Archives for August 2005

It was a wild weekend in Birch Run, Michigan at the Dixie Motor Speedway. The two day event featured Randy Brown in Grave Digger, Jim Koehler in Avenger, Chris Bergeron in Brutus, Dan Evans in Destroyer and Andy Slifko in Eradicator. Chris Bergeron took the first wheelie contest of the weekend by standing the pooch on the tailgate, planting it in the end of the set of cars. In racing it was a course a little different from the norm in a V-shape. Koehler was the early favorite as he took the fastest qualifying spot. He and Brown would both advance to the final where Brown took the win by a truck length. In freestyle the high-flying antics and a long, walking slap wheelie earned Koehler a 27 and the Saturday night win; just getting past Randy Brown, who scored a 25. Sunday afternoon saw Jim Koehler take the wheelie contest by 1 point over Dan Evans in Destroyer after clearing all the cars and pulling up a slap wheelie that earned him a 28. Freestyle was wild with Randy Brown once again taking the win with some wild launches off of the van stack and some insane cyclone donuts on the concrete surface. In racing it was all Randy Brown as he took the fastest qualifier spot and went to the finals, where he would again face Jim Koehler with similar results as he swept the racing weekend. 

In Manchester, England the monsters rolled into the M.E.N Arena for a four-show weekend and what a weekend it was. The events were in Thunder Nationals format and made for some great action. Clear Channel Entertainment sent six trucks-Carl VanHorn in Grave Digger, Madusa, George Balhan’s Escalade, Lupe Soza in El Toro Loco, Bobby Zee in Monster Mutt, and Chad Fortune in Superman.  The Friday night event saw Carl VanHorn take the wheelie contest earlier in the evening and win racing over Madusa. Chad Fortune spun the Superman into a 29 which gave him the donut contest win. In freestyle Bobby Zee would take the win with a 26 after a crowd cheer-off between he and VanHorn. The Saturday afternoon event saw Carl VanHorn dominate as he took the donut and freestyle contest, then won the racing portion of the event over Chad Fortune. Lupe Soza disrupted VanHorn’s chances of a sweep by taking a wheelie contest win with a 26. Later that evening the third event of the weekend took place and VanHorn once again took three of the four events with wins in the donut contest, freestyle and racing. He took a close win in the finals over a hard-charging George Balhan. Chad Fortune racked up his 2nd donut contest win of the weekend as well. Sunday’s wheelie contest saw VanHorn rack up his third wheelie win for the weekend. In racing it came down to Soza and VanHorn with VanHorn taking the win. The donut was also taken by VanHorn but mechanical difficulties sidelined him for the rest of the night. In freestyle it was Lupe Sosa who stepped up and took the win in a cheer off between he and Madusa. The tour continues this weekend in Birmingham, England. For more information visit www.monsterjameurope.com/