Weekend Race Recap

Friday 7:30 p.m.

Thunder Nationals returned to Chattanooga with a stellar lineup of Monster trucks to bring tight arena racing action and more. The show opened with wheelstand competition as Rammunition opened with a 17 and Raminator topped him with a 19. The next pair to go vertical were Full Boar who upped the ante to a 20, but Turtle skied to a 24 and the lead. The final truck, Grave Digger, turned a true vertical, earning a 30 and a wheelie win.

In Monster racing, Rammunition earned a bye in the draw. First round elimination saw Raminator top Turtle with Grave Digger stopping Full Boar. Turtle earned the fast loser return to the second round, facing Rammunition and Rammunition denied Turtle again. The closest match of racing pitted Grave Digger against Raminator with Digger winning by inches. In the finals, Grave Digger took care of Rammunition to add to his wheelie win.

The Monster hit the floor for donut competition and Turtle opened strong with a 25. Raminator twirled the truck to a 20 and Rammunition came storming out. His solid run brought a score of 26 and the lead, but it proved costly, shredding a blower belt. Full Boar came out for a series of donuts, getting a scorre of 21, but suffering through a broken front diff and axle. Grave Digger came out to do some spinning and kept the truck throttled through, but the judges scored him to a 23, giving Rammunition the donut win.

The final Monster event pitted the field in freestyle. Only three could answer with Mark Hall and Raminator opening it up. As time expired, the truck toppled to its side and slid along the concrete. A score of 22 posted gave the remianing trucks a target. Turtle went one better with a steady freestyle run, getting 23 for the effort, leaving the floor to Pablo Huffaker and Grave Digger. Grave Digger XVI rumbled through the 60 seconds, passing the time on two wheels, three wheels, four wheels and in the air, bringing home a winning score of 26.

the event was spiced up by spirited Quad wars competition between teams from Alabama and Tennessee. Each squad won a preliminary with Alabama taking the main and prevailing again in a captain's challenge. The Fearless Flores Family thrilled the crowd with antics inside the Sphere of Fear, including one session with three motorcycles performing at once. 

Saturday 7:30

The second night of the 1-800-Safe-Auto Thunder Nationals presented by Advance Auto Parts brought plenty of excitement for the fans at Chattanooga's McKenzie Arena. The monsters opened the show with wheelie competition.

Rammunition 20

Raminator 24

Full Boar 26

Turtle 19

Grave Digger 27

After his wheelie win, Grave Digger went to the line in a bye after drawing the number one in pre-show. Turtle topped Full Boar in round one racing with Rammunition and Raminatoir squaring off in a battle of teammates. Raminator came out on top of that match up and moved on to the semis. The fats loser of round one was Full Boar, who met Grave Digger in the semis. Grave Digger prevailed and Raminator edged Turtle in the closest race of the night. The finals pitted Grave Digger against Raminator with Grave Digger topping the race.

Dionut Competition

Turtle 23

Raminator 20

Rammunition 21

Full Boar 27

Grave Digger 28

In the freestyle action, each of the five trucks was able to answer the call, but Rammunition suffered mechanical failure only 16 seconds into the run.

Full Boar 17

Raminator 17

Turtle 24

Rammunition BROKE

Grave Digger 27

Team Tennessee won quad wars preliminaries with Team Alabama winning the main. Tennessee topped the captain's challenge.

The Fearless Flores Family, Ricardo, Victor & Arcelia, performed in the Sphere of Fear to the delight of the crowd.

Sunday 2:00 p.m.

The final presentation of the 1-800-Safe-Auto Thunder Nationals by Advance Auto Parts graced the UTC - McKenzie Arena on a ch.lly Sunday afternoon. The hearty crowd cheered  Monsters through wheelie competition, racing, donut action and freestyle.

Rammunition opened the show by sticking his wheelstand to a score of 16. That score proved to be popular with Full Boar and Turtle getting the same number from the judges. Raminator took it one step better, getting a 17 from the judges. The final truck, Grave Digger, posted a 26 to get the day started on the right foot.

Full Boar drew the number one flag and got the bye run for round one of Monster Jam racing. Grave Digger matched up with Turtle and a close race ensued with Grave Digger on top. Teammates Raminator and Rammunition were scheduled to meet, but a tire problem on the right front of Raminator set the drama in  motion. Thanks to the quick efforts of Hall Brothers racing and rival crews, a tire was found, pout onb, and the truck was sent to the line with seconds to spare. The effort was for naught as Raminator was edged by Rammunition.

Turtle returned as fast loser, only to fall to Full Boar. Grave Digger took out Rammunition in the semi finals. Full Boar and Grave Digger pulled to the line for the finals and Full Boar used his lane choice to his advantage. The finish was close but there was no denying Full Boar. In his victory interviewe, Ed Eckert pointed out he had been trying to beat Pablo and finally got it done.

Donut competiotion was next for the field

Turtle 19

Raminator 20

Rammunition 25

Full Boar 28

Grave Digger 27

The donut win for Full Boar proved costly as the truck suffered transmission issues and could not compete in freestyle.

Freestyle

Rammunition 19

Raminator 16

Turtle 13

Grave Digger 29

Quad Wars saw a bit of trickery as an apparent captain's challenge was actually two riders from Team Alabama, who will be credited with the Sunday win. The Fearless Flores Family from Florida thrilled the audiience with motorcycle riding in the "Sphere of Fear."