Monster Jam fans returned to Raymond James Stadium with high expectations. A perfect afternoon set the stage for the Built Ford Tough party in the Pits with 12 monster trucks surrounded by sponsoring businesses and show elements that would excite the crowd. When the doors opened at 5:30, the fans streamed through and settled in for the excitement. They didn’t stay settled long, rising to their collective feet when the monsters went shooting to the sky and zipping around the course.
After a rousing introduction, the trucks rolled to the starting line for their qualifying. The groups that took times were evenly matched as, had they been racing, there would have been a number of photo finishes. When it was all said and done, the qualifying leader was Escalade, edging Stone Crusher, who in turn was a tick faster than Bulldozer. Excitement in qualifying was a negative turn taken by Pastrana 199. Cam McQueen, in the first pairing, put a solid run to be quicker than Grave Digger, but the truck exploded into flames after crossing the Ford finish line. The bad break dimmed the enthusiasm for the team that found out moments before that Pastrana 199 would be qualified for the Monster Jam NGK Spark Plug World Finals on March 28. Truck owner Travis Pastrana was on hand to accept the qualifier flag, hen watched as Becky and the crew went to work to fix the truck.
The first round efforts saw Escalade scoot around the track with a bye run, War Wizard and Destroyer were sixth and seventh in qualifying, but Destroyer pulled away to a solid win. The eliminations continued when Taz put Maximum Destruction into the pits, Bulldozer edged past Blue Thunder, Gunslinger topped Mopar Magic and Grave Digger outgunned Stone Crusher in a photo finish.
The six trucks moved into the next competition as Escalade rolled past Destroyer, Bulldozer won the battle of character trucks defeating Taz, and Grave Digger and Gunslinger were locked in the closest finish of the round. A second replay was needed to ascertain that Grave Digger nipped Gunslinger.
The solid effort by Gunslinger earned the truck a pass into the semi-finals as the fast loser. Gunslinger had to go up against fast qualifier Escalade, but that was then. Escalade fell in a close one, giving Gunslinger a new lease on life. Grave Digger went to work on Bulldozer, who suffered a mechanical problem in the run. It set up Grave Digger and Gunslinger into the finals, which would see the drivers making five passes over the cars s compared to the three from preliminaries. The trucks were evenly matched through the first, second, third and fourth passes. The competition actually tightened approaching the last jump. A review found the slightest of margins going in favor of Gunslinger. A happy Scott Hartsock told the appreciative crowd that this was a milestone for him as it has been a goal to get a Tampa win and that goal became reality.
The Dairy Queen freestyle gave Gunslinger his chance to shine by providing the opportunity to go first. Gunslinger leaped through the obstacles, but tipped the truck inside the 90-second time frame, drawing only a 16 from the judges. Mopar Magic came to the floor and Ricky Ownley carried the truck with high flying stunts into bonus time. He logged a 21 with a bonus of 2, giving him a 23 after he crippled his truck. Bulldozer nosed in after putting up a big jump, jarring the left front wheel away and stopping his run, matching the leading Mopar Magic with a 21 and 2. War Wizard toppled early in his run, which kept the score in the teens with a 15. Destroyer suffered heavy damage after pulling past the stack backwards, getting a 16 for the effort. Pastrana 199 was able to return, thanks to the efforts of 10 different crew members, who replaced the broken battered pieces from the qualifying disaster. Cam McQueen rallied to a strong run as one of the only trucks to keep it on four wheels. By driving it the distance, his score of 24 pushed him to the top. Stone Crusher and Escalade gave the fans plenty of thrills, getting only 20 and 15 respectively. Blue Thunder rolled out, determined to raise the bar and he wedged it between the bus stack in the hill at the end of his run. Linsey Weenk climbed the freestyle hill with a Built Ford Tough flag, destined to deliver it to a young fan in the second level. He then returned to take his position in the hot seat with a 29. Maximum Destruction rolled just seconds into his run with a 3-2-1, totaling a disappointing 6. Next to hit the floor was 2008 freestyle world champion Adam Anderson in Taz, a driver who knows the importance of bonus points as that proved the margin of difference in Vegas last March. Adam, who won Tampa freestyle two years ago in Grave Digger, wanted to get one in his own truck and his devastating run earned him a score of 9-9-9 with a 4 from the bonus judge and the new lead. Only Grave Digger remained and his best effort put him just a single point short, keeping Taz as the Miami winner.
William Hindman won the demolition derby and freestyle motocross riders attack the air, punctuated by J.J. Romans backflip as the encore.
