Cleveland Monster Jam- Saturday Afternoon

The Monster Jam circuit returned to Cleveland with one of the best 8-truck lineups ever. Several former World Finals competitors plus some of the strongest independents in the business made for an exciting weekend. Participating this weekend:

• Grave Digger- Chad Tingler
• Pastrana 199- Norm Miller
• Avenger- Jim Koehler
• Brutus- Chris Bergeron
• Aftershock- Bob Robbins
• Rap Attack- Dave Rappach
• Bad Habit- Joe Sylvester
• Full Boar- Ed Eckert

The show started off with what will probably be one of the best all-around wheelie contests of the year.

The second truck up, Full Boar, set the bar high by launching the truck vertical scoring a 25.

Rap Attack, known for spectacular wheelies, stood the truck straight up and down and began to walk the truck over the cars. However, Rappach got a bit tripped up and the truck took a soft roll onto the side of the FMX hill, suffering minor body damage. The judges were unimpressed, giving Rappach an extremely low 15.

Jim Koehler in Avenger took the lead with a 27 by walking the '57 Chevy clear across the cars and down the ramp.

Chad Tingler sent Grave Digger vertical, but couldn't match Avenger scoring a 25.

Racing was exciting as the 8-truck bracket meant no fast losers and the qualifying was determined by a random number draw before the show.

Friday night's finals match-up, Grave Digger and Avenger, met in the first round and Jim Koehler took the fan favorite out of competition early.

In an extremely close semi-final race, Bob Robbins in Aftershock, knocked out Avenger and Jim Koehler, who built the Aftershock chassis.

The finals saw Aftershock meet up with Brutus. In an extremely close race, it took several replays on the Quicken Loans Arena scoreboard before the call was made that Aftershock took the win.

The strong lineup made for a memorable freestyle.

Joe Sylvester put on a show in front of his friends and family who had made the short trip from the Youngstown area.

Chris Bergeron put together a fine show mixing high speed, big air, and capping with a set of donuts.

Avenger scored only an 18 due to some steering issues, but still put together some impressive moves during his run.

Chad Tingler tore up the track in typical Grave Digger fashion, scoring a 29 and taking the win.

Racing Brackets:
---ROUND 1---
Aftershock def. Rap Attack
Avenger def. Grave Digger
Pastrana 199 def. Bad Habit
Brutus def. Full Boar
---ROUND 2---
Aftershock def. Avenger
Brutus def. Pastrana 199
---FINALS---
Aftershock def. Brutus

Cincinnati Monster Jam Recap

The USHRA Monster Jam returned to the US Bank Arena Feburary 15-16 with an impressive 6-truck lineup. Marc McDonald in Safe Auto and Chad Fortune in Superman headlined along with Andy Hoffman in War Wagon, Lionel Easler in Instigator, Paul Strong in Martial Law and Jim Hochstetter in Freedom Force.


With Martial Law in the lead with a 19, Superman took the lead in the wheelie contest getting the truck vertical and scoring a 26.

McDonald matched Fortune's score with a spectacular move scoring a 26. Using the new Silent Judge system, McDonald was given the win scoring one point higher than Fortune.

Racing had some exciting moments including this controversial call when Superman was declared the winner over Instigator, though many, including the announcer, thought otherwise.

In the racing finals, Superman and Safe Auto faced off, and in a close race, Safe Auto was victorious.

Freestyle started off slow as Freedom Force suffered mechanical trouble and Instigator got high-centered on the van stack.

Martial Law got things going with an exciting run that included some sky wheelies over the van, scoring a 21.

In his only Monster Jam performance of the year, Andy Hoffman capped off a strong performance with his trademark reverser, scoring a 26.

Safe Auto had a strong performance including some big-air moves, but was one point shy of War Wagon with a 25.

The last truck out, Superman, put together a fine performance but could only muster a 23 from the judges, securing the upset win for Andy Hoffman.

Racing Brackets:::
---Round 1---
Safe Auto def. War Wagon
Instigator def. Martial Law
Superman def. Freedom Force
---Round 2---
Safe Auto def. Martial Law (FL)
Superman def. Instigator
---Finals---
Safe Auto def. Superman

Dayton Thunder Nationals Results

BuckeyeMT was in Dayton for the Saturday afternoon Thunder Nationals. In the largest lineup the Nutter Center has seen, Rap Attack, Bad News, Full Boar, and Gary Porter in Grave Digger all took home wins against stellar competition from Bad Habit, Devastator, Monster Mutt (Whit Carlton), and Thrasher.

Pat Summa started the show off walking Thrasher across the set of cars.

Dave Rappach secured the wheelie contest win by standing the truck upright, walking it across the cars, and then onto the floor in spectacular fashion.

In a Nutter Center first, racing was Chicago-style. The racing was not without its upsets as Ed Eckert knocked off Grave Digger in the second round after Gary Porter blew a turn then hit the cars crooked, ending up near the arena wall.

In the donut contest, two "teams" competed for the win. The first team, Bad News and Full Boar, scored high, largely in part to an absolutely insane set by Eckert in Full Boar that will most likely go down as one of the best of the 2008 season.

Grave Digger and Monster Mutt were the second team up and the contest ended in exciting fashion when the trucks got close and clipped tires while doing the donuts. However, it would not be enough for the win.

Ed Eckert carried the momentum from the donut contest into freestyle- however it may have been a little too much momentum as the truck hooked on a donut attempt, sending Full Boar over to the ground suffering only minor body damage.

Other than Full Boar's roll, freestyle was fairly uneventful due to completely flattened cars, which made it difficult to get much air over. Grave Digger would finally get a win in freestyle with a high-intensity run worthy of Digger reputation.

Racing brackets:
----Round 1----
Bad News def Thrasher
Grave Digger def Bad Habit
Rap Attack def Monster Mutt
Full Boar def Devastator
----Round 2----
Bad News def Monster Mutt*
Full Boar def Grave Digger
----Round 3----
Bad News def Full Boar

*Replacement for Rap Attack, who suffered rear end damage