Friday -
Friday night action here in Pittsburgh could prove to be a precursor of what we might see in a Vegas for the World Finals. With a young gun of the sport making a huge statement in winning the wheelie contest, a true veteran with a first class team, winning the racing portion, and one of the sport's super stars winning in freestyle.

The officials just knew something was up with Marc McDonald today. His personality and more than usual goofiness was apparent all day, well, it certainly spilled out onto the floor tonight. Marc approached the stack of cars a little differently than his competition and it showed when he stunned the crowd and the rest of the boys when he not only stood the Safe Auto Minimizer on its tailgate but also did a 45* twist to the right and perfectly stuck the landing in doing so, scored a 29 and took the win.

The racing action tonight was a little closer than usual with a tighter floor to work with. Run after run, it was all about the holeshot. Tonight it was also all about the Dodges. Working their way through the brackets and into the finals, it was teammates Geremie Dishman and Mark Hall and their monsters Rammunition and Raminator. Mark pulled out a great win with a very quick reaction time and during his winning interview was incredibly gracious to the Pittsburgh crowd in thanking them for coming out tonight and hanging out with USHRA boys.

But the story of the night has to go to Team Meents and Maximum Destruction. In the semi-finals, Tom broke a right rear planetary with the tire locking up and not spinning. The crew was able to drive it off the track and outside into the cold *27 air and went to work on Max D with hopes in getting the monster back on the floor in time for freestyle. It took the whole 2nd half of the show to get it done and even with 5 minutes before he was scheduled to hit the track, Tom was convinced they weren't going to get it done, but his crew wasn't giving up. With a chanting crowd having just witnessing a fantastic freestyle by a grinning Marc McDonald, you could still hear the distant rumble back in the tunnel originating from the pit area outside. And in the next second Maximum Destruction came tearing out onto the track and NAILED the van stack with huge air. You could just tell that Tom was on a mission and the crowd knew it. After the 60 second pass was done and a perfect score of 30, it was easy to see the fans were screaming for the tie breaker to go to Max D and Tom.

It was a fantastic way to start a long 4 show weekend and the efforts of all the drivers are definitely in top form as everyone is starting to look towards next month and the World Finals in Las Vegas, but first, we have 3 more shows here in Pittsburgh.

Saturday 2pm -
It was an afternoon of history making with first time winners. It is quite the experience to witness the enthusiasm of a competitor when he knows he did something amazing whether he won or not. I am talking about "BIG" Rich Blackburne and his truck Viper. He set the bar so high during the wheelie contest that it was almost a "done deal" that he was going to be the winner. He hit the cars perfectly, rode a perfect wheelie to the top of the cars in a PERFECT 90* angle and just plain stopped. I mean STOPPED! He could've parked his monster, unbuckled and walked away. His truck wasn't going anywhere. The Pittsburgh crowd was popping off pictures you wouldn't believe. The best part was that Rich didn't even know he scored a perfect 30 as he pulled into his pits. On the jumbotron the fans could see that he was absolutely pumped and throwing his fists in the air and yelling inside his truck. It was a great moment in his career.

A rising superstar is also quickly making a huge name for himself and that is Marc McDonald and His Safe Auto Minimizer Ford F-150. In racing, Marc was able to work his way through the brackets almost with too much ease. In the finals, the Safe Auto Minimizer hit a great light, found enough traction, and nailed the win, but it wasn't by very much. The judges had to go to the replay video 3 different times to finally make the call. What was a great win for Marc was an equally a tough break for Mark Hall and Raminator, last nights winner.

Probably the driver who had the most fun today had to be Cam McQueen. With his entire family here in attendance (flying in from British Columbia Canada), the relative newcomer to the Monster Jam scene wowed the Pittsburgh fans with his freestyle effort. He and his Pastrana199 Ford never wavered, never faultered, all the way to a perfect 30. It was such a fantastic run with HUGE air time after time, that it was obvious that the judges had no choice but to award him a perfect 30.

Now its time to take a breather, brush the dust off, tighten the nuts and bolts and get ready for show #3 in just a few hours.

Saturday 7pm -
Valentines Day, Monster Jam, & Pittsburgh fans, a perfect recipe for a blast on a Saturday night and also had Tom Meents on the top box for the first time this weekend. It has been a fairly dismal weekend so far for Meents and Max D as he has been having reliability problems in every show. Tonight it seemed as if he and his crew had the gremlins taken care of, at least at the start of the night. Tom and Max D had an unbelievable wheelie that not only went past 90* to the floor, but also cleared the cars and flat landed on the other side square on the rear of chassis. The Pittsburgh crowd roared in approval and whistled off with the win.

It got down, dirty, and very serious in the UTI racing portion of the night. You could see the intensity of every single driver as they staged up to the Advanced Auto starting line. The savvy, experience, and the inability of any of his competitors to shake the nerves of Mark Hall and his Raminator Dodge, once again brought Mark into the finals for the 3rd straight time this weekend. Not only that, but Hall and his Dodge has made it 2 for 3 with wins. Once again, Mark also thanked the crowd for coming out and spending their hard earned money and valuable time with us. Wow, the audience responded back in appreciation.

And finally what everyone was waiting for, Monster Jam Freestyle. The tight course has been a challenge to every driver and it was apparent tonight. There were a few drivers that were able to shine through and one was Cam McQueen and Pastrana199. In the end, it was all Marc McDonald and the Safe Auto Minimizer, with huge air, time after time. He was able to skillfully use up the entire clock without wasting a move. The night ended with what looked like a screaming freestyle, but almost as soon as it started it ended with the entire rear end of Max D being torn apart. The freestyle win went to McDonald and Safe Auto.

It's been a great weekend so far and we don't expect the excitement to dwindle at all tomorrow afternoon, the final event here in Pittsburgh.

Sunday -
Often times on a 4 show weekend, the last one seems to drudge along just fast enough to survive till the end. This was NOT one of those shows! We had the kids screaming, laughing, jumping up and down, and just having an all around great time. The parents were into it as well, when we informed them that it would definitely help them sleep tonight. But there was NOT going to be any napping this afternoon as the final event of the weekend hit the Mellon Arena floor here in Pittsburgh.

It looked as if Jay Snyder and his Screamin Demon Ford would walk away with his first win of the weekend in the wheelie contest. A spectacular bumper walk, and stop and drop had the judges scoring Jay a perfect 30. It held up for a little while, but not quite long enough for Snyder. Cam McQueen and Pastrana199 nailed a perfect 30 as well. It wasn't until the end of the final competitor was done did we know who the winner would be. The fourth and final judge pointed toward Cam as the winner. It was a great win for Cam again as his entire family from BC Canada was in attendance.

In the UTI Racing portion of the afternoon you could just see the intensity growing as each racer came to the line. With the field dwindling down to the final 2 monsters, it was Cam McQueen and Pastrana199 along side Marc McDonald and the Safe Auto Minimizer Ford going head to head for the win. It turned out to be all in the holeshot, and it was McDonald who pulled the best light as well as the win.

It came down to the final contest of the day and the weekend, Monster Jam Freestyle. Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction up until this point had a terrible weekend. Broken parts after broken parts had eliminated Max D from nearly every contest. Today though, you could tell by the reactions of the tech and track crew when Tom was prepping to come out onto the floor that something huge was about to take place. Everyone not only was running to clear the floor, but also for cover! Lets just say that Tom did NOT disappoint. Some of the biggest air all weekend was witnessed by the Pittsburgh fans, even by World Finals standards. It was a great way to end the show and the weekend, watching Tom run up into the audience and hanging out with the best fans in motorsports. Pittsburgh, it was great hanging out with the NFL world champions, we'll see ya again in 2010!