What a crazy evening in Indy Saturday night!!  Tom Meents's roll in Introductions set the tone for what would be an evening of wild action.  Carl Van Horn made a statement that he was there to win in Qualifying by putting T-Maxx at the top of the heap as quick qualifier.

The view from high above shortly before the show got underway!!

Tom Meents rolls Maximum Destruction in Introductions!!

The racing competition was fast and furious with some great races all night long.  Van Horn defeated fast loser Adam Anderson in Taz in the Semis to move onto the Finals.  Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction and defending Indy champion Guy Wood in the hometown favorite Bob & Tom truck would face off to see who would meet T-Maxx in the Finals.  After a hard fought race featuring wild runs by both trucks that included a hard hit from Max D into the parked Air Force truck, it was Guy Wood taking the win only to then flip end over end!!  Thankfully, Guy emerged uninjured, and with a wild pump of the fist, saluted the Indy fans who mightliy cheered the great race!!

Guy Wood in the Bob & Tom truck flips wildly after beating Max D in the Semis!!

Guy Wood's Bob & Tom truck was too badly damaged to return for the Finals, so it was left to Tom Meents to take on T-Maxx.  But Meents had broken a shock in the previous battle, and was put on the 1 minute clock to answer the call.  As the crew thrashed on the truck and the time ticked away, Tom fired up Max D only seconds before time expired.  The trucks lined up and roared off the line when the light turned green.  T-Maxx made the first mistake however, having to make a great save to keep from rolling in the turn.  As T-Maxx sat disabled in the turn, Meents was flying over the cars continuing his run.  In this situation, officials would usually use the RII to shut off Meents for safety, but they did not in this case.  This resulted in Meents nearly plowing T-Maxx, sliding around Van Horn, missing him by mere inches.  Van Horn now had the truck fired and took off after Meents following him over the cars and into the next turn.  The two raced Nascar style through the turn as T-Maxx made a sharper turn, and almost looked like he was going to pass Meents who went wide.  But Van Horn wisely backed off and followed Max D over the last set of cars in a wild and amusing finish to the evening's racing.  Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction would be the winner.

Tom Meents & Carl Van Horn ready to face off for the Racing win!!

A near collision after an almost flip by Van Horn and failure to shut off Max D by the officials!!

Van Horn re-fired and followed Max D around the track as Meents picked up the big win!!

The stage was set for a crazy Freestyle, and that is exactly what the sold-out crowd in Indianapolis got.  Freestyle would feature 5 roll-overs as drivers pushed their trucks to the limit, trying to take home that big trophy.  With only two trucks left, it was Paul Cohen in Air Force sitting atop the heap with a score of 24.  T-Maxx and Taz were tied for second with 22.  Then it was Randy Brown and Grave Digger, who came out with a fast-paced run, smashing through the RV, and ending by stuffing Digger into the ground off the FMX hill.  The judges had been consistent up to the point....consistently low.  But that ended as Digger received a score of 27.  Was his run better than the three previously mentioned trucks?  Not in my opinion, but the judges and Digger fans sure seemed to think so.  But even that judging gaffe would seem tame after Maximum Destruction's run.  Tom Meents wowed the crowd with a fast paced run that featured his typical huge air, but he failed to hit all the obstacles including the bus stack, and while exciting and quite good, the run was not up to the high standard that had been set previously during the evening by trucks like Air Force, T-Maxx, and Taz, in my opinion.  Nonetheless, the scores went up...10...10...10...a perfect 30!!  Meents in Maximum Destruction would be crowned the winner of Freestyle and his second Double-Down award of the year!!  But wait...

Jim Bendzick goes vertical in one of the Freestyle moves of the night!

Jim Kohler loses both rear wheels after getting some huge air in Freestyle!!

Leave it to Chris Bergeron to prove that dogs can fly!!

Carl Van Horn gets an awesome slap wheelie in one of the best Freestyles of the night!!

Paul Cohen finished a great Freestyle run, flipping over the beautiful Air Force Afterburner!!

Adam Anderson flies high in Taz during one of the better Freestyle runs of the night!!

Randy Brown during his Freestyle run in Grave Digger!!

The event sweep would go to Tom Meents after a wild winning run in Freestyle!!

...the score of 30 was not met with a warm reaction from the Indy fans, who resoundly began booing the judges' scoring.  But Tom Meents is not a man to want the fans leaving the event on that note.  In an astonishing gesture of his desire to make sure the fans see a great show, he shouted into the microphone "I promised you all earlier that I was gonna run this truck into the ground, and that's what you're gonna get!!"  Throwing down the microphone, Meents went over and fired Max D back up.  He then proceeded to give the Indy fans an encore that they will not soon forget!!  Highlighting the encore were two crazy slap wheelies, the likes of which I don't believe I have ever seen the long-wheel based Maximum Destruction do before. The brakes were going away, and that resulted in Meents having trouble stopping, running into the parked Avenger after one wheelie, and finishing by smashing into the damaged Bob & Tom truck and the protective dumpster at the far end of the track.  After that crazy display by Tom Meents to end the show, the crowd went wild!!

An awesome slap wheelie by Max D that lead to a collision with the parked Avenger!!

The final slap wheelie from Meents that results in a collision with Bob & Tom!!

Tom Meents salutes the fans after his wild encore to end the show in Indy!!

All in all, it was one wild night in Indianapolis, and my wife and I enjoyed ourselves.  The show was well worth the trip to Indy, and we had a great time all weekend.  A huge thanks out to all the drivers for giving their all to put on a show for the fans, and to all the folks who made the event possible.  I took over 600 pictures from this show and we will be working it into one of our highly detailed full coverages, but that will take some time.  Thus, I hope you all enjoyed this recap, and you can click on the link below to head to the Indy Live Updates on the Fan Forum which contains results from the entire evening's action, and more teasers shots!! Thanks and enjoy!! (01/30/06)

CLICK FOR MORE INDY TEASERS AND RESULTS ON THE THE FAN FORUM!!

- Ross Z. Bonar, The Monster Blogger