Friday - Continuing the best freestyle season of his career George Balhan and Escalade edged Chad Tingler and Grave Digger for the freestyle competition victory after Linsey Weenk won the Championship Race in Blue Thunder in front of a large crowd to open a four event weekend in the Roanoke Civic Center.

Grave Digger took the night's first win when Chad Tingler's huge sky wheelies scored the win in the wheelie competition. Then into the racing action on the straight line course a pair of powerful Fords advanced through the brackets and into the Championship Race, Weenk's Blue Thunder and Chad Fortune in Superman. The finale was a virtual photo finish with Blue Thunder besting Superman by inches in a battle of drivers who have already earned invititations to this year's 10th annual Monster Jam NGK Spark Plugs World Finals.

Then the seven drivers on hand rocked Roanoke in the Advance Auto Parts Freestyle Competition. Former Team Grave Digger driver Robert Parker was back in action as a part of Allen Pezo's team and opened the battle with a strong run driving Pouncer. Parker held the lead through the first several drivers until Weenk's big air run put Blue Thunder in the lead in search of an arena Double Down, but it was not to be. Balhan's performance in Escalade was yet another crowd pleaser, highlighted by several nice slap wheelies to go along with some of the night's biggest air and Escalade had the lead as Tingler roared onto the track in Grave Digger. The Digger run was spectacular as well including some bicycling on the track on two wheels to amaze the crowd, then save the truck from rolling over, and at the end of the run the three Advance Auto Parts judges could not decide between the pair, scoring both Escalade and Grave Digger with 26's. That sent it to the extra tie-breaking judge who narrowly scored Escalade the winner, giving Balhan a big victory in a season that has seen him give his most consistent performances, scoring a string of runner-up finishes. This night, though, it was no second place as the win went to Escalade and Tingler told the cheering crowd that it was the fans who were the winner's with those performances.

The AAP Arena Off Road competition was won by Willow Street, PA, driver Tim Stock.

RACING RESULTS

1st round - Superman bye run; Destroyer def Predator; Blue Thunder def Pouncer; Escalade def Grave Digger

Semifinals - Superman def Destroyer; Blue Thunder def Escalade

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - BLUE THUNDER DEFEATED SUPERMAN

FREESTYLE RESULTS

ESCALADE  26 (won on decision of tie-breaking judge)

Grave Digger  26

Blue Thunder  24

Superman  20

Pouncer  17

Destroyer  16

Predator  16

WHEELIE CONTEST

GRAVE DIGGER  28

Escalade  22

Pouncer  19

Blue Thunder  19

Superman  18

Destroyer  17

Predator  13

Saturday 2:00 p.m. - As Linsey Weenk was driving the Built Ford Tough Blue Thunder to another Championship Race victory in Roanoke, VA, Chad Tingler and his Grave Digger team were busy changing one of the truck's massive tires, getting the job done in time for Tingler to make it on to the Civic Center floor for freestyle and Tingler turned in the winning performance as Grave Digger took freestyle in the Saturday afternoon matinee.

Tingler again started the event off on a victorious note when he won the wheelie contest with a pair of huge sky wheelies, the second of which landed hard, blowing the left rear tire of off the Grave Digger and forcing the team back outside into the pits, dropping out of the racing bracket as Tingler and his crew went to work to repair the tire damage.

The racing bracket saw veteran Allen Pezo in Predator march through the upper part of the bracket and into the Championship Race when he knocked off Chad Fortune and Superman in the semifinals to earn the date in the finale against Friday night's race winner Weenk. Linsey earned Blue Thunder's spot in the final race of the afternoon by eliminating Dan Evans and Destroyer in the other semifinal. As you'd expect on a straight line course the finish was close, but for the second straight event in Roanoke the big Ford horsepower carried Blue Thunder onto to the winner's stage.

The Advance Auto Parts Freestyle competition was again off the charts right from the start, with George Balhan putting Escalade in the lead in his search for a second straight freestyle event triumph. By then Team Grave Digger was ready and Tingler roared onto the floor with a vengence, launching the Black and Green Wrecking Machine through a routine that featured the biggest air of the day, ending up with the truck flipping onto its roof as the time clock expired and Grave Digger came away the afternoon freestyle champ.

The Advance Auto Parts Arena Off Road racing Saturday afternoon's action was won by Jeremiah Creasey of Quarryville, PA, in Goin' For Broke.

RACING RESULTS

1st round - Predator def Escalade; Blue Thunder def Superman; Destroyer def Pouncer (Superman advanced to semifinals as fastest loser of 1st round)

Semifinals - Predator def Superman; Blue Thunder def Destroyer

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - BLUE THUNDER DEFEATED PREDATOR

FREESTYLE RESULTS

GRAVE DIGGER  26

Escalade  25

Blue Thunder  24

Predator  23

Destroyer  20

Pouncer  19

Superman  18

WHEELIE CONTEST

GRAVE DIGGER  28

Blue Thunder  23

Escalade  20

Pouncer  19

Superman  19

Destroyer  15

Predator  13

Saturday 7:30 p.m. - Linsey Weenk continued his undefeated racing streak in Roanoke, driving his Built Ford Tough Blue Thunder to a third consecutive racing victory, and Chad Tingler won both freestyle and the wheelie contest in front of a large, raucous crowd in the Civic Center Saturday night.

After Tingler's tailgate stand grabbed the wheelie win for Grave Digger Weenk had Blue Thunder back in control for the racing bracket. While Blue Thunder made it to the Championship Race for the third straight event in Roanoke the opponent in the final round this time was Destroyer. Dan Evans powered his big Ford to wins over Robert Parker in Pouncer and Allen Pezo in Predator to earn his first Championship Race berth of the weekend. Evans gave it a strong run in trying to snap Weenk's string of wins, but Blue Thunder eeked out the narrow victory in the finale.

Linsey was in position to claim an arena Double Down after a blistering freestyle run that left Blue Thunder in first place until Tingler brought Grave Digger out and kept his machine on the ragged edge the entire time, including the night's biggest air, to claim another freestyle win for the Digger team.

The Arena Off Road race was won by Josh Eller in his Just In Time Jeep.

RACING RESULTS

1st round - Blue Thunder bye run; Escalade def Grave Digger; Superman def Predator; Destroyer def Pouncer (Predator advanced to round two due to Superman's flat tire at end of race)

Semifinals - Blue Thunder def Escalade; Destroyer def Predator

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - BLUE THUNDER DEFEATED DESTROYER

FREESTYLE RESULTS

GRAVE DIGGER  27

Blue Thunder  26

Predator  22

Escalade  22

Destroyer 18

Superman  17

Pouncer  17

WHEELIE RESULTS

GRAVE DIGGER  28

Escalade  26

Blue Thunder  23

Destroyer  22

Superman  18

Pouncer  17

Predator  17

Sunday - Even though he had to catch an early flight out of Roanoke to join his family after the passing of his Aunt, an emotional George Balhan stayed in town long enough to turn in a rockin' freestyle performance and grab his second win of the weekend in Escalade, and Linsey Weenk wrapped up an undefeated racing weekend driving Blue Thunder to a fourth straight racing event triumph Sunday afternoon at the Roanoke Civic Center.

The intensity of the competition was evident right from the start in the wheelie competition when several drivers hit huge sky wheelies, with both Blue Thunder and Escalade pushing Chad Tingler in Grave Digger to launch into a pair of nearly perfect wheelies for Grave Digger to sweep the weekend wheelie competition. The judges gave Tingler's wheelie performance all 10's, Grave Digger's Sunday afternoon wheelie competition score being the only perfect score the judges awarded all weekend.

Weenk then completed his sweep of the racing, Blue Thunder this time defeating Chad Fortune and Superman in the Championship Race to make it a four for four, undefeating racing weekend for the Built Ford Tough team.

In freestyle it was Fortune and Superman taking the early advantage and he had the lead when Balhan brought Escalade back into action with one of the weekend's best freestyle performances, highlighted by far and away the best slap wheelies of the four show run in Roanoke, earning George the loudest cheers of the afternoon. Grave Digger would have to bring the A game for any chance to beat Escalade, but it was not Digger's day, Tingler's truck breaking a sway bar and the front steering some 20 seconds into the run and Balhan had captured his second freestyle win of the weekend.

A very competitive field of Arena Off Road racers saw Jeremiah Creasey repeat his Saturday afternoon win, Creasy's Goin For Broke truck becoming the only repeat winner of the weekend in the Advance Auto Parts Arena Off Road racing.

RACING RESULTS

1st round - Escalade bye run; Superman def Destroyer; Blue Thunder def Pouncer; Predator def Grave Digger

Semifinals - Superman def Escalade; Blue Thunder def Predator

CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - BLUE THUNDER DEFEATED SUPERMAN

FREESTYLE RESULTS

ESCALADE  27

Superman  25

Blue Thunder  24

Predator  22

Destroyer  21

Pouncer  13

Grave Digger  11

WHEELIE RESULTS

GRAVE DIGGER  30

Escalade  27

Blue Thunder  26

Superman  25

Destroyer  22

Pouncer  21

Predator  20

by Scott Douglass