Tommy Lee Byrd - Well, it seems it's time again for another coverage!!  This time I had to travel quite a ways to the show, ending up being about three and a half hours.  My dad traveled with me to this show, which is normal for a show this far away.  We found the arena with no problems and got through registration with no problems either.

Soon after we got in, it was time for the Pit Party to start, so I went ahead and handed my drawings out to the drivers before it got too hectic.  Just as soon as I got all of them handed out, it began to downpour outside--6 of the 8 trucks were outside for the pit party--but that didn't turn any fans away.  The rain quit after about 20 minutes, so there was still plenty of time for people to ride the Blue Thunder ride truck.  They were giving FREE rides....which I have never seen before, and I thought was great.

When the Pit Party started to wind down, I found Mike Wine and gave him a Jersey Outlaw drawing.  Out of all the drivers that I've given drawings to, Mike Wine's reaction was the best.  He loved it and said that was the first Jersey Outlaw drawing that he's gotten since 1991.  He was stoked and I got him to sign my souvenir book.  Pit Parties are cool, but I think it's time to go racin'!!
 

THE TRUCK LINEUP

PASTRANA 199 - COURTNEY JOLLY

HOT WHEELS - NEIL ELLIOTT

SAFE AUTO MINIMIZER - MARK MCDONALD

BLUE THUNDER - NORM MILLER

MONSTER MUTT - BRYAN WINSTON

BATMAN - CHARLIE PAUKEN

SUPERMAN - CHAD FORTUNE

BLUE THUNDER - TONY FARRELL

To kick things off, after introductions, they hauled the Shannon family along with announcer Scott Douglas out onto the floor in the Blue Thunder Ride Truck.  They then presented Susan Shannon with an award for being the inaugural winner of the Monsters on Mainstreet contest.

After the ceremonies ended and they cleared the track of all vehicles, it was time for side by side monster truck racing!!

RACING COMPETITION

ROUND 1

MONSTER MUTT VS BLUE THUNDER

The would be no qualifying for this show--I assume the racing brackets were determined before the show sometime.  The track was really short and whoever got off the line first was more than likely going to win.  Most of the trucks were matched evenly in horsepower so most of the races were close.  The first two trucks out on the track would be Monster Mutt and the Blue Thunder driven by Norman Miller.  Norm actually had trouble re-firing the truck after the RII test took place.  But after a quick thrash from Mike Wine and the gang, the truck fired back up and was ready to race.  Sadly for the Blue Thunder crew, Norm lost in the first round to the Mutt, and it would be Bryan Winston moving on.

PASTRANA 199 VS BATMAN

The next pair out would be the Pastrana 199 truck and Batman.  Charlie launched Batman off the line and took out the rookie Courtney Jolly.

SAFE AUTO MINIMIZER VS SUPERMAN

Next out was Safe Auto and Superman.  Mark McDonald's driving style won this race for him as he took off much harder than Chad Fortune in Superman.  Mark would advance to the semi finals.

HOT WHEELS VS BLUE THUNDER

The last pair out for the first round would be Hot Wheels and Blue Thunder piloted by Tony Farrel.  In a very close race, Farrell just edged out Elliott for the win.
 

SEMI-FINAL ROUND

MONSTER MUTT VS BATMAN

The first race of the semi-finals would consist of Monster Mutt and Batman.  It was a very close race and only the officials could tell who won...I know I couldn't.  But, it would be Bryan Winston in Monster Mutt advancing to the finals.

SAFE AUTO MINIMIZER VS BLUE THUNDER

The second half of the semi's put Safe Auto against Tony Farrell's Blue Thunder.  Again, Mark pulled a hole-shot, I thought for sure that it was Safe Auto, but they gave it to Blue Thunder.  It was very, very close.
 

FINAL ROUND

BLUE THUNDER VS MONSTER MUTT

The finalists of the inaugural Monsters on Mainstreet event would be Tony Farrell in Blue Thunder and Bryan Winston in Monster Mutt.  After another insanely close race it was Tony Farrell who came out on top, and somewhat appropriately considering the money that Ford had sunk into this event.
 

The fans in Sylva, NC were psyched now because they knew they were going to see a heck of a freestyle, with eight of the best trucks on the Monster Jam tour getting ready to go wild.  For freestyle, the USHRA track crew took out the racing ramps so the trucks could get some good sky wheelies.  With the lack of space, they wouldn't let the trucks hit the cars from the backsides for safety purposes.  Also, they had a car-van-car setup between the cars for an added obstacle.

FREESTYLE COMPETITION

BLUE THUNDER

The first truck out would be Norm Miller in Blue Thunder.  Norm got the advantage of getting to hit the fresh crush cars and he did a great job.  He made a few passes at the cars and got some really vertical air and finished his run by attacking the van setup.
 

SAFE AUTO MINIMIZER

The next truck out would be Safe Auto.  Mark McDonald came out and tried for a power wheelie along the side of the arena but the dirt was a little too greasy in the area he tried it.  He made several passes at the cars and van stack.  Every jump was awesome and a couple were almost straight up and down!!  All in all it was a great run from Mark.
 

MONSTER MUTT

Monster Mutt would be the third truck in the freestyle order and Bryan came out and wanted to win freestyle to make up for losing in the racing finals.  He got some pretty good air but he didn't get nearly as vertical as Mark McDonald in the previous run.  He got a little out of shape on one of his jumps but recovered nicely and continued on with his run.  On one of his hits on the crush cars the truck did a big nose dive but he throttled up and pulled out of it without any trouble.

Click below to view more of the Monsters on Mainstreet freestyle competition!!

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FREESTYLE!!