QUALIFYING

Its a little difficult to run a good show of Monster Truck racing with only three trucks, but the format seemed to be that the fast qualifier would get a bye for the first round, with the second and third fastest trucks racing in the first round, and the winner advancing to the Finals against the fast qualifier.  This was how I thought it would work, but as you'll see, there was a bit of wrench thrown into that format.  For now though, let's assume it was to happen the way I just laid it out.  This format makes Qualifying very important, because fast qualifier would go straight to the Finals.

Up first was Bruce Haney in the Bad News Travels Fast machine.  He laid down a decent run, but unfortunately for him, it would only be third-best, and he would not be advancing straight to the finals.

Doug Noelke laid down a lightning fast run to take the Fast Qualifier for the evening.  Doug got a little out of shape on the landing, and took up some extra real estate getting the truck slowed down in time.  As you may notice from right above, that truck seems to be coming directly at the camera at a high rate of speed.  Well, that's because it is.  The camera-man for this shot is my father, standing at the south end of the course.  This provided a very humorous moment as my friend and I were watching from the stands, and we noticed the truck heading straight for Dad.  He hung in there to get this great shot, but had quite the anxious moment until Noelke got the truck whoaed down and turned back the other way.  It has made for a great story this week, I've been telling everyone "My Daddy Almost Got Run Over By A Monster Truck."  Sounds kind of like a country song!!

Shane Blair was a little squirrelly getting off the line in Bigfoot, and it probably cost him the top spot, because once he got that truck going, he got some serious air off the last set of cars!!  Shane would come in second, and would face Bad News in the first round of racing.

RACING

Round 1

BAD NEWS TRAVELS FAST VS. AMERICAN PRIDE BIGFOOT

In the first round of racing action, Shane Blair totally smoked Bruce Haney off the line, giving Bigfoot a commanding win, launching off the last set of cars and into a Final Round match-up against Doug Noelke and the Big Dawg.  But the next time the monster trucks came out, to my surprise, what did I see?  Big Dawg, and . . . Bad News again?  That's why I am choosing to call this next round an exhibition race and stick with the format I described at the top of the page, because otherwise, it just doesn't make sense.  My guess is that the organizers were having trouble figuring out how to get more Monster Truck action in the show, and decided to run this race also.  So . . .

Exhibition Round

BAD NEWS TRAVELS FAST VS. BIG DAWG

Haney got a better shot off the line this time, but Noelke and Big Dawg still pulled out to a pretty good sized win at the end, in a warm-up for the Finals against Shane Blair in Bigfoot.  As you can see, we've changed angles.  During the tough truck action in between rounds, we decided to go down to the announcer's stand and hang out with Brad and the other officials.  I got a great spot that wasn't being used on the left-side of the announcer's stand, and we ended up staying there for the rest of the night.

Final Round

BIG DAWG VS. AMERICAN PRIDE BIGFOOT

Talk about a spectacular finish to the racing portion of the show!!  WOW!!  Noelke and Blair were even off the first set of cars, but Bigfoot absolutely BLASTED to the win!!  Bigfoot seemed to get a little out of shape in between the cars, but never lifted, launching the truck a little bit sideways on the final jump.  Blair got incredible AIR over the last jump, but landed funny, and took out the balloon holders that had been placed in the middle of the track for freestyle!!  Balloons went everywhere and floated up into the night sky.  What a way to take the win!!  Big air and a big finish!!  I don't know whether we should nickname this guy Air Blair, or Flair Blair!?!  Tonight, he was both, and in taking the racing win, the headline might read, "AIR BLAIR TAKES WIN WITH FLAIR!!"

TUFF TRUX COMPETITION

On to the part of the evening that could have used some improvement.  I had a great time at this event, but if there was one part of it the Jaycees should focus on for next year, it should be to keep this part of the show moving along.  I'm not going to complain, because I still enjoyed the Tuff Trux, but this really bogged down the show, and extended it past 11:00PM.  I would suggest maybe doing just two heats for such a large field of trucks, and/or not allowing trucks to compete in more than one class.  Certain trucks seemed to be out there over and over because they were running in the Amateur and Modified classes, and it did get monotonous. 

However, again, the Tuff Trux did have their moments, and there were some absolutely fantastic folks down in the pits that we got to meet and talk to!!  One of which was definitely Romie Marquart, who Dad did an Editorial column for the site's Features section, as part of the LZ's Pit Report series.  Be sure to check that out as, it really is a great story.  Here are some pictures from the Tuff Trux action, but I don't have names for most of the drivers.  If you see your truck here, email me!!

It was neat to see this Jeep Grand Cherokee on the left up here, as I remembered this guy from the Springfield event earlier this year.  Natural Disaster II was the name in the window, and he was definitely one of the crowd favorites!!  He put on one of the best shows, losing parts on nearly every run, including the bumper.  The guy on the right was fun, because on every jump the back door would fly open!!

These guys were the class of the field in the modified division with the truck on the right, the Mac Attack, winning the event.  A special thanks to this driver, as he already had the win locked up, but still chose to make his final round just for the fans!!

Honestly, I couldn't understand this guy.  He came out in this good-lookin' truck and tore it all up.  The truck looked like it was in great condition before the event, but it wasn't long before the side mirrors were broke, and other parts flew off piece by piece as the night wore on!!

This kid was kind of a neat story.  Only 16 years old, and driving this Ford truck around out there.  Can you imagine what it would have been like to get to do something like this at 16??  That's awesome, and the kid put on a great show out there too!!  That sure looks like a proud daddy in that picture!!

But, as I've mentioned, the star of the Tuff Trux show was Romie Marquart in the "Booger."  The work he put into keeping that truck running and putting on a great show for the fans was incredible, and when the truck finally broke and wouldn't run anymore, Romie jumped on top in front of a roaring crowd!!  Don't miss the Romie' Big Adventure LZ's Pit Report Editorial over in the Features section!!

Ok, back to the Monster Trucks for Freestyle!!!

FREESTYLE!!