SOUTHERN MONSTER TRUCK SHOWDOWN
Brooksville, FL - Hernando County Fairgrounds
Night #2 of the Southern Monster Truck show was upon us and we were already down 1 truck as Bad News left for Atlanta late Friday night. I decided to ditch my old camera and break out the new camera for Sat night. I also decided not to get smashed by rocks and rodeo dirt and moved my way from the ride truck stand over to the announcers booth at the corner of the track by the pit exit/entrance. Two new cars per set were brought out so the trucks could get better wheelies for the wheelie contest. Everyone was having fun tonight as the stands were packed. Music was blasting over the PA before the show and I caught a glimpse of John Seasock and Melissa Stathas getting their groove on back in the pits! =). But enough goofin around, its showtime!
WHEELIE CONTEST
God, Guts, & Glory
Melissa busted out her spare rim and return to other tire back to the Monkey'n Around truck. Melissa got the first crack at the cars just like the night before, but this time she sent the truck into ORBIT, jumping almost out of my camera view! The crowd went nuts as she swung the truck around and did a pretty decent wheelie over the near set of cars as well.
Monkey'n Around
John Seasock decided to pull double duty and jumped into the Monkey'n Around dodge for the wheelie contest. John wasn't used to the truck but he did a nice job getting ok height off the cars.
Sudden Impact
Only his 2nd night of being in the truck and in rear-wheel drive only. Brandon did an excellent job getting great height off of both sets of cars.
84 Lumber
Seasock's new ride was up next and he wanted to give Melissa a run for her money and he got big height and big distance off of both of his jumps!
Gun Slinger
Last truck out was Scott Hartsock who wanted to make it 2 for 2 in the wheelie contests. Scott gave it his all and got great height on the jumps, but in the end the crowd gave the win to John Seasock's 84 Lumber truck.
CHICAGO STYLE RACING
84 Lumber Vs. God, Guts, & Glory
First round saw the two best wheelie trucks face off for side by side racing. Off the line the hole shot went to Seasock but Stathas was able to stay right with the big ford as Seasock kept a small lead over the cars. Into the final corner Seasock mashed on the motor and pulled out a win.
Winner: 84 Lumber
Gun Slinger Vs. Sudden Impact
Rookie versus the vetern in the other first round matchup. This one was no contest. Brandon's two wheel drive didn't work as he hit a small hole in the cars and it shot him way off to the left and he missed the corner barrels and the other set of cars completly as Scott never lets off in route to a final round birth.
Winner: Gun Slinger
God, Guts, & Glory Vs. Sudden Impact
The consi-race was between Melissa and Brandon and once again Brandon could not miss the hole in the far side cars and it shot him to the left and once again he misses the corner and misses the other set of cars as Melissa takes the consi-race win, then spins into a donut and pops out the roof much to the crowd's delight.
Winner: God, Guts, & Glory
Gun Slinger Vs. 84 Lumber
The two big guns got to square off one more time, and so far it was 1-0 in favor of Seasock. The two were even off the line, into the first corner Seasock almost cuts it too tight and has to jam hard on the brakes to avoid the barrels. Scott opens up a huge lead and has Seasock covered until Scott goes into the final corner and blows it, knocking over a barrel! Scott wins by a mile but gets the big red flag as Seasock picks up the overall win on a DQ.
Winner: 84 Lumber
Show and shine was next up and there was a wide variety of machines. As you could see there was a beautiful purple 5-window Chevy truck, a suburban, a great looking Orange-metal-flake jeep with a big block in it, a new bright red ford, an old blue ford lifted and 44s, and a dodge deisel. On the other side (not pictured) was a green suburban on spinners and another lifted suburban. When it came down to it, the backwoods crowd dismissed the 5-window chevy in favor of a run-off between the jeep and the big blue ford. The crowd went wild for both, and it was too close to call. So myself and Paul, the event flagman and on-the-floor coordinator were standing on the arena floor with the trophies, and Donny looks over at us and puts us on the spot and says, Bryan and Paul will decide! Uhh....great! Well we look at each other and we both agreed the crowd was just a little louder for the ford, so we gave it to the big blue ford! Certainly not the best looking truck there, but the biggest crowd pop wins again.
FREESTYLE
Sudden Impact
Brandon was first out and he was determined to nail down that far lane so that he would be prepared for tomorrows racing. Brandon just zipped around the arena over the ramps and did a few laps around the arena floor before pulling into the pits, but not before scaring everyone in the announcers stand. The opening between the concrete barriers and the announcers stand for the trucks to get back and forth between the pits was very very tight, and Brandon misjudged the gap. His right rear tire clipped the stand and with the wood already not sturdy, the entire booth shook and swayed violently. We thought we were done and we were going to come crashing down, but somehow the booth stayed in tact, much to myself and the announcer Donny's relief.
God, Guts, & Glory
Next out was Melissa Stathas in the camo truck. Melissa came out and started to attack the cars and once again got great wheel stands! Melissa went to the far side cars and stood the truck up and the back end kicked up over the cars. Melissa jammed on the brakes in mid air as he went into a nose dive, WHAM! Nose first with the brakes locked up into the cars. You could feel the impact and just sense that everything probably got pushed back about 6 inches. Melissa was done as the transmission gave out and she had to be towed off track.
84 Lumber
Next out was John Seasock in 84 Lumber. John was about to fire up for his run but the track crew shut him down because there was a lot of kids who were up on the fences and they had to make sure everyone backed away so John could tear it loose. And tear it loose he did. John got tremendous sky wheelies over the cars, nearly jumping into our laps over the near set of cars. John then went after the pyramid and got HUGE air over it, then snapped the truck into another insane donut! John went right back after the pyramid two more times and both times he jumped high much to the crowd's delight! John took a well deserved round of applause.
Gun Slinger
Finally it was Scott Hartsock's turn. The bar was set really high from Seasock, and Hartsock knew it. Hartsock came roaring out of the pits and went after the far set of cars. The launch car had been mashed down more on one side than the other, and it sent Scott sideways into the air, Scott came down and was aimed right for the crowd! The RII was immediatly hit and thank God for the quick work of the track officials. Scott still had enough momentum to hit and roll over the concrete barricades that lined the track, but no one was injured or hurt. Once again, some of these shows may not look safe, but trained professionals were on hand and safety was number one and it prevented a bad situation from occuring. Had it been anyone else at the hands of the RII it could of been disasterous.
The track crew decided to move everyone near the section of crushed wall to other areas of the track as Gun Slinger got pulled off the wall. No damage was done and Scott decided to hop back into the truck and finish the freestyle. Scott was very cautious and did not hit the far set of cars on the side that was mashed down, instead opting to hit that side of the cars using the racing ramp. Scott rode the brakes to make sure nothing else happened and you could tell as the discs were glowing red. Scott was still able to get some great moves off before time expired. On the lighter side of things, those fans in that area of the track got more than their moneys worth in excitement, and for continuing the run after the accident, Scott was awarded the freestyle win.
DAY #3 SOUTHERN MONSTER TRUCK SHOWDOWN