STRAIGHT LINE DRAGS COMPETITION

Keeping the show moving right along, next up was the Monster Truck Straight Line Drags competition.  Let's get right to it!!

Round 1

GOD, GUTS, & GLORY VS. WILDFIRE

In this first round match-up, Devin Jones in the Wildfire truck got the jump off the line and never looked back.  Wildfire takes the win over Melissa Stathas and God, Guts, & Glory.

NITEMARE VS. GOLD DIGGER

Next up was Andy Hoffman in Nitemare going up against Nick Dejulio in the Gold Digger truck.  This was probably one of the better races of the evening with Gold Digger taking the big upset win over Nitemare!!

GOD, GUTS, & GLORY VS. NITEMARE

The brackets got thrown off with this one just a little because Iron Horse couldn't get the truck to fire and didn't make it out to the line for this race.  The race was supposed to be Iron Horse versus, I guess the fast loser?  I don't know.  Anyway, instead, the track officials decided to bring back Andy Hoffman for another shot at advancing to the next round, so this was essentially a loser bracket.  Another very close race as Melissa got Andy off the line, but Andy accelerated and lept over the cars while Melissa stayed low.  In the end, Andy just edged her out for the win and would be moving on after all, thanks to Iron Horse's mechanical problems!!

The Final Rounds

GOLD DIGGER VS. WILDFIRE

Now it would seem to me that this would be the Finals because these are the two winning trucks from the first round, but apparently the winner of this round would be facing off against the winner of the loser bracket for the win.  Doesn't really make sense to me, but no big deal.  Anyway, in the battle of the winning trucks, it was Devin Jones in Wildfire all the way.  Dejulio got a great leap over the cars with a lot of air, but Wildfire stayed low and eliminated the Gold Digger.

WILDFIRE VS. NITEMARE

Well, here it is, the final round of straight line drags.  After knocking off Gold Digger, Devin Jones now had to take on Andy Hoffman for the win.  Fitting that this was the Finals, because it was the best race of the night!  It was definitely a photo finish and the picture shows just how close it really was, but it was Devin Jones in the Wildfire truck, in his first racing competition in that truck, taking the big win!!  Devin also had a little flair to his run as after getting some great air the truck pogo-ed when he hit the ground for a nice effect and photo opportunity.  Congrats to Devin Jones on the big win!!

THE CHICAGO-STYLE COMPETITION

After a short break during which I moved back up to the announcer's stand, it was almost time for the Chicago-Style racing.  I moved up there so that during the Chicago-Style, I could try to keep both trucks in the frame.  With the show continuing to move right along, it was time for more Monster Trucks!!  One note on the "Chicago-Style"; the format for this portion of racing was a little different than the Chicago-Style we all are used to.  Instead of three hits on the cars, this was a little more like a U-Turn Course.  One hit on the cars, a quick turn, and one more hit to the finish line would be the way it would work tonight!

Round 1

IRON HORSE VS. NITEMARE

Time for the first appearance of Billy Chapen and the Iron Horse truck.  He would be facing off against Andy Hoffman and the Nitemare machine.  Both trucks got a pretty good start off the line, but Andy got through the turn a lot faster than Chapen, and that would be the difference as Nitemare roared over the final jump, taking the first-round win!!

GOLD DIGGER VS. GOD, GUTS, & GLORY

Time for the Monsters on a Mission teammates to do battle!!  The trucks were pretty even over the first jump, but Melissa Stathas had the edge over Nick Dejulio coming off the corner and jumped to victory over the second set of cars!!

WILDFIRE VS. IRON HORSE

Up next was another teammate vs. teammate battle, with Billy Chapen in the Iron Horse taking on newcomer Devin Jones and the Wildfire truck.  Chapen got the opportunity to come back for a second chance at advancing, but would not be able to capitalize as Jones made the best turn of the night, and sent the Iron Horse back to the stable.

Click on the next page for the rest of Chicago-Style action, more tough trucks, and Draco!!

MORE CHICAGO STYLE ACTION!!