Rockford, IL - Nov. 16-17 - BMO Harris Bank Center
Authored by Larry Jewett on November 19, 2018
Hosts: John Saponaro and Abby Baltezar
Truck Line-up: Grave Digger® (Brandon Vinson), Zombie® (Ami Houde), Master of Disaster (Lindsey Rettew), Stinger Unleashed (Zane Rettew), Barbarian (Devin Jones), Midnight Rider (Tom Herzog)
Saturday Evening
Lineup Note: The Master of Disaster truck (Lindsey Rettew) did not compete for the entire Saturday eveninjg due to suffering a blown motor during the afternoon competition. However, her teammate did compete in both ATV events.
EVENT POINTS
Grave Digger 32
Stinger Unleashed 26
Zombie 24
Midnight Rider 20
Barbarian 19
Master of Disaster 4
RACING*
Round 1
Midnight Rider defeated Barbarian
Grave Digger defeated Zombie
Stinger Unleashed BYE
Semi-Finals
Midnight Rider defeated Barbarian
Grave Digger defeated Stinger Unleashed
Finals
Grave Digger defeated Midnight Rider
*With a 5 truck field, the fastest loser returned in the semi-finals and Stinger Unleashed was randomly selected to receive a Round 1 BYE.
2-WHEEL SKILLS
Grave Digger 9.639
Zombie 7.984
Stinger Unleashed 6.382
Barbarian 3.785
Midnight Rider 3.781
Master of Disaster DNC
DONUTS
Zombie 8.999
Grave Digger 8.659
Barbarian 6.234
Midnight Rider 5.557
Stinger Unleashed 5.188
Master of Disaster DNC
FREESTYLE
Grave Digger 9.545
Stinger Unleashed 8.533
Zombie 8.335
Barbarian 6.288
Midnight Rider 4.080
Master of Disaster DNC
EVENT NOTES
Brandon Vinson was finally able to get Grave Digger over the hump on the final night in Rockford. He made a statement right out of the gate with his first Monster Jam Racing win of the weekend. He backed that up with another 2-Wheel Skills win, his third in three tries at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Although Zombie won both Donuts and the ATV Obstacle Course thanks to Ami Houde and Samantha Larae, it was too little too late as Grave Digger capped off his impressive performance with a Freestyle win. At the end of the night, Brandon finished with 32 total points (out of a possible 36) and the Overall Event Championship.
Saturday Afternoon
EVENT POINTS
Zombie 31
Grave Digger 26
Midnight Rider 19
Stinger Unleashed 18
Barbarian 18
Master of Disaster 17
RACING*
Round 1
Grave Digger defeated Master of Disaster
Zombie defeated Barbarian
Stinger Unleashed defeated Midnight Rider
Semi-Finals
Grave Digger defeated Midnight Rider
Zombie defeated Stinger Unleashed
Finals
Zombie defeated Grave Digger
*With a 6 truck field, the fastest loser returned in the semi-finals
2-WHEEL SKILLS
Grave Digger 9.362
Zombie 8.688
Master of Disaster 6.093
Stinger Unleashed 5.900
Barbarian 3.778
Midnight Rider 2.861
DONUTS
Zombie 9.028
Grave Digger 8.970
Barbarian 6.613
Midnight Rider 6.247
Master of Disaster 3.288
Stinger Unleashed DNC
FREESTYLE
Grave Digger 9.352
Zombie 8.295
Stinger Unleashed 8.281
Barbarian 5.801
Master of Disaster 5.331
Midnight Rider 4.688
EVENT NOTES
Saturday afternoon in Rockford belonged again to Team Zombie and Ami Houde. Ami opened the day with a photo-finish Monster Jam Racing win over Brandon Vinson and Grave Digger and never looked back. She opened the second half with a Donut victory as well and combined that with second place finishes in 2-Wheel Skills and Freestyle. Team Zombie was also helped out by ATV rider Samantha Larae — who finished third in ATV Racing and second in the Obstacle Course. During pre-show interviews on Friday night, Ami promised her fans that she would sweep the weekend, and so far, she’s two-thirds of the way there.
Friday Evening
EVENT POINTS
Zombie 30
Grave Digger 28
Stinger Unleashed 21
Midnight Rider 21
Barbarian 15
Master of Disaster 12
RACING*
Round 1
Grave Digger defeated Master of Disaster
Zombie defeated Barbarian
Midnight Rider defeated Stinger Unleashed
Semi-Finals
Barbarian defeated Grave Digger
Midnight Rider defeated Zombie
Finals
Barbarian defeated Midnight Rider
*With a 6 truck field, the fastest loser returned in the semi-finals
2-WHEEL SKILLS
Grave Digger 9.453
Zombie 8.893
Midnight Rider 8.676
Stinger Unleashed 6.526
Master of Disaster 6.132
Barbarian 3.309
DONUTS
Zombie 9.203
Grave Digger 8.712
Barbarian 6.087
Midnight Rider 5.412
Stinger Unleashed 5.307
Master of Disaster 4.949
FREESTYLE
Zombie 8.857
Grave Digger 8.379
Stinger Unleashed 8.027
Barbarian 5.315
Midnight Rider 5.271
Master of Disaster DNC
EVENT NOTES
Friday night at the BMO Harris Bank Center opened with an upset victory as Barbarian’s Devin Jones took the racing win. Up next, Grave Digger’s Brandon Vinson capped an exciting 2-Wheel Skills competition with a very impressive win. Midnight Rider’s Tom Herzog finished in third place in that competition but completed his run with an unbelievable one-wheel save on the top of the pod. In an event filled with many different winners, ultimately, Team Zombie’s Ami Houde won the Donut and Freestyle competitions, en route to another Overall Event Championship. She has been on a bit of a roll lately, after capturing two of the three trophies last week.