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    Weekend Recap: Two Competition Clean Sweeps for Team Grave Digger

    Authored by Larry Jewett on February 13, 2023

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    Two Grave Digger drivers swept events in Anaheim and Pittsburgh, while a first-time winner captured a Freestyle victory in Houston.

     

    Stadium Series Blue – Ryan Anderson (Son-uva Digger) opened the weekend in Anaheim on Saturday night with a near-perfect 35 overall event score, taking wins in Skills and Freestyle. Ryan Disharoon (Shaker) denied Anderson the Racing win by capturing his first stadium racing crown since March 16, 2019. Tyler Menninga (Grave Digger) returned to his winning ways with a clean sweep of the competitions in Sunday’s event, rebuilding his series points lead. The series remains in Anaheim for two events Feb. 18–19.

     

     

    Stadium Series Red – Cole Venard’s (Black Pearl) consistency led to his first event championship of 2023, even though he was held winless in the individual competitions in Houston. Adam Anderson (Grave Digger) took the Racing win, with Venard the runner-up. Tom Meents (Max-D) captured the Skills competition for the fourth time this season. Mike Christensen (Vendetta) capped the evening with his first career Freestyle win. The series heads north to Minneapolis for a pair of events Feb. 18–19.

     

     

    Arena Series East – Weston Anderson (Grave Digger) scored a perfect 32 and swept the action in Pittsburgh on Saturday. The perfecto was one of Anderson’s three event championships, in addition to four Skills competition wins and three Donut wins. In a fill-in appearance in Megalodon, Dustin Brown opened the weekend action by capturing the Friday event championship. Frank Krmel (Stone Crusher) took his second Racing win of 2023, while Armando Castro (El Toro Loco) won Racing and Freestyle competitions over the course of the weekend. The series heads to Worcester Feb. 17–19.

     

    Arena Series Central – Jon Zimmer Jr. (Terminal Velocity) grabbed a pair of event championship wins while Brandon Vinson (Grave Digger) closed the weekend with an event championship as the series returned to BJCC Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Zimmer was a two-time winner in Donut and Skills competitions. Zack Garner (Wild Side) grabbed two Racing wins with Vinson picking up the other Racing title, while Brandan Tulachka (Just Get Er Done II) grabbed a Freestyle win. Cleveland is up next Feb. 18–19.

     

     

    Arena Series West – Tristan England (Earth Shaker) added two more event championship wins in Denver to run his season total to 10. Krysten Anderson (Grave Digger) and Elvis Lainez (El Toro Loco) scored event championships as well, with Lainez taking three Skills wins. Mark Hall (Raminator) added two Donut wins and a Racing victory. The series moves to Oklahoma City with events on Feb. 18 and 19.

     

     

    Monster Jam International – The Monster Jam International tour kicked off with an event at Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. Peter Nyman (Earth Shaker) made a triumphant return to the place where he made his Monster Jam debut in 2020 and captured the overall event win in his home country. Nyman bested Brittany Marcotte (Scooby-Doo!) for the Racing win. Blake Granger (Max-D) captured his first international Skills win, while veteran Charlie Pauken (Megalodon) did the “Chuckie dance” for Stockholm fans after his Freestyle win. Chelsea VanCleve made her Monster Jam debut driving Blue Thunder. The International series returns to action in April in South Africa.

     

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