Monster Truck Freestyle part 2
Smoke-- Charlie Miller pulled double duty and got his second opportunity at the freestyle win as he made his first appearance ever in the truck. The suspension and chassis of this truck compared to that of Rampage is almost night and day, but I think Miller is better suited for a stiffer truck anyway as Rampage provides him too much of a challenge just to get some air under the tires. Miller runs Rampage hard but the truck never seems to show the effort. Miller went right for what was left of the bus stack which was not much by this point. The side of the bus was almost completely flattened in. The ramp and the vans in the stack were now taking the majority of the impacts; the bus was barely touched. Charlie grabbed some good air over the center hill and followed up with a really nice one over the single car. He hit two solid jumps on the big pyramids and then found a new spot to rip up the ground for donuts. One more hit on the bus pyramid and that was it. Decent run for Charlie especially considering this was his first time out in the truck. Score: 6 Judges score: 36 (Don't know how the hell that was within 1 point of Dragon Slayer and better than Kid Rock #29!!)
Spiderman-- One guy who could really bust this field open was Paul Jensen in Spiderman. He racked up several freestyle wins on the Monsters of Destruction tour and is a real rising star in the business. Jensen tore out of the pit area and blasted over the 7-car pile and got some great distance. He landed hard and pulled up a slap wheelie and rode it all the way through the middle of the track. Awesome opening. He grabbed some good air on the 14-car stack and then lined up the back side of the 7-car pyramid. He was the first person to go after the stack in that direction and it paid off with a towering wheel stand! Jensen walked Spiderman all the way across the treacherous stack and off the ramp. Some smoke was spotted coming out of the engine area and the truck seemed to be laboring a bit. Jensen hit the bus with as much speed as he could. Didn't get too much air but had another perfect landing for a slap wheelie. He could not hold the truck vertical very long because the engine began to die out! Spiderman came to a stop at the far end of the track and killed all momentum he had going in the run. Jensen cranked the engine several times and finally did get it to re-fire. He ripped off a few donuts in the grassy area and headed back towards the cars. Another big hit on the 7-car stack followed by yet another slap wheelie. He charged the giant stack and unloaded his biggest jump of the day. But, Spiderman again died out on the landing and would end his run. A great job by Paul Jensen despite the mechanical problems throughout. Had the truck been perfect, Jensen definitely could've contested for the win. My Score: 7 Judges score: 36.
Carolina Crusher-- A relative unknown rookie in one of the most famous names in monster truck history. Both rookie driver James Tigue and the new-look Carolina Crusher had less than 6 months on the Shafer circuit before now being thrust onto the biggest stage of his career with a chance to make a name for himself and remake the name of a legend. Tigue started slow with a small hit on the car-van-car and then went for the remains of the bus pyramid and got some okay air but nosed hard into the ground. Tigue stabbed the gas and shot the front end completely vertical which also lifted the rear wheels totally off the ground and dug the wheelie bar into the ground! Tigue held the momentum of the wheelie and rode it out in style. Tigue hit a nice jump on the huge stack then turned Crusher around and took it on the other way. He nosed the truck hard again on the landing and turned it into another rebound wheelie. Tigue hit a few more small jumps and finished with a really nice leap off the 7-car pile. Some nice jumps and a few nice wheelies but not a complete enough run to rival the leaders. Or at least I thought so, I guess the judges saw it different. My score: 5. Judges score: 40! Tigue and Shafer were tied for the lead with 40 points.
Bigfoot #11-- Another rookie in the field, Rick Long, steadily progressed through the early months of 2005 and continued to develop and improve through the later months and by the time November rolled around, he was racking up racing and even freestyle victories over some of the biggest names in the business. Bigfoot 4x4 has countless Racing Championships but Long could be the guy to bring the first Freestyle title to the "King's" castle. Long exploded out of the shoot with a big hit on the single car and immediately had everyone's attention with easily the best slap wheelie of the day. Long powered the truck up and rode it all the way to the center hill and flew off that to complete the combo. Long had a smooth hit over the 7-car stack and then another decent flight over the giant stack. Long nailed another perfect landing and bounced up a giant slap wheelie. The tailgate dug into the ground as Long dragged Bigfoot almost down into the pit area. He came back with strong hit on the flattened down bus stack and again nailed an awesome wheelie. Long was really keeping the momentum going from one jump to the next. He jumped across the center hill and took on the two big stacks once more. Long pulled to the front of the field and ripped off an impressive set of donuts. Long ripped up enough of the wet top layers to even reveal some dust underneath. Solid run from Long and maybe the best of his young career. Score: 7. Judges score: A rip off of a 32 to say the least.
Bearfoot-- What did this guy have to do to win Freestyle? Well, after being screwed on his first run score, he now had to, I guess, somehow top that run and do something beyond crazy to impress the judges enough to score it more than a 40. Swim started very strong with two big hits on the pyramids. He continued to build momentum and his score with an insane leap off the big stack. Massive air and distance, maybe the biggest hit all day on that pile. Swim lined Bearfoot up for a hit on the stack going the opposite direction but did not hit the cars smoothly. The truck skidded off to the left and Swim powered the truck back up onto all 4s. A nice hit on what was left of the bus and just like nearly everyone else, Swim was able to turn the landing into a slap wheelie. Swim went back to the 14-car pile and uncorked another giant leap through the air. Bearfoot landed hard and Swim powered up another wheelie. Swim hit a great wheel stand on the single car and really smacked the rear end into the ground. He headed to the 14-car pile again but did not hit it very hard. As the front end went into the air, the left front tire fell off! The front of Bearfoot dove into the ground hard as the tire bounced up and nailed the truck in the window! Rough landing but Swim was no worse for wear and easily walked away from the wreck. Swim's big air assault was awesome but the wreck cut the run a little too short. Fantastic effort all weekend from Swim. My score: 8 Judges score: 36. So, the judges might have actually got a score right for once, but only if it is compared to the rest of the field. Were they afraid to go over the ridiculous 40s they handed out early?
Dominator-- Kyle Chandler flat-out had terrible luck the previous day in racing. The rain ruined his chance of really being a shocker and took away a semi-final birth. Chandler was a bit nervous at the sight of some of the obstacles on the track mainly because the prize of winning the Freestyle title would come at a much greater cost to his body and his truck. With a lot of the obstacles pretty well smashed down, Chandler would be able to attack them a little harder. Chandler flew Dominator over the giant stack to open the run and got some decent height. Chandler hit a nice combo over the single car then up and over the center hill. He barreled into the 7-car stack and nosed the front end over pretty hard but punched the gas at the right time for a huge slap wheelie! Dominator wobbled from one rear tire to the next as Chandler remained in control and carried the truck all the way down the track. Chandler finished his short run with another hit on the big stack. Not a bad job by Kyle Chandler as he was obviously being conservative but still provided some great moments. Chandler and Dominator are ones to watch in the coming years. My score: 4 Judges score: 25.
Captain USA-- Rodney Tweedy was the last competitor to try and top the two 40s given to Shafer and Tigue. He must have a knack for pulling numbers because he received the last Qualifying spot on Saturday too. Tweedy has had some good freestyle's in the past but would need his best ever to take the win. Tweedy started strong with a big, vertical hit on the 14-car stack. He then tore into some donuts in the grassy area but could not get the truck to really hook up for constant revolutions. Tweedy launched Captain USA over the 7-car pile and bounced up a nice slap wheelie. He followed up with a long jump over the bus and turned that landing into another slap wheelie. After that wheelie, the truck developed some problems and was lagging as Tweedy hit the center hill. Tweedy poured all the power into the truck as he could and muscled the truck over the bus one last time with a big hit but that would prove to be the end of the run. The truck landed and stalled out near the pit area and could not re-fire. My score: 4. Judges score: 34.
Final Freestyle Scores:
Frankenstein: 40*
Carolina Crusher: 40*
Dragon Slayer: 37
Bearfoot: 36
Smoke: 36
Spiderman: 36
Kid Rock #29: 34
Captain USA: 34
Wild Thang: 32
Bigfoot #11: 32
Bigfoot #14: 32
Equalizer: 29
Monster Patrol: 26
Dominator: 25
Rampage: 23
*Since Crusher and Frankenstein tied with 40, the tie would be broken by including the two judge's scores that were thrown out. Shafer's total score was 54, while Tigue's was 55! Therefore, James Tigue in Carolina Crusher are the 2005 Shafer Motorsports World Freestyle Champion!
Way to keep those eyes open for the picture, James!
Shortly after the final truck finished, many teams went to work tearing trucks apart and loading up for the long journey back home. Rain once again moved over the area and began to really pour, but at this point it didn't matter and the good thing was the show was completed before the track was a total mess.
FINAL WORDS
Wow. What a weekend. After all the swirling crap about how this event would fall apart and how the pay sucked and no one would show up, I felt like telling everyone where they could stick their comments. If you weren't there, you missed one hell of weekend of monster trucks. Fantastic racing, easily the best I saw of all 2005 and the best I can remember witnessing live in a very long time. Every driver gave it their all to win for the sake of winning, not for the sake of impressing any critics or for the paycheck awaiting them. Freestyle was impressive as well and only fell short in a couple places. The obstacles became mashed down too quickly and extra vehicles should've been brought in for the latter part of the field. The judges also were not very smooth in their scoring. Many trucks were, I feel, jipped on their scores and while Shafer and Tigue had some amazing moments, were not complete enough runs to win the title. Larry Swim, Kreg Christensen and Rick Long had the runs which should've been at the top.
I would like to thank Paul Shafer, Bobby Paul and everyone at Shafer Motorsports for their hospitality over the weekend and providing myself and many other photographers all-access. Also need to thank many, many drivers and their families for some great times over the weekend including the Haneys and Chandlers. Big thanks to Bryan Wagner for his out-going kindness as well.
Congratulations again to new World Champs Larry Swim and James Tigue and I hope you've enjoyed this long and photo-filled coverage of the Shafer Motorsports World Finals!