- Ross Z. Bonar - The Monster Blogger

After having a very mild winter in this area, winter finally hit the night before the show!!  We awoke the morning of the event finding that 12” of snow had fallen during the night.  We had planned on attending the 10:30 AM Pit Party, but by the time we had dug out of the snow it was to late!!  We struggled through the snow and made it to the Wachovia Spectrum by 1:00 PM.

I met with the fine folks from Live Nation and completed my registration.  Well-known Monster Truck photographer for the USHRA, Andrew Palochko, showed me around the arena and gave me a few shooting tips.  The Spectrum is a fairly small arena which up until a few years ago was the home to the Flyers and 76ers.  After getting squared away and meeting the drivers prior to the race I went to see if the rest of my group was ok.

THE LINEUP OF MONSTER TRUCKS

The show had a great field of drivers and trucks and we were very excited to see El Toro Loco and The Monster Mutt.  The show was reported as being “Sold Out” but only a little over 4000 fans showed up, due to the poor weather conditions.  It was actually nice as it provided a lot of room for me to move around without being in the way while shooting.  Anyway, let's take a look at the 8 truck field!!

THE BROKER - LOU ANTONOZZI

BLUE THUNDER - TONY FARRELL

EL TORO LOCO - LUPE SOZA

GRAVE DIGGER - CHAD TINGLER

MONSTER MUTT - BRIAN WINSTON

PASTRANA 199 - COURTNEY JOLLIE

TEAM SUZUKI - KATHY WINSTON

TRAXXAS T-MAXX - CARL VAN HORN

THE WHEELIE CONTEST

After Introductions were completed, it was time to get the show rolling with the Monster Truck Wheelie contest!!

PASTRANA 199

First up was Courtney Jollie in Pastrana 199.  She hit the stack of cars perfectly and managed a great vertical wheelie off the cars.  Unfortunately a rear wheel slipped off the cars resulting in Courtney’s first rollover.  The truck was quickly overturned and Courtney was ok.  Unfortunately the truck wasn’t and they struggled the rest of the show to keep it running.  Courtney came away with a score of 24 for her efforts.  Check out the animation below to see the rollover!!

THE BROKER

Lou Antonozzi in The Broker followed Pastrana's rollover and managed a score of 16.

MONSTER MUTT

Bryan Winston in the Monster Mutt hit the track next.  He also received a score of 16 for his efforts.

TRAXXAS T-MAXX

Next was Carl Vanhorn in T-Maxx who did an awesome wheelie and came away with a score of 23.

TEAM SUZUKI

Kathy Winston in Team Suzuki followed T-Maxx.  Kathy only managed an 18, but it was enough to edge out her husband Bryan.

BLUE THUNDER

Tony Farrell in Blue Thunder came out and really attacked the cars, managing a 23 which tied T-Maxx’s score, but still fell short of Pastrana 199 who continued to lead.

EL TORO LOCO

There were now only two trucks left and Courtney was leading with her score of 24.  Next up was Lupe Soza in El Toro Loco!!  The seasoned veteran wowed the crowd with a performance that earned him a 27, and made him the new leader!!

GRAVE DIGGER

That now only left one other driver, Chad Tingler in Grave Digger!!  The crowd was anticipating a great performance and Chad did not disappoint.  He attacked the cars and managed an awesome sky wheelie, dragging the tailgate across the cars!!  It was an amazing performance and he received a well deserved score of 29, and the Wheelie contest victory!!

RACING COMPETITION

ROUND 1

In racing Grave Digger would advance to the semi-finals by defeating Pastrana 199.  Blue Thunder would also advance by beating The Broker.  T-Maxx had an easy win over the Monster Mutt, and El Toro Loco advanced with a win over Team Suzuki to complete the first round of action.

SEMI-FINALS

Carl Van Horn in T-Maxx advanced to the Finals with a win over Lupe Soza El Toro Loco, and Tony Farrell in Blue Thunder also advanced with an upset win over Chad Tingler in Grave Digger!!

FINAL ROUND

The Finals was shaping up to be a great race, but it was all Carl Van Horn in Traxxas T-Maxx,as he had an easy victory over Blue Thunder.  Tony Farrell had trouble getting off the line, and that was what handed the win to Van Horn.  Congratulations to Carl on the big win!!

Well, with two-thirds of the show now complete, it was time for the eight trucks to go wild in Freestyle!!  Click below to continue to page 2 for coverage of Freestyle!!

CLICK HERE FOR FREESTYLE!!