Weekend Race Recap

Friday - 7:30pm
The Thunder Nationals are always fun events. They pack a lot of excitement in a compact place and everyone gets an up-close seat for the action. Monster Wheelie Competition started out with good action from all the competitors. The iron wall is always a challenge for machines of different design and we saw some machines struggles while others easily brought the crowd to a cheer. Scores and notes below:

Round 1 of Lawn Mower Racing saw good fast action on a track that was well prepared by techs Denny Climes and Galen Ogden. Heat race one was won by Tyler Cromwell. With the bracket set by pill draw, the round one Monster Truck Racing bracket looked like this with the winners listed as the top of the pair and in bold. Samson got the bye.

Samson

Bad News
Annihilator

Full Boar
Rap Attack

Heat race two of Lawn Mower racing offered faster and closer action than round one. The competitors were running in a good groove and were more confident in racing close to one another. The winner of this round was Harvey Ray Hinson. Monster Semi-finals brought out the best of the best. Close racing saw the following results:

Samson
Annihilator (Returning fast loser)

Full Boar
Bad News

Turning right around into the Monster Truck Final, Samson won a close one.

Our six lap Lawn Mower racing Final saw fast and furious action with lots of close racing. The happy winner was Pete ‘Loco’ Larson.’ Monster Doughnut Competition is always interesting. Doughnut competition is something unique to Thunder Nationals. This round did not disappoint. Some trucks have the set-up and some are designed to shine in other areas. Some drivers have the skill to hook it up and some … shine in other areas. Here’s how it went:

To cap the night off, a little freestyle got a little big. Some good action was spread all around the Roberts Stadium floor. Scores and notes below:

Next night, action should be tougher. Check back to see what unfolds.



Saturday - 7:30pm
The Thunder Nationals continued to provide close and exciting action in the Roberts Arena. The second night saw a packed house ready for action – and that’s most certainly what they got. Monster Wheelie Competition was awesome again. With some of the cars looking like low-riders, the technique to win had to be a little different. All drivers adapted well, but the winner stands out below.

Annihilator Greg Adams - 19
Bad News Bruce Haney - 19
Samson Dan Patrick - 21
Rap Attack David Rappach - 27
Full Boar Ed Eckert - 25

Round 1 of Lawn Mower Racing saw more action than we anticipated. On the second to last lap, Justin Shaw got too much traction and dumped the machine – which dumped fluids onto the hot exhaust and caused a mild ‘carbeque’. John Mears was on the spot with a little Halon to put an end to the event. The balance of the field then reformed for a one lap dash – which was won by Tyler Cromwell. With the bracket set by pill draw, the round one Monster Truck Racing bracket looked like this with the winners listed as the top of the pair and in bold. Bad News got the bye.

Bad News(Bye)

Samson
Rap Attack

Annihilator
Full Boar

Heat race two of Lawn Mower racing offered another fast dash, albeit this time with only two machines again as Harvey Ray Hinson suffered a mechanical failure of the transmission at the green flag and pulled to the pits right from the start. Brandon Cromwell took the win for the V-Twin class. Monster Semi-finals brought out the best of the best. Close racing saw the following results:

Samson
Annihilator

Bad News
Full Boar (Returning fast loser)

Turning right around into the Monster Truck Final, Samson won another close one to make it two wins in a row.

Samson
Bad News

Our six lap Lawn Mower racing final was just as intense as we expected it to be. As it turns out, the fire-breathing lawn mower from heat race one, won the whole thing! That made for a very happy Justin Shaw. Monster Doughnut Competition continued to amaze this night. The track had more rubber down, so it was even harder to hook ‘em up. As it turns out, we had a rare occurrence – a tie that just couldn’t be settled, so therefore the win was shared! Here’s how it went:

Rap Attack 19
Annihilator 13
Samson 12 Suspension just not set up for doughnuts on concrete
Full Boar 30 Another no hands, no steering wheel doughnut!!!
Bad News 30 No hands, now wheel as well!!!

To cap the night off, freestyle let it all hang out. Rappich’s reverse hit was remarkable and was surely the crowd pleaser until Samson put forth non-stop energy.
Scores and notes below:

Rap Attack 25 Unbelievable reverse hit.
Annihilator 20 Stronger than the night before.
Bad News 22 Strong run with a doughnut just for good measure!
Full Boar 23 Heavy truck, heavy run!
Samson 30 Non-stop action is what did it! Lots of time with big air!

Next time you have a chance to check out monster trucks in a small place like E-ville, expect a big show!