Monster Jam roars into Moline
The 1-800-SAFEAUTO / SUBWAY RESTAURANTS Monster Jam roared into The Mark of the Quad Cities Friday night with almost two and a half hours of non-stop action. From Monsters to Quads to FMX the fans were treated to a wild display of motorized mayhem. Monsters were featured in four competitions, A wheelie contest, Racing, Donut contest and Monster Freestyle. Results were as follows:
Truck                           Wheelie                      Donut                          Freestyle
Rolling Thunder         15                                19                                20
Destroyer                   24                                7                                  23
Safe Auto                   29                                27                                27
Max Destruction        14                                dns                              28
Grave Digger             29*                              30                                30

In the Wheelie Contest Rod Schmidt took the Safe Auto Minimizer  over the full set of cars on its rear tires earning him a 29. Carl Van Horn drove Grave Digger over the cars on the rear tires  but the truck hit a dip in the car stack that sent the might Digger pogo style on to the concrete floor out of shape with the truck ending on its side in the early part of the show. “ I knew Rod set the bar high but I certainly didn’t mean to roll the truck,” said Van Horn. “It looks like it’s going to be a long night”. It was a long night for Neil Elliot and Maximum Destruction after he broke an axle in the semi-final round of racing and despite working thru the intermission to get things repaired just couldn’t regain the momentum to earn a win.

Monster Truck Racing Results:
Round One:
Grave Digger Bye run as the Wheelie Contest Winner
Rolling Thunder over Destroyer
Maximum Destruction over Safe Auto
Round Two:
Max D defeated Rolling Thunder
Safe Auto over Grave Digger
Race Final:
Safe Auto over Grave Digger

The night also included a Quad Wars battle between Team Iowa and Team Illinois, and a FMX ramp to ramp over concrete competition between three riders. In FMX, Mike Kann, Matt Mondak and Jason Rowe turned it on and brought the fans to their feet with high flying tricks that seemed to defy gravity. When all was said and done Rowe was chosen as the winner by the fans. Another night of wild action is planned for Saturday night with a pit party at 6pm and the event at 8.

Saturday 8PM -

Moline Monster Jam Saturday Night

The second night of Monster Jam in Moline was a great night for Team Grave Digger and the fans. Grave Digger driven by Carl Van Horn won ALL four monster competitions and the fans saw an incredible show with three trucks having to be pulled off the track after their freestyle competition runs.

The night began with a wheelie contest in which all five Monster Jam trucks turned it up now one but two notches from the night before. After that, it got wilder and wilder, so much so that many of the fans stood on their feet cheering the entire night.

Problems continued to plague the Maximum Destruction team as driver Neil Elliot lost a four link bar in racing and for the second night in a row was forced to make repairs during the event. The Safe Auto Minimizer driven by Rod Schmidt came up a bit short Saturday night but still gave Max D and Grave Digger a run for their money. Another impressive performance by Jim Benzek and his Rolling Thunder truck and Dan Evans’ Destroyer continued to bring the fans to their feet each time the big Chevy came onto the track.

Highlights for the night included a Wheel Stand by Safe Auto during the Subway Restaurants Freestyle Competition that continued well past the car stack with the truck slamming the rear into the concrete floor of the arena causing body and light frame damage. Another big moment came in Freestyle when Neil Elliot took Maximum Destruction into a cyclone that never seemed to stop. “I got a bit dizzy with that one”, said Elliot after the event. Grave Digger rolled in the same place he did 24 hours before after a couple of show stopping moves in freestyle. “These are the best fans in the world, announced Carl Van Horn after the run. “We had to give them a great show. I wish I could have gone for another five minutes but time ran out”.

Freestyle Motocross featured three great riders, Mike, Matt and Jason for the second night in a row brought the house down with their high flying sick tricks over the metal to metal over concrete 70+ foot gap. Plenty of hang time gave the riders much more time to air things out with Superman Seat Grabs, Bar Hops, Rock Solids and even a K.O.D.

In Quad Wars Team Illinois again defeated Team Iowa in the main after losing the first two heats.

After the event the drivers and riders signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans for over an hour.

Results:

Truck                                      Wheelie Contest                                Donut Contest                                                Freestyle Competition

Rolling Thunder                        20                                                        22                                                        20

Destroyer                                 24                                                        DNF                                                    24

Safe Auto                                 24                                                        15                                                        29

Maximum Destruction               21 (broke)                                            28                                                        27

Grave Digger                            30*                                                      30*                                                      30*

*denotes winner

Race Results:

Round One:

Safe Auto over Rolling Thunder

Destroyer moved on when Max D could not answer the call

Grave Digger bye run

Semi Final Round

Grave Digger over fast looser Rolling Thunder

Safe Auto beat Destroyer

Final:

Grave Digger defeated Safe Auto