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