Weekend Race Recap

Friday 8PM

Friday night: WOW!!!!! That is all I can say for the opening of the 2006 season here at Blue Cross arena in Rochester NY. There is many changes and new and exciting things happening on the USHRA circuit that me and this crowd witnessed tonight.

First off we have a new member of the Grave Digger racing team, Chad Tingler who took over the seat for Carl Vanhorn who is now driving for T-Max. Chad who drove 1-800-Safe Auto last year brings his success with him to an already successful Grave Digger team. Second we have a new rookie that is already turning heads at the beginning of the season and he is Scott Poirier driving the Anger Management truck. Last but not least is the newest female driver on the circuit 19 year old Courtney Jolly from Naples Florida driving the Pastrana #199 monster Truck. This alone made for one exciting night of competition to start the 2006 season with a bang.

The night started off with a great wheelie competition that featured rookie Scott Poirier who took the lead in Anger Management with a 22. Pastrana 199 was close with a awesome first run for the young lady scoring a solid 20. American Guardian and Virginia giant were respectable with a 19 and 18. Grave Digger was last and needed to prove himself right at the start and he did by winning the first event of the night by one point with a 23.

Next was head to head racing with every race coming down to the finish. American Guardian with his brand new 2006 chevy avalanche body and paint job redeemed himself by winning the finals by beating Grave Digger. Other surprises was Anger management defeating Virginia Giant in the first round to make it into the semi finals, and Pastrana 199 coming back from a first round loss to American Guardian as fast looser in the semi finals only to get beat by inches from Grave Digger.

After intermission the crowd was treated to some sick stunts and tricks from pro BMX riders and XSBA Xtreme street bike Association. Some of the pro BMX riders included, Ron Thomas, Quinn Semling, Dominic Trovato, and Brian Fitch. We also witnessed the jet powered funny car Armagedon that was specially built for the Monster Jam Europian tour. This was the first time the 2000 horse power car ran in the United States.

The doughnut competition was next and difficult for a few of the trucks as the concrete floor was tacky from all the rubber that was laid on the floor. Pastrana spun a 12 to start followed by Anger Management with a 17. American Guardian was next and followed with a run of 24 not to last long as Grave Digger laid it out for a 29. Three time Thunder Nationals champion Virginia Giant was last and spun a great doughnut that just fell short of winning with a score of 25.

Last event for the night was the highly anticipated freestyle contest. All Eyes were on the first truck to start as it was the new Courtney Jolly in the Pastrana 199 monster truck. She came out flying but was a bit slow through the course and it showed thru the judges score of a 15. Anger Management was next and took the lead with a 17 but it did not last long as Virginia Giant topped it with a 20. American Guardian seen an opportunity to strike and that he did with a solid run of 23 that I feel was scored to low by the judges. This gave Digger some room to work and that he did by out scoring Guardian by only one point for his third win of the night. This proved to be a great victory for the Grave Digger team with there new driver Chad Tingler behind the wheel but don’t count out the other four trucks when it comes to more action Saturday night.

      That action started quick as the two rookies started things off with some great wheelis. Pastrana 199 scored a great 23 and should have deserved more. Anger Management was next and took the lead with a 27 as it would hold for Scott Poirier to take his first rookie win of the season. American Guardian followed with a 17, Virginia Giant took a 22 and Grave Digger was second with a 24.

      Racing took a turn as Grave Digger was unable to race as he broke the rear end durring the wheelie compitition. This allowed four trucks to reach the finals and all races were again close. In the first round Virginia Giant had the oppurtunity to pay back Anger Management as he was beat for the first time this weekend. American Guardian also advanced into the finals by beating Pastrana 199. There was a race off for third and fourth place as Anger Management defeated Pastrana 199 to take third. In the finals The 3 time Thunder Nationals champion was looking for his first win but fell less than a foot short as American Guardian took his second win of the weekend.

      The doughnut competition was cancelled as three trucks were broke and trying to get fixed to make it back for freestyle. We started freestyle with a bang as American Guardian led out first with a 22 as he rolled the truck on his first jump. As the crowd was still going wild of the wreck Diehl Willson to the lead with a solid performance and a score of 25. The loudest cheers of the night came when it was announced that Digger was fixed and heading to the floor for freestyle. The crowd was on ther feet as Grave Digger freestyled in fashion and wowed the crowd and the judges to take the last win of the night with a near perfect score of 29.

Sunday 2PM - Sunday started off just as ended on saturday,wild and crazy! The highlights were the roll overs of Anger Management and American Guardian along with Pastrana 199 nmaking it in to her first finals race.

      The wheelie compition was awesome as each truck scored well. Pastrana 199 should have won the compition in my eyes but fell short by 1 point to winner Amercian Guardian. Grave Digger was third with a 23 and Anger management followed with a 21. The low score went to Virgiana Giant that unfortunately had too much power and spun on the take off.

      In racing action we saw again close races that were determined by replay. In round 1 Anger Management loss to Grave Digger and Virginia Giant was beat by Pastrana 199 giving Courtney her first monster truck win. In the the semi finals American Guardian who had the buy defeated fast looser Anger Management and Pastrana kept alive by beating Gravre Digger. The finals was close and in the end American Guardian swept the weekend of racing by beating Pastrana 199 by less than a foot.

      The Doughnut contest was cancelled as one of the roll overs created an oil leak which made the floor unsafe for the trucks to spin a doughnut and this took us into the freestyle compitition. Pastrana 199 led the field out with a good run of 18 and Anger Management was next with an awesome run of 24 which I felt was low. American Guardian rolled for the second time of the week and got a 23 with the crowd on its feet. Virginia Giant was next and had a solid run but the clock ran out before he started his doughnut thus giving him only a 20. Grave Digger was last and had some room to work with only having to beat a 24. as the green light went on Digger ran the floor in fashion with alot of speed and air. The only problem he would have is he couldn't spin a doughnut because he had the wrong rear end in the truck. This eventually cost him the win as the judges scored him one point short with a 23. This gave Rookie Scott Poirier his first indoor freestyle win and his second win of the weekend.