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Weekend Race Recap

Saturday 1PM:

Bobby Z piloted Monster Mutt to victory over Frank Krmel and Hot Wheels in the racing finals and Charlie Pauken won freestyle with a thrilling run in Grave Digger to highlight the first ever Monster Jam Europe event in the Netherlands Saturday afternoon. In front of an excited capacity crowd at the Gelredome in Arnhem Monster Mutt showed it was going to be a day for the dog when he eliminated Grave Digger in the first race of the afternoon event. Bobby Z then beat Madusa in the second round and Lupe Sosa in El Toro Loco in the semifinals to move into the championship race in the twin J-hook style course. Krmel brought Hot Wheels through the bottom half of the bracket first defeating Karl Swallow in Sling Shot, one of two trucks from the United Kingdom (along with Blown Thunder) that were in the event, then eliminating George Balhan in Escalade and Madusa. The final race was thrilling start to finish, with the Mutt holding on for a narrow victory over Hot Wheels. In freestyle the Mutt was on top late in the competition before Chad Fortune in Superman equaled his score of 32 (out of a possible 40) from the four judge panel, actually referred to as the “jurors” in Dutch. The pair held onto the top spot until the final truck hit the floor. That final truck to compete was Grave Digger and Pauken made lots of new Digger fans with a total action freestyle complete with huge air, awesome wheelies, blistering donuts, and a wild flip at the end of the run. Grave Digger’s score of 38 won easily as the crowd was on its feet in tribute to Pauken’s run. George Balhan also flipped the Escalade in freestyle but both trucks sustained minor damage in the incidents and were expected to be ready to go back into action for the Saturday night event. Jimmy Verburgh was judged the winner ovewr a world class field in the popular Freestyle Motocross competition.

RACING RESULTS
1st Round: Monster Mutt def Grave Digger
                 Inferno def Blown Thunder
                 El Toro Loco def Madusa
                 Escalade def Superman
                 Hot Wheels def Sling Shot
                 (Madusa advanced to round two as fast loser)

2nd Round: Monster Mutt def Madusa
                  El Toro Loco def Inferno
                  Hot Wheels def Escalade
                  (Madusa advanced to semifinals as fast loser)

Semifinals: Monster Mutt def El Toro Loco
                 Hot Wheels def Madusa

FINALS: MONSTER MUTT DEFEATED HOT WHEELS

FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 38
Monster Mutt 32
Superman 32
Madusa 31
Hot Wheels 30
El Toro Loco 30
Inferno 29 Sling Shot 26
Blown Thunder 24

Saturday 8PM: Frank Krmel recorded the biggest racing win of his Monster Jam career when he drove Hot Wheels to victory over Bobby Z and Monster Mutt for his first major stadium win at the Gelredome in Arnhem, Holland Saturday night (9/17). Charlie Pauken made up for a disappointing racing loss in the first round by coming back and turning in yet another incredible Grave Digger performance that won the freestyle competition. Krmel took well to the J-hook course from the start, piloting Hot Wheels to a runner-up finish in the afternoon matinee, then went one better Saturday night and avenged his earlier loss to Monster Mutt with his photo finish win in the night time finale. It was fitting that the final race had to be decided by a review of the video tape since the race start to finish was close every round, several races being won by a matter of inches. Freestyle was hot from start to finish with one of the trucks competing from the United Kingdom, Karl Swallow in Sling Shot, getting the huge crowd screaming with his most impressive run to date early in the competition. Then monster after monster continued to raise the bar and the top scores. After a pair of high-flying freestyles from former World Freestyle Champion (and current World Racing Champion) Madusa and George Balhan in an Escalade left that pair tied at the top of the leader board with scores of 36 from the four judge panel, Pauken brought Grave Digger on to the track and proceeded to show the European fans a vintage Grave Digger freestyle that had it all: sic air, huge wheelies, and a set of dizzying donuts that earned a score of 39 from the judges for the win. The Freestyle Motocross was again a very close competition with Paul Smith narrowly edging Jimmy Verburgh in the finals. Following Grave Digger’s winning Monster Jam Freestyle run all of the drivers came onto the floor to take a bow in front of a second straight capacity crowd every fan in attendance rose to their feet again to close Monster Jam’s debut in the Netherlands with one final lengthy standing ovation, making it clear that the Dutch fans already are anticipating the return of the USHRA superstars in the future.

ACING RESULTS
1st Round:
                Monster Mutt def Grave Digger
                Inferno def Blown Thunder
                El Toro Loco def Madusa
                 Hot Wheels def Sling Shot
                Superman def Escalade

(Grave Digger advanced to 2nd round as fast loser)

(Inferno broke, Blown Thunder advances to 2nd round)

2nd Round:

                  Monster Mutt def Grave Digger
                  El Toro Loco def Blown Thunder
                  Hot Wheels def Superman
                  (Superman advanced to semifinals as fast loser)

Semifinals: Monster Mutt def Superman
        Hot Wheels def El Toro Loco
FINALS: HOT WHEELS DEFEATED MONSTER MUTT

FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 39
Madusa 36
Escalade 36
Hot Wheels 31
Monster Mutt 31
El Toro Loco 31
Superman 27
Inferno 24
Sling Shot 16
Blown Thunder 15