Friday -
Friday the 13th provided few scary moments as Monster Jam made its annual trek to DCU Center in Worcester, MA. A field of eight Monster trucks were joined by freestyle motocross, quad wars, and more for the crowd.
After the field was introduced, Monster competition began with wheelstands and things took a turn for the scary. Warrior, with Jeff Anderson at the controls, started it off, immediately tumbling onto its top. The driver was okay, but the body was badly damaged when it was righted. A little more cautious, the remaining drivers understood the idea of getting a wheelstand and making a complete pass over the cars was going to get the best score from the judges.

Wheelie
Warrior - 10
Wrecking Crew - 19
Thrasher - 23
El Toro Loco -25
Pure Adrenaline - 27
Aftershock -22
Avenger - 28
Grave Digger - 25

Avenger's strong showing in the wheelies pumped up the former world champion's events. Next up was qualifying and it proved to be about as close as one could hope. The drivers made three passes over the cars, giving each a chance to improve upon a slow start or a missed turn. Warrior, minus several body pieces, posted a 21.41, but Wrecking Crew bested that with a 19.19 run. Thrasher, in the next pairing, lowered the mark to a 19.12, but that wasn't better than El Toro Loco's blistering 17.25. Avenger and Grave Digger charged into the arena and around the track with Grave Digger lowering the mark to 16.50 while Avenger logged a respectable 17.54. Pure Adrenaline moved into the 16-second bracket with a 16.88 run while Aftershock posted a 17.81 for his time.

The completion of qualifying brought eliminations and Grave Digger made short work of Warrior in the first race. Avenger took care of Aftershock with El Toro Loco benefiting from mechanical problems that sent Thrasher to a sudden stop. The final pairing involved the closest run of the round with Pure Adrenaline nipping Wrecking Crew. With semi-finals up next, the fans were on their feet as Grave Digger and Avenger squared off. Grave Digger pulled out the win to move to the finals. The other semi was to have pitted El Toro Loco against Pure Adrenaline, but a broken sway bar on Pure Adrenaline left him on the sidelines, giving Wrecking Crew a second chance. El Toro Loco would have none of it, cruising to the win and the match-up with Grave Digger.

It was teacher against student as Chris Baker, driver of El Toro Loco, spent three years as crew chief for Randy Brown's Grave Digger. It was tight through the first two passes, but Grave Digger powered on for the popular win.
Universal Technical Institute freestyle action opened with Wrecking Crew making a tremendous save from a certain rollover, earning the respect of the crowd and a 17 from the judges. Warrior's 13 led to the return of Thrasher, who had fixed a slipped belt from racing. The run ended a bit prematurely when Thrasher tumbled while attacking the van stack. It brought a score of 16. El Toro Loco rumbled through the carnage of cars to take the freestyle lead with a 22, but it was short lived as a repaired Pure Adrenaline ran rampant to a 25. Aftershock suffered early breakage, getting a 10 for his troubles. Avenger chased through the field and took over the lead with a 26. The final truck hit the floor with a flourish, maintaining a torrid pace through his 60 seconds. The trail of destruction and the speed in doing it was enough to give Grave Digger a 28 and the win.

Team Massachusetts defeated Team Connecticut in quad wars action. Freestyle motocross riders Garry Robertson, Tim Boca, and Hal Strauss Jr. put on an exhibition that concluded with Strauss landing a perfect backflip.
Action continues on Valentine's Day with two shows, 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Saturday 2pm -

Wheelie
Warrior - 14
Wrecking Crew - 17
Thrasher - 21
El Toro Loco - 23
Pure Adrenaline - 25
Aftershock - 21
Avenger - 26
Grave Digger - 23

Monsters returned to action for qualifying and Warrior started with a 17.87 run while El Toro Loco was close behind with a 17.91. Wrecking Crew put up an 18.50 time and Aftershock checked in just three-quarters of a second later with a 19.25. The times started coming down as Avenger blistered the track to a 16.40 while Thrasher had a 21.35 run. The final pair put times in the 16-second bracket, both faster than Avenger. Pure Adrenaline's 16.35 was good, but not good enough as Grave Digger set fast time with a 16.09 run.
Grave Digger returned to the starting line to meet up with Thrasher with Grave Digger getting the win. El Toro Loco and Warrior were locked into a close one with Warrior nipping El Toro. Avenger and Wrecking Crew met in a sibling rivalry with Avenger scoring the top spot in that battle. Aftershock fell to Pure Adrenaline to complete the first round.
Grave Digger waited patiently for his opponent, only to find El Toro Loco coming through the tunnel when Warrior had rear steer problems. Grave Digger dispatched his finals opponent from last night, moving to the final for the afternoon show. Avenger pulled a win from Pure Adrenaline to set the stage for Grave Digger versus Avenger. When the green light came on, both trucks jumped from the line. As Avenger approached the second set of cars, the truck came up a little short, getting stuck behind an obstacle, giving Grave Digger clear sailing to the win.
It was an exciting UTI freestyle with scores getting higher and higher with each successive pass. It all came down to the final pair as Avenger and Grave Digger were last to present. They ended up in a tie, broken by the secret judge, giving Grave Digger his second freestyle win.

Freestyle
Warrior - 20
Wrecking Crew - 13
Thrasher - 22
El Toro Loco - 26
Pure Adrenaline - 28
Aftershock - 23
Avenger - 30
Grave Digger - 30*
(Grave Digger won by secret judge decision)

Team Massachusetts picked up the win in quad wars main action after Team Connecticut had won the two preliminaries. Freestyle motocross saw Hal Struass Jr.nail a backflip to the delight of the crowd.

Saturday 7:30 p.m.

Round three of the Monster Jam at the DCU Center saw carnage, close racing and thrilling outcomes. A field of eight top monster trucks whittled its way down to champions in wheelie, racing and freestyle.

The wheelie action began with Warrior posting a 15. Wrecking Crew  came out to land a 23 to garb the lead in the action. Thrasher tried the right line to get skyward, getting a 20 for his efforts. El Toro Loco came out ready to take command and did so with a score of 26. The judges were keeping a close eye on the field as the next truck rolled forward. Pure Adrenaline failed the RII test and was turned back to the pits. Aftershock approached the left lane and put it straight in the air, carrying it all the way across. His efforts brought a leading score of 27. Avenger pulled up and logged a solid 25, not enoufgh to dethrone Aftershock. Grave Digger was the final truck, but Digger XIX totalled only 23, giving Aftershock his first win of the weekend.

Monster qualifying saw the fastest times of the weekend. Grave Digger brought the times below 16 seconds, checking in with a 15.28. Qualifying proved to be a bugaboo for Wrecking Crew. The truck launched from the line, but came to an immediate stop due to transmission troubles.

Qualifying

Warrior - 16.63

Wrecking Crew - Did Not Qualify

Thrasher - 19.47

El Toro Loco - 16.19

Pure Adrenline - Did Not Qualify

Aftershock - 18.47

Avenger - 16.20

Grave Digger - 15.28

With two trucks out of action, a field of six were matched for first round eliminations. Grave Digger got the jump on Thrasher for the win. Avenger topped Warrior and El Toro Loco took careof Aftershock, who encountered rear steer problems through the run. With an odd number of trucks, a fast loser was needed to round out the field to four. The honor went to Warrior, who immediately found himself face to face with Grave Digger. Digger took advantage of the rookie driver, beating him to the finish line. El Toro Loco and Avenger squared off, getting a photo finish going to Avenger. The final pairing saw a rematch of the afternoon final with Grave Digger and Avenger. An excited crowd cheered their favorites with Grave Digger inching out Avenger in a photo finish.

The Universal Technical Institute freestyle provided six trucks for the showdown as RII problems kept Pure Adrenaline sidelined and the transmission repairs didn't quite materialize for Wrecking Crew. The intense competition once again moved to the wire as the last two trucks settled it. Avenger became "Revenger" as Jim Koehler's threat to beat Grave Digger in freestyle became reality. Avenger's perfect 30 set the stage as Grave Digger oushed it to the limit, coming up a single point short.

Freestyle

Warrior - 22

Thrasher - 16

El Toro Loco - 24

Aftershock - 13

Avenger - 30

Grave Digger - 29

Team Massachusetts and Team Connecticut split heat events in Quad Wars racing and the final went to Team Massachusetts. Hal Strauss Jr. stuck the landing on a backflip to highlight freestyle motocross to thunderous applause.

Sunday
The fourth and final performance of Monster Jam at DCU Center brought a raucous crowd with the idea of having a good time and it showed. They started screaming with the monster wheelies and never let go to the end.

Eight trucks made an appearance in introductions, but a loud hissing sound was obvious from the rear of Pure Adrenaline. Driver Carl Van Horn jumped down to find the right rear tire rapidly deflating after suffering a puncture during introduction laps. The problem kept Pure Adrenaline out of wheelies, but the rest of the field knew the time to win was now.

Wheelie scores
Warrior - 20
Wrecking Crew - 16
Thrasher - 21
El Toro Loco - 24
Aftershock - 26
Avenger - 29
Grave Digger - 30

The Monster qualifying saw the fastest times of the weekend with Avenger setting a 14.75 on the table. Only one truck was able to surpass that time as Grave Digger posted a 14.35. During qualifying, Pure Adrenaline returned to take time, but suffered mechanical issues at the start. Crew members quickly went to work to fix the issue, giving Pure Adrenaline a second chance at qualifying, which put him in the slot as fifth quick

Qualifying
Grave Digger - 14.35
Avenger 14.75
Aftershock - 15.53
Warrior - 15.85
Pure Adrenaline - 15.97
El Toro Loco - 16.00
Thrasher - 18.09
Wrecking Crew - 18.69

The pairings were produced for round one. In that set of heats, Grave Digger topped Wrecking Crew, Warrior edged Pure Adrenaline, El Toro Loco powered past Aftershock, who broke a sway bar, and Avenger took out Thrasher. The semi-finals showed Warrior with a valiant effort, but he fell short to Grave Digger. In the second semi, a photo finish showed Avenger nipping El Toro Loco by less than a foot. It set up a Grave Digger/Avenger final, but there was a problem. A broken blower belt dangled from Avenger after his semi round and it wasn't certain if he could make the finals. When the time came to go, El Toro Loco was summoned to the line to meet Grave Digger. During the finals, El Toro developed a rear steer issue, giving the win to Grave Digger for a clean sweep of the weekend.

Before Universal Technical Institute freestyle, Avenger driver Jim Koehler addressed the crowd and explained that he really wanted to be there, but the broken truck wouldn't allow it. He thanked the fans for their support and vowed to come back soon to reward Monster Jam fans. Wrecking Crew opened the freestyle with a run of 14 with Warrior coming out to notch a 20 and take the lead. Thrasher's 17 left him a little short of the mark. Aftershock tried to dethrone his teammate Warrior, but came up a point shy with a 19. El Toro Loco attacked the freestyle hill and soared through the air to the delight of the crowd and a response of 26 from the judges. Pure Adrenaline rolled out and kept a fast paced freestyle moving, climbing hills and sending the truck through all corners of the floor. A 28 gave him the lead with one truck to go. That truck proved to be Grave Digger, who has won two of three previous rounds and Digger thundered in, rocking through and eventually putting the truck on its side as the judges held scores of 10-10-10, getting Grave Digger's third UTI freestyle win.

Team Massachusetts and Team Connecticut shared preliminary wins in quad wars, setting the stage for the final, which saw Connecticut racers crossing the line 1-2 after bumping the Mass captain off course. The Mass captain challenged Connecticut to a one-on-one battle and Connecticut put an excalamtion point of their win with a victory in the challenge, winning by less than six inches.