PM: Alex Blackwell in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
edged a hard charging Scott Poirier in Anger Management by mere inches for his
second straight racing win at Speedway 95, then Randy Brown and Grave Digger
made it back to back freestyle wins during the Saturday afternoon event.
It was an impressive
day for Blackwell, but it was also a major breakthrough event for newcomer Poirier,
the New Engalnd driver who was clearly a fan favorite racing close to his
New Hampshire home. Poirier came from behind in the semifinal round to
nose Grave Digger in a photo finish, then went on to give the Turtle all it
could handle in the finale, falling less than a foot short of the racing
win.
Like Friday night,
Brown made it clear that he would take out his racing frustrations on the
freestyle course, winning again convincingly. Rick Raab's strong freestyle in
American Guardian was cut short when he broke a shock. Other winners were Grave
Digger in the monster wheelie competition and Eric Calling who won for the second
time in the three Street Warrior events contested thus far at Speeedway 95.
RACING RESULTS
Fast Qualifier
- Grave Digger
Round One - Grave
Digger bye run; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle def Anger Management; American
Guardian def Destroyer (Anger Management advanced as fast loser of
round one)
Round Two - Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtle def American Guardian; Anger Management def Grave Digger
FINALS - TEENAGE
MUTANT NINJA TURTLE DEFEATED ANGER MANAGEMENT
FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 30
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle 24
American Guardian
23
Destroyer
21
Anger Management
20
WHEELIE COMPETITION
RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER
28
Teenage Mutant
Ninja Turtle 25
American Guardian
19
Destroyer
19
Anger Management
15
Saturday
8PM: Randy Brown in Grave Digger decided it was time to make a statement.
After losing races to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle on Friday, and to Anger
Management Saturday afternoon, Grave Digger capped the huge weekend at Speedway
95 near Bangor by sweeping to wins in all three monster truck competitions Saturday
night.
After opening the
weekend finale in front of yet another standing room only crowd with a win in
the wheelie competition, Brown dominated the field and beat Rick Raab in American
Guardian in the championship race of the night. Although Raab couldn't beat
Brown in the final race, the fans saluted him as a winner for his incredible
effort just to make the show. Raab's crew, with help form the other teams on
hand, thrashed all afternoon and evening to fix first the shock that was broken
on the truck in the Saturday afternoon freestyle, and then a mysterious electrical
problem. The crowd roared when the American Guardian was finally ready, as he
made it our for the first round of racing and eventually made it to the finals
against Digger.
The racing win
that had eluded him in the previous two events in Maine now secured, Brown again
cut loose in freestyle with another wild run that ended with Grave Digger flipping
on to its roof and the judges scoring Digger the winner with another perfect
30. With the score already in the books and the competition over, Brown asked
the USHRA officials to roll the truck back over and let him fire it back up
and give the fans even more. The fans roared their loudest approval of the weekend
when the USHRA officials agreed to let Brown put on an encore exhibition.
Wrapping up a weekend
of great Street Warriors action John Bigis of Harwinton, CT, took Saturday night's
victory.
RACING RESULTS
Fast Qualifier
- Grave Digger
Round One - Grave Digger bye run; American Guardian def
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle; Destroyer def Anger Management (Anger Management
advanced as fast loser of round one)
Round Two - American Guardian def Destroyer; Grave
Digger def Anger Management
FINALS - GRAVE DIGGER DEFEATED AMERICAN GUARDIAN
FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 30
Destroyer 26
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 23
Anger Management 15
WHEELIE COMPETITION RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 30
Destroyer 22
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 19
Anger Management 15
