Weekend Race Recap
Friday 7:30 p.m. - After accepting his official invitation to compete in the 10th annual NGK Spark Plugs World Finals 10 in two weeks former World Freestyle Champion Pablo Huffaker tuned-up in style, driving his Grave Digger to a sweep of all three competitions Friday night to open a three event weekend at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, CA.
While Huffaker's World Finals invite came for him to drive his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle in Vegas he was on fire in Grave Digger Friday in central California. Huffaker opened the event by winning the wheelie contest, then took the racing competition by beating another World Finals participant, Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter in a hard fought, close race on the Chicago style oval.
In freestyle Creten really pushed Huffaker to the limit, Bounty Hunter claiming the lead with a fantastic freestyle run highlighted by the night's biggest air. But Creten flipped his big Ford Expedition with a little time left on the clock, then Huffaker came onto the track with a ragged edge Digger freestyle that filled the clock with lots of huge air as well and Grave Digger received the nod from the judges to complete the sweep.
RACING RESULTS
1st round - Grave Digger def Obsession; Bounty Hunter def Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle; Shocker def Iron Outlaw (Iron Outlaw advanced to semifinals as fastest round one loser)
Semifinals - Grave Digger def Iron Outlaw; Bounty Hunter def Shocker
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - GRAVE DIGGER DEFEATED BOUNTY HUNTER
FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 27
Bounty Hunter 24
Iron Outlaw 19
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 18
Shocker 15
Obsession 14
WHEELIE CONTEST
GRAVE DIGGER 27
Bounty Hunter 25
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 19
Shocker 17
Iron Outlaw 15
Obsession 13
Saturday 2:00 p.m. - Continuing what they started Friday night, Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter kept raising the bar and throwing down the challenges and Pablo Huffaker was up to the test, driving Grave Digger to a clean sweep of all three Monster Jam competitions Saturday afternoon at the Save Mart Center in Fresno.
The battle between the long time rivals started right off the bat with Creten thrilling the big matinee crowd by hitting an awesome sky wheelie to take the lead. Huffaker saw Bounty Hunter's superb wheelie, knew what he had to do and nailed the best sky wheelie of the weekend so far, Grave Digger edging Bounty Hunter 29 to 27 in the scoring by the three judge panel.
In racing the pair met in the semifinals and like Friday night's Championship Race Grave Digger pulled out the win over Bounty Hunter by less than a truck length to advance into the finale. The other finals participant was Aaron Basl, who despite losing to Pat Gerber and California based Shocker in the semifinals, came back for the finals when Shocker suffered mechanical damage at the end of the run and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle challenged Digger for the event win. The Championship Race was all Huffaker as Grave Digger took another racing victory.
The freestyle battle was the closest competition of the weekend so far. Creten's massive air and slap wheelies in Bounty Hunter were matched by Grave Digger and Huffaker to the point that the three judges couldn't pick a winner, scoring both of the NGK Spark Plugs World Finals 10 invitees with 25. The tie-breaking judge awarded the win to Grave Digger for Huffaker's second straight Fresno sweep.
RACING RESULTS
1st round - Shocker def Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle; Grave Digger def Iron Outlaw; Bounty Hunter def Obsession; (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle advanced to semifinals as fastest round one loser)
Semifinals - Shocker def Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle; Grave Digger def Bounty Hunter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle advanced to Championship Race due to Shocker's mechanical problems)
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - GRAVE DIGGER DEFEATED TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLE
FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 25 (won decision of tie-breaker judge)
Bounty Hunter 25
Obsession 16
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 16
Iron Outlaw 9
WHEELIE CONTEST
GRAVE DIGGER 29
Bounty Hunter 27
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 25
Shocker 20
Obsession 14
Iron Outlaw 10
Saturday 7:30 p.m. - Jimmy Creten finally broke through and snapped Pablo Huffaker's Fresno winning streak when he drove Bounty Hunter to the racing victory, but Huffaker came right back as Grave Digger again took the freestyle crown in front of a near capacity house in the Save Mart Center Saturday night.
The finale of the three event weekend started with another Bounty Hunter - Grave Digger battle in the wheelie contest with Huffaker again blasting a huge crowd pleasing sky wheelie for another Digger win. But in racing Creten was able to finally grab a hard fought win heads up against Huffaker when the pair met in the Championship Race. Both trucks bobbled on the loose dirt with Creten correcting his mistake quicker and Bounty Hunter beat Grave Digger across the finish line by a truck length.
Californian Rick Swanson started the freestyle competition strong in Obsession but it was again Creten's big air and slap wheelies that had Bounty Hunter with the top score as Grave Digger roared back into the building. Another high energy big air performance from Huffaker had the huge crowd screaming its delight and in another tight battle the judges scored Grave Digger one point better than Bounty Hunter for Huffaker's third straight Fresno freestyle triumph.
RACING RESULTS
1st round - Bounty Hunter def Iron Outlaw; Grave Digger def Shocker; Obsession def Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (Iron Outlaw advanced to semifinals as fastest round one loser)
Semifinals - Grave Digger def Iron Outlaw; Bounty Hunter def Obsession
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - GRAVE DIGGER DEFEATED BOUNTY HUNTER
FREESTYLE RESULTS
GRAVE DIGGER 25
Bounty Hunter 24
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 21
Obsession 20
Iron Outlaw 19
WHEELIE CONTEST
GRAVE DIGGER 26
Bounty Hunter 23
Obsession 19
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 19
Shocker 15
Iron Outlaw 14
