Friday:
Double Down for Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction! What a way to begin a great weekend of action at the legendary New England track. Tom had been making the trip to Stafford for almost 15 years and the first afternoon event turned magical for him and his many fans. It was almost like Max D. could do no wrong.
Maximum Destruction not only doubled down but he won the W.I. Clark Wheelie competition as well scoring 28 from the judges with Mopar Magic and Grave Digger the only truck even close with scores of 24 each.
Max. D dominated racing but perhaps some of the luck was due to motor problems with Randy Browns Grave Digger XVIIII. Try as they might the Digger crew could not get Randy the power he needed to make the final race of the afternoon. He chose instead to leave the racing to runner up Steve Sims aboard Stone Crusher so the Digger crew could work on the truck for Freestyle.
Again it was Grave Digger and Mopar Magic driven by Ricky Ownley scoring 25’s from the judges and Maximum Destruction earning a 29.
The afternoon event featured Pro Arena trucks with N. Franklin Ct.’s Scott Smith earning the top spot and FMX with high flying action from the four talented riders.
Results: Wheelie Freestyle
Backdraft 21 22
Mopar Magic 24 25
Bulldozer 20 21
Eradicator 17 20
Stone Crusher 22 23
El Toro Loco 18 19
Maximum Destruction 28 29
Grave Digger 24 25
Racing Results:
Round One
Grave Digger beat Back Draft
Maximum Destruction over El Toro Loco
Bulldozer downed Mopar Magic
Stone Crusher over Eradicator
Semi Finals:
Digger beat Stone Crusher
Maximum Destruction over Bulldozer
Finals:
Maximum Destruction over Stone Crusher
Grave Digger could not make the race due to motor problems giving Stone Crusher a chance at a win in Stafford. In the end Maximum D. got the win as he flew around the turns getting plenty of traction. This was something that many others including Stone Crusher could not do.
The afternoon event ended a bit past 4pm local time. Driver signed autographs for the fans while crews worked to get the monsters ready for the next event with doors scheduled to open at 6:30pm.
Saturday Night:
It was destined to be a second double-down in one day for Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction. Everybody came out with everything they had and nobody could beat the Big Max. Tom had electrical problems all night and first was out of his transmission but he still won. In the racing main the truck died and he coasted across the Ford Finish Line to earn the win.
In Freestyle, nobody could outdo Maximum Destruction. Steve Sims rolled Stone Crusher toward the end of his impressive run. Steve was fine, due to the safety equipment Monster Jam trucks have built in, but the truck was a mess and doubtful for the Sunday afternoon event.
Ricky Onley drove the wheels off Mopar Magic giving the fans well over his scored :90 but again came up short. Jeremy Slifco was forced to shorten the Backdraft Freestyle when the truck lost oil pressure. As of this writing, they are still working on the truck for Sundays event.
The biggest threat to Maximum Destruction in Freestyle was Randy Brown and Grave Digger. Randy drove like a man possessed. High jumps, speed passes. Donuts, cyclones, wheelies, the Grave Digger freestyle had it all. Grave Digger kept going for almost 3 minutes giving fans more freestyle action than anyone ever expected. As the truck drove into the pits everyone thought Grave Digger had the win.
We all learned never to count Max D out of contention. Tom Meents sailed the truck almost 30 feet in the air. Not just one time but repeatedly. His cyclones were flawless, with each pass Tom held up his #1 signal to the fans and they stood to cheer him on some more. The truck that had stopped dead on the track was doing the seemingly impossible, an incredible World Finals like freestyle knowing full good and well the truck was running on the edge. When he finally brought Maximum Destruction to the finish line the thousands of Monster Jam fans stood to give him a standing ovation. For the second time in one day Max D earned the Double-Down.
Results:
Truck Wheelie Freestyle
Backdraft 20 9 lost oil pressure
Mopar Magic 19 25
Bulldozer 18 23
Eradicator 14 19
Stone Crusher 19 24 ROLLED
El Toro Loco 15 22
Maximum Destruction 19 26
Grave Digger 19 24
Race Results:
Maximum Destruction beat Bulldozer
Grave Digger defeated Stone Crusher
Mopar Magic downed Backdraft
El Toro Loco over Eradicator
Semi-Finals:
Maximum Destruction beat Grave Digger
Mopar Magic defeated El Toro Loco
Race Finals:
Maximum Destruction wins over Mopar Magic
Mopar Magic and Ricky Ownly proved to the world the truck and driver are here to stay. While Mopar was not the winner in either racing or freestyle he did show very strong in both competitions. The father/son team of Eradicator and Backdraft with Andy and Jeremy Slifco is another team to watch as they continue to be one of the best independent teams in the country.
A wild second show on a Saturday afternoon in Stafford Springs.
Sunday:
The 2009 Monster Jam swing thru Stafford Motor Speedway came to an end Sunday afternoon as thousands of fans arrived early for the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits.
The Pit Party began at 10:30 with fans arriving as early as 8am for a chance to see the trucks up close and personal and to get autographs and pictures with their favorite drivers and trucks.
By the 2pm scheduled start time the sun had come out after the threat of rain early and things began to heat up in the stands and on the track. Tom Meents announced his intention to drive Maximum Destruction to its third double-down win in a row and the other drivers said they were just as intent on cutting him short in that bid.
Stone Crusher, who rolled during the Freestyle Competition Saturday night was out of contention for the afternoon leaving seven monster to go for the gold.
The afternoon began with the W.I. Clark Wheelie Contest with Ricky Ownly driving Mopar Magic to a two wheeled win. Fans booed when the judges gave Tom Meents a score of 15. It was evident to all, however, that after consideration what Maximum Destruction had done was go big and get air in a speed run but NOT in a Wheelie. The only truck that was even close to Mopar Magic was young Jeremy Slifco aboard Backdraft. His efforts earned him a score of 22 from the judges. Grave Digger did not compete in the wheelie contest due to a spark plug change.
The sun stayed out with clouds visible all around the hills surrounding the track and while officials were concerned things went great thru the first half. With only seven trucks in competition a bye run went to the #1 draw of the afternoon. That draw was El Toro Loco driven by Chris Baker. In a show of strength Bulldozer powered across the Ford Finish line well ahead of crowd favorite Grave Digger. Max D continued his winning ways over Mopar Magic and Jeremy Slifco driving Backdraft beat his dad Andy and Eradicator.
As the rounds of racing continued Maximum Destruction held off all others again including teammate Chuck Werner aboard Bulldozer in the race finals. Max D was well on the way to three double down wins at Stafford. Perhaps Tom’s prediction would come true.
As the second half began Freestyle Motox brought fans to their feet with high jumps, incredible tricks and three, that’s right Monster Jam Fans, three backflips.
In the Monster Jam UTI Freestyle the scoring was tough but fair. Backdraft began strong with nice aggressive run but was cut short when he broke and officials would not let him continue. His shortened run only earned him a 12. Things were no better for Papa Slifco in Eradicator. His score of 14 came after he ran hard but seemed to lack the power to get big air or a locked in donut. Still the action from the veteran driver was controlled and exciting far beyond what the score would indicate. The next three, Mopar Magic, El Toro Loco and Bulldozer all got 22’s from the judges. Grave Digger driven by Randy Brown was determined to earn the win. He roared on the track with a non-stop :90+ freestyle bringing fans to their feet and getting a score of 24.
Finally it time for Maximum Destruction. The question was, could the magic happen for the third time in a row? Combine the biggest air of the afternoon and a great cyclone and he was well in the way to victory. Then the motor died, no power, no score, no nothing. Officials stopped the clock while crews determined the problem was with the ignition interrupt switch. Seems it was pulled out after catching on the van stack while Max D jumped over it. A quick fix and Max D was back to finish out his run. Things seemed to go from bad to worse as the truck landed on its side but an incredible save from Meents somehow brought Max D back to all four tires only to catch again at the end of his :90 rolling the truck forcing it to land hard on its side.
Meents was ok and asked during a post freestyle interview.”Who Won”. He really didn’t know until then that he had made history with three Double Downs in a row as predicted.
Results:
Truck Wheelie Freestyle
Backdraft 22 12
Mopar Magic 25 22
Eradicator 16 14
Bulldozer 14 22
El Toro Loco 17 22
Maximum Destruction 15 27
Grave Digger broke 24
Race Results:
Round One
El Toro Loco with a bye run
Bulldozer downed Grave Digger
Max D beat Mopar Magic
BackDraft over Eradicator
Semi-Finals:
Bulldozer downed El Toro Loco
Maximum Destruction over Backdraft
Race Final:
Maximum Destruction defeated Bulldozer by less than six inches.
So ended another yearly visit from the stars of Monster Jam to the legendary Stafford Motor Speedway. Track owners Mark and Lisa Arute continue to run one of the finest local tracks in the Northeast each week bringing thousands of racing faithful to watch and enjoy the great tradition of racing.
