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"What to watch for in 2006"-November 13, 2005 (Part two) Birch Run, Michigan included a stacked field of heavy hitters, among them Jim Koehler in Avenger and Randy Brown in Grave Digger 18. I didn't have to wait long to get an impression of things to come in the Avenger and Brutus camp. Chris Bergeron stood Brutus straight up and took the wheelie contest win easily. Freestyle was next, and Koehler turned in an outstanding performance, including a slap wheelie upon landing from a van stack. Koehler had the truck rolling on one wheel, nearly toppling over before setting it back down to a roar of approval from the crowd. Brown did his best to top the move and big air that Koehler had, coming up just short, and Koehler made it two for two on the night for his team. What impressed me most was that each of the team trucks lasted their full time without breakage while still managing to pull off a few spectacular moves, something that has been a problem in the past. Avenger and Brutus should be a formidable duo of trucks for other drivers to take on every show this winter, especially in freestyle.
Randy Brown was undefeated in racing on the weekend and added freestyle and wheelie wins on day two for a clean sweep. He is well-suited to Digger 18 and rarely suffers mechanical failure. Remember, Brown is no stranger to the top (he is a former USHRA Grand Champion), and had a great 2005 season. Look for him to step his game up even more in 2006 if he gets the shot at a television show or two.
More action awaited in Houghton, Michigan, and Koehler, Bergeron, and Jocelyn Perrin's Lil' Miss Dangerous all proved they're ready for 2006. Bergeron met Perrin in a surprise racing final, and although Bergeron took the win, Perrin made a great accounting of herself throughout the night. I had not previously had the opportunity to see her drive, and she is the real deal, both in racing and freestyle. She will be an asset to the Monster Nationals tour this season.
Bergeron had an early rollover in freestyle after a solid run from Perrin, and Koehler came out as the last truck, showing again why he is a former freestyle world champion. Big air, slap wheelies, and great momentum made a great closing run to end the show. Even with a limited freestyle setup, "Mr. Excitement" shined. Koehler said in an interview earlier in the day that he had one of his best summers ever, and after seeing Birch Run and Houghton, I was inclined to agree with him.
Lacrosse, Wisconsin was previously the site of Monster Jam Summer Heat events, and the monsters returned, although the show was put on by the speedway. Devastator and Lil' Miss Dangerous made the trip for a couple of rounds of freestyle between other acts, and although it was a smaller-scale show, the drivers and crews worked as hard as if it were a televised show. About two hours before the trucks were scheduled to start, it was discovered that Lil' Miss Dangerous had a broken front ring and pinion, normally about a two to three-hour job with plenty of help. It was time for a thrash, and that is exactly what the crews did, finishing the job with fifteen minutes or so to spare. Perrin put on a great show that ended with an asphalt-smoking donut. Devastator was out next and punctured a hole in the right rear tire, sending the crew into another thrash. The tire was repaired and each truck did another round of freestyle. Just because it is a small show doesn't mean these guys and girls back off and pack it up when something breaks. Lacrosse was a perfect example of that.
One of the highlight shows of the summer was Moline, Illinois,
a two-day Thunder Nationals event. The hype surrounding this event was driver changes--Neil Elliott came
back from a one-year hiatus to drive Maximum Destruction for the weekend, and Safe Auto was piloted by Grave Digger 7's Rod Schmidt. VanHorn took the wheel of Grave Digger 14, along with Destroyer and Rolling Thunder.
Elliott looked like he never left the seat. Even with axle, shock, and drive shaft problems, he had two outstanding freestyles in Maximum Destruction. He and VanHorn seemed to be having a "big air battle" to see who could outdo the other, and it was to the fans' benefit. It was definitely a high-energy, high-excitement group of shows. There are a lot of items of interest in the Team Meents camp, especially after the news that Phil Foster will no longer be driving for them. Will Elliott return to the seat full-time? What about Guy Wood in Hot Wheels? Some of these questions will be answered in the coming months, but one thing is for sure--Meents will not put anyone in the seat who cannot do the job he wants done.
Indianapolis, Indiana was the first show AllMonster covered last year and the last one of the summer for the Special Events series. Team Raminator and Rammunition took first and third place for the season, respectively, and the racing was tight between Raminator's Mark Hall and Bigfoot's Dan Runte. Geremie Dishman will head to Checkered Flag Productions' winter tour under the Raminator name, and it seems the team is always hunting for more championships to add to the repeated Monster Nationals and Special Events ones they already hold.
Koehler snapped the frame of Avenger in four places during a rollover in freestyle the first night, then took the wheel of Brutus for the rest of the weekend. This proved to be a dangerous combination. An absolute moon shot of a jump during Saturday's freestyle had me wondering if the truck would stay intact upon landing, but his talk of building "bullet-proof" parts held true, and amazingly, nothing broke. Koehler even managed a slap wheelie before calling it a run.
Summer treated many trucks well, and some of the questions posed in my last column were answered. I would be remiss if I didn't mention Linsey Weenk's stunning victory in Montreal over a packed field, and Monster Jam's Europe tour providing drivers like Lupe Soza and George Balhan a possible extra edge in seat time heading into one of the busiest winter seasons in our sport's history. The storylines are endless, and we have just a few short months to wait until we find the answers to all our questions. 2006 is just around the corner! Questions, comments, ideas? E-mail Robert Haught HERE! |
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Copyright
2005 Robert Haught/Dustin
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