Weekend Race Recap
Friday 7:30
Another great night at the Toledo speedway was had by the sold out crowd of thousands of screaming fans. The night started out with Auto Cross which was here for the first time since Monster Jam has been coming to Toledo. The great fans also got to see a wheeli train with all six trucks hitting the car stacks back to back giving the fans some great picture oppurtunitys.
Qualifying was first for the trucks amd Escalade took the fastest time with a 21.59 second run. Grave Digger was second fastest followed by Superman, Destroyer, Monster Mutt and then Rap Attack. Escalade took the first win of the night by defeating Rap Attack in round one and then beating fast looser Destroyer in the semi finals to take on Superman. Superman made it to the finals withh wins over Destroyer and Monster Mutt. In the finals Escalade edge out Superman by one of the closest races I have ever seen and the crowd went wild. The surprise of the night was a spin out in the final turn for Grave Digger who was beat in round one by six truck lengths.
Freestyle was awesome and the scores were tight Rap Attack started it out with some great wheelies and a score of 11. Destroyer was next and stepped it up as Air Man Dan Evans took the lead with a 21. The next two trucks were great and tied with a score of 23. It was Superman and Monster Mutt who took over the hot seat with some sick air and fast doughnuts. Escalade wasn't about to give up that easily. Balhan was going for the double Down and scored the lead with some great slap wheelies and huge air off of the van stack for a score of 25. Grave Digger needed to get a win after the poor showing in raceing and Porter drove the wheels off of the Black and Green Wrecking machine to tie Escalade and get one more point from the silent judge to take that needed win.
Gary and George both thanked the great fans of Toledo and asked them all to come back tomorrow night for some more Monster Jam action.
Saturday 7:30
Another sell out crowd was on hand for the sixth year in a row here at the Toledo Speedway. We started the night off with Qualifying and Superman took the number one seat for round one with a lightning fast time of 20.74 seconds. Grave Digger was the next closest with a 22 .59 if that tells you how fast Superman was.
In round one of racing Superman took advantage of his fast qualifying time and defeated Escalade in a rematch from the night before. Grave Digger also won his match between Monster Mutt and Destroyer took out Rap Attack. In the semi Finals Superman defeated fast looser Monster Mutt and Destroyer inched out Grave Digger in another close race. The finals were just as exciting as last night were Superman defeated Destroyer by a photo finish that even I was glad that it wasn't me making the call. Chad Fortune had his son with him for the first time in the winners circle and dedicated the win to him.
Freestyle again was close as the judges had a hard time deciding who was going to take home the win. Rap Attack started us of with a good run that gave him a score of 19. Destroyer also had a great start and a little more for the fans that resulted in a flat tire and a score of 21. Superman was trying to double down but came up short with a score of 22. Monster Mutt was the hit of the night as Whit Tarlton took the lead with a 25 and an awesome roll over at the end of his run that had the fans screaming for more. Escalade was next and tried everything to take the lead away but fell short with a 23. That left us with one more truck "Grave Digger". Porter drove the wheels off and took home another trophy for the Black and Green Wrecking Machine with a score of 26 only one better than Mutt.
With the crowds still coming back for more year after year here at Toledo there is no doubt in my mind that we will be back again next year!
Monster Jam Announcer, Greg Whitacre
