Du Quoin, IL
March 3-4, 2006
Southern Illinois Center
:: Saturday 2:00 Recap ::
The first Saturday event was promoted as "Mountain Dew Day" and all seats for all ages were just $10. Lots of people showed up early for the pit party and by 2:00, the arena was near a complete sell out! There was no substantial damage to any truck after the Friday show, but the oddest definitely was the tire/wheel problem on Captain USA.
There was no axle problem like what was suspected. Instead, it seemed that a simple washing of the wheel was to blame! A few days before this event, Brian Harwood had removed the tires from the wheels for washing. But, his attention to detail may have left too much soap & water on the wheel, which was now causing the wheel to spin faster the tire! Harwood was going to get proof of his theory by marking a spot on the tire and wheel at the start of the show and then seeing if they were still lined up after a couple runs.
:: QUALIFYING ::
Kirk Dabney made it two-for-two by again taking the top spot. Charlie Miller had the wildest ride as he cleared all 5 cars and pogo'd the truck on the rear wheels, then down hard into the front end before bringing it around.
:: Tuff Trucks ::
No tuff trucks showed up Friday night, but three beaters managed to arrive for Saturday. The track was pretty tame, but the heavy trucks took some nasty nose dives, especially on the far side. The #738 truck won every round.
:: RACING ROUND 1 ::
Captain USA and Wild Thang had another battle and this time Harwood managed to beat his old truc, but not without a heck of a fight from Doug Charles. Awesome race!
Wayne Tigue's rookie luck continued as he got past Kevin Harvick #29 after Miller's truck just died on the cars after takeoff. Miller said he accidently hit the kill switch with his arm when the truck impacted the cars.
Bearfoot eliminated Rampage, but Adams had closed the gap from their race the first night.
The ECX FMX guys put on another great performance inbetween the rounds. These guys just don't do anything but BIG tricks every time off the ramp. Excellent job again!
:: RACING ROUND 2 ::
Wild Thang came back as Fast Loser and almost came back to bite Bearfoot in the tail, but Tigue managed to hold him off at the line in another insanely close race.
In the other Semi-final race, Kirk Dabney squared off against his creation, Extreme Overkill 2, but was blown out by Wayne Tigue in a shocking upset!
:: RACING FINALS ::
Battle of the Brothers put James up against Wayne for the Finale! James showed his slight edge in experience and put a holeshot on Wayne. But, Wayne's Extreme Overkill 2 carried a tremendous amount of momentum off the cars and was almost dead even with Bearfoot at the finish. James' holeshot made all the difference as he held on for the win.
The kid's tricycle race filled intermission for the second time and these two guys really powered down the track. Dabney and Tigue were running to keep any kind of pace with them. The Bearfoot trike won Friday, this time, the Monster Patrol. Rubber match at 8:00!
:: FREESTYLE ::
:: RAMPAGE ::
Rampage would lead off Freestyle again, but it was not JR Adams driving. Adams became ill after racing and turned the driving over to Charlie Miller. Miller worked hard to get any kind of air out of Rampage on the smashed down cars and still couldn't get much off the fresh pyramid. He was able to carry good momentum throughout the run and did not stumble at any point. Solid opening. Score: 5.
:: MONSTER PATROL ::
Dabney was upset in Racing for the second time in a row, but rebounded from his defeat Friday night with an excellent freestyle that probably should've taken the win. Dabney came out firing once more and laid down another impressive run. Big air on the cars, lots of speed, and some dust-throwing donuts. That run again was going to make it tough to pick a Freestyle winner at the end!
:: KID ROCK/KEVIN HARVICK #29 ::
Take two for Charlie Miller as he jumped from Rampage into #29 for his second freestyle of the afternoon. He grabbed some nice air off the cars to start the run then nailed an excellent rolling wheelie across the van and bounced the landing into a slap wheelie! Awesome combo. Miller blasted over the cars and took another crack at the van, but had knocked the van pretty flat with his first hit. Very good run. Score: 7.
:: WILD THANG ::
Friday night Freestyle winner Doug Charles looked to stay on top of the field, but the bar was set pretty high with Monster Patrol and #29 before him. Charles hit some good wheelies and long jumps off both sets of cars, but needed to really attack the van. He went for another huge vertical wheel stand, but the obstacle was too smashed. He stood it up on the first car but couldn't carry momentum across. He finished up with some more runs across the cars. Solid run, but not enough this time. Score: 6.
:: EXTREME OVERKILL 2 ::
Wayne Tigue continued his rookie weekend and has show some great consistency thus far. He continued to build some skill and seat time with another solid freestyle. He strayed away from the pyramid but made up for it with some big hits on the cars and good momentum in between jumps. Good effort overall. Score: 5.
:: CAPTAIN USA ::
The suspected tire/wheel problems on Captain USA were indeed true. The mark Harwood made on the tire was not on the complete opposite side as the mark on the wheel! Regardless of the issues, Harwood tore out of the pits for his freestyle attempt. Speed, speed and more speed was his plan of attack and he executed every jump well despite the truck hooking to the left every time. Lots of hits on the cars until he lined up for a final hit on the pyramid, but the back wheel really dragged him down. Another solid run even with the problems. Score: 6.
:: BEARFOOT ::
James Tigue was the final guy to try and knock down the run put up by Kirk Dabney. Tigue's run did not get off to a good start as immediately Bearfoot did not sound at 100%. The engine was misfiring and really laboring with hit. He carried little momentum over the cars and both jumps over the pyramid fell flat with rough hits on the front end. Tigue cut the run show and ended Freestyle on disappointing note. Score: 4.
This time around, the crowd and I agreed on a Freestyle winner; Kirk Dabney in Monster Patrol dominated the voting and claimed the victory. Great job by Dabney and well deserved!
Two shows down, one more to go! The Saturday 8:00 Finale is up next! More close racing, bigger freestyles and a new driver shakes things up!