The Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Freestyle Mania tour blasted into town and lit up the Mobile Civic Center for the first of two shows. The crowd was electric and was treated to a fantastic show full of thrills and spills.
Grave Digger, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Ground Pounder, War Wizard, and Scott Hartsock in Gun Slinger were all on hand for the two days of action.
Competing well each night in racing, Scott Hartsock dominated the field ending up in the semi-finals or finals each night.
Gun Slinger would set the freestyle bar early on each night leaving the competition to battle it out to take over his top spot.
Gun Slinger Racing would like to thank PST, M30, Hedman Husler Hedders, JE Pistons, Oliver Connecting Rods, KING Off-Road Racing Shocks, FK Rod Ends, Miller, K&N Air Filters, Garner’s Towing Service, Central Florida Machine & Speed, and FTI Competition Converters & Transmissions for all their support.
It’s not very often that monster truck teams get the opportunity to compete on a beach, in fact, it’s only once a year when the opportunity comes around.
Scott Hartsock and the Gun Slinger team arrived cocked, locked, and ready to rock for three days of monster action on the Virginia Beach Boardwalk. The weekend consisted of four events starting Friday evening and ending Sunday afternoon.
Hartsock and Gun Slinger would be going up a tough field of independent and corporately owned trucks including Grave Digger, Stone Crusher, Mopar Magic, Bad Habit, Crushstation, and Virginia’s own Diehl Wilson in Virginia Giant.
Starting Friday night Scott Hartsock proved he had what it would take to dominate the field in racing. Knocking out each truck round after round, Hartsock put Gun Slinger into the racing finals against Randy Brown and Grave Digger to only take the lead from the starting line and take an easy win over the nationally recognized Grave Digger.
The remainder of the weekend Scott Hartsock put Gun Slinger into the racing finals three more additional times, and clinching two more racing wins, dominating Virginia Beach with three monster wins and making it to the finals each event.
Below are a few photos courtesy of John Roberts of Roberts Performance Media.
Scott Hartsock and crew chief Jeff Sinn made their music video debuts recently on YouTube thanks to Monster Jam and FELD Motor Sports. During World Finals VI the Monster Jam crew created a parody of the Nickleback song “Rockstar.” featuring a plethora of Monster Jam stars including Dennis Anderson, Tom Meents, Lindsey Weenk, Madusa, Candice Jolly, Frank Krmel, and many others. Check it out by hitting the play button above and enjoy!
It’s a great feeling when you can win a racing event. It’s even better when you sweep all three racing events in two days against some of Monster Jam’s best competitors, and that’s just what Scott Hartsock and Gun Slinger accomplished this past weekend in Biloxi, Mississippi at the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam inside Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Grave Digger, Spiderman, Escalade, Advance Auto Parts Grinder, and Destroyer were no competition against the Florida native who received his World Finals XI qualifying flag last weekend in Jacksonville. Scott swept the house in racing claiming all three victories over stiff competition.
We’ll post the results straight from MonsterJamOnline.com, enjoy!
Friday 7:30
A Star Studded field was on hand ready to do battle in the historical Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Five of the six Trucks that are here tonight have qualified for the World Finals the newest truck to be selected was Spider man. Wit Tarlton accepted the flag on behalf of the Spider man Team.
The night started off with the wheelie contest and George Balhan skied Escalade to the win with a near perfect score of 29. Grinder was second with a 26 followed by Grave Digger with a 20. Gun Slinger was fourth with a solid wheelie and a score of 17 as Spider Man and Destroyer rounded out the field with scores of 17 and 16.
Racing was close all night long as each race had to be revued by the officials. Gun Sling was on his game and the Horse power shows through on that mighty Ford Monster Truck. Hartsock defeated the field in racing to take the racing Trophy and he did it with wins over Escalade in round one Spider man in the semi finals and Grinder in the finals. Lupe Soza was also fast all night as he defeated Spider man in round one and Grave Digger in the semi finals. Grave Digger did have a victory over Destroyer in his round one of racing.
Freestyle was nothing but spectacular! Grave Digger flew the Black and Green Wrecking machine to new heights and a solid score of 27 for the win. Escalade was close behind with some sick doughnuts on the very tacky floor and a score of 23. Spider man was third for the night with a score of 20 followed up by Grinder who scored a 19. Dan Evans in Destroyer was sick all day but with stood the loud noises and smell of fuel to perform for the awesome fans of Biloxi and scored a 17 for his freestyle effort. Gun Slinger had problems in his freestyle as he was unable to fill the clock when he cut a right rear tire that ended his night. Hartsock would score an 11 for last.
I can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings as there is still to more shows to go. See you then!
Saturday 2:00
As you can see the same Monster Trucks won the same events as they did last night. Surprised? For me its yes and no. Escalade has been known for huge wheelies, Gun Slinger has always been known for racing and Grave Digger is known for freestyle. But with this caliber of trucks on hand for these three competitions you would think there would be a different winner. The cool thing about this is that these three trucks did not get these wins with out a fight and that is true competition!
Escalades wheelie win came with a huge skie wheelie that took out the back bummper of the big black beast scoring him a 27. Grinder came in second with a score of 22 that on any given day could of been scorerd just as high as Escaldes score. Grave Digger was next in line with a 20 followed by Spider Man with a 17. Destroyer and Gun Slinger rounded out the field with scores of 17 and 16.
In racing Gunslinger was the truck to beat but no one could knock him out of the hot seat. Hartsock took wins over Destroyer in round one and a photo finish in the semi finals over grinder. In the main event Gunslinger dove across the Ford finish line by inches over Spider Man . Again not an easy task but it shows why after five years that5 Gunslinger is returnin g to the world finals. In other racing action Grave Digger defeated Spider man in round one only to get beat by him in the semi finals as fast looser. Grinder also took a win in round one over Escalade.
Freestyle was again awesome as all six trucks were competitive. The biggest move of the day was the start of Destroyers freestyle as Evans did the biggest and longest ski wheelie of the weekend giving him a 21 for the start. Gun Slinger and Spider Man couldn’t match the score leaving Dan in the hot seat for the first three trucks. Grinder was next and Lupe Soza knew he had to step it up. When the clock expired the fans were on their feet for more as Grinder took the lead with a 23. From there things got bigger and better. Escalade would jump into the hot seat with some sick air moves and score of 25 before Grave Digger would match the score for a tie. The tie breaker point went to Grave Digger and The crowd erupted sending us into tonights competition.
In the quad war competition team Texas surprised the Mississippi crowd and won the second and final heats of racing to take home this afternoons trophy. See you tonight.
Saturday 7:30
Wow! What a night it was in Biloxi Mississippi. The fans were awesome and again the same Monster Trucks were your winners. Escalade stole the show in wheelies and Hartsock was on his game in racing. Grave Digger again had the fans on there feet in freestyle as he three peated for the weekend. Watch out though for Grinder and Spiderman at the world finals because they weree also tremendous tonight.
Here are the results for wheelis, Racing and Freestyle
Racing round one: Grave Digger def. Destroyer, Grinder def. Spiderman Gun Slinger bye run (Escalade broke)
Scott Hartsock and the Gun Slinger monster truck will be competing at Monster Jam World Finals XI (that’s 11 for some of you folks) on March 26th and 27th in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada at Sam Boyd Stadium.
Scott received his qualifying flag during the pre-show ceremonies at this past weekends Monster Jam event inside Jacksonville Municipal Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida.
A new shock setup that Scott has been testing since the middle of 2009 has resulted in Gun Slinger being able to jump higher, fly further, and land softer. The incredible setup is done wonders and allows for so much more potential, which Scott has showed to his fans throughout the South East this winter Monster Jam season with an incredible performance that started inside the sold out Georgia Dome live on SPEED CHANNEL and in front of 70,000+ fans.
“We are pumped. I’ve been wanting to go to the World Finals for years. Our new shock setup, the support of our sponsors, and my competitive driving ability in racing and freestyle has been great all season. We’re ready for this, my family is ready for this, and my fans are stoked for this. We’re heading to Vegas and showing the wild west how true gun slinger’s roll,” said Scott Hartsock, owner and driver of Gun Slinger.
“To all of our fans, bring your signs to Vegas, because we’ll be cocked, locked, and ready to rock!” continued Scott Hartsock after receiving his qualifying flag Saturday night.
For event results from Jacksonville visit: http://www.monsterjam.com/results/result.2010-02-24.8461801603
Close racing dotted the competition as Metro PCS presented the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam brought to you by Ford trucks at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami. The competition was matvched by the enthusiasm as the crowd clearly picked their favorites and roared their approval through the show.
Monster truck qualifying opened as Grave Digger posted a solid 19.38 in the first pair to run. Excaliber rolled out and posted a 19.39, getting close to the top spot. Two more trucks slipped below the 20 second mark, but no one could knock Grave Digger from the top spot.
The qualifying set up an unusual pairing for the first round when Maximum Destruction spun during qualifying, ended up with the 12th spot. It put him head to head with fast qualifier Grave Digger and Digger was even faster with a 19.25 pass and eliminating Max D. Other first round winners were Superman (who received his qualifying spot for the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam NGK Spark Plugs World Finals earlier in the night), Gun Slinger, El Toro Loco, and Excaliber. Shock Therapy beat Predator, who suffered a flat tire during the run.
Grave Digger, Gun Slinger and Exacliber added second round wins, but Excaliber broke a rear sway bar, putting Amsoil Shock Therapy back into action. El Toro Loco received the fast loser provisional. El Toro made the best of it, defeating Grave Digger while 2006 Miami racing champion Gun Slinger put the brakes on Shock Therapy’s run. The finals saw Gun Slinger return to his championship form in his Ford F-150.
Freestyle action just kept getting better and better as crews worked to find the tricks to keep trucks in high competition. Breakage kept the first three trucks from bonus time, but Instigator used the additional 30 seconds to gain the lead. the scores kept climbing when El Toro Loco flipped, landing on his wheels, but breaking off both horns. Driver Chuck Werner delivered the part to a young El Toro fan for a priceless memory. Gun Slinger’s attempt to double down was short lived and Superman annihilated a truck at the conclusion of bonus time. Blue Thunder pushed the score a bit higher until Maximum Destruction hit the floor, shedding body pieces and slamming the truck to the floor in a violent run. The score of 28 put Neil Elliot in position, but there was one more truck to challenge the course. Dennis Anderson brought Grave Digger, closing with a violent flip at the end of bionus time. His effort left him just one point short of victory, giving Max D a memorable Miami.
Patty Jaholkowski won the Democross main. Paul Smith, Jake Coombs, Jake Goodyear and Jadd Knox gave high flying thrills for the crowd in freestyle motocross action.
Monster Jam Qualifying
Grave Digger - 19:38
Excaliber - 19:39
El Toro Loco - 19:87
Gun Slinger - 19.90
Amsoil Shock Therapy - 20.09
Superman - 20.19
Blue Thunder - 20.29
War Wizard - 20.78
Predator - 20.84
Pouncer - 22.34
Instigator - 22.78
Maximum Destruction - 23.19
Monster Jam Racing
Round 1 - Grave Diggerdefeated Maximum Destruction, Superman topped Blue Thunder, Gun Slinger decisioned War Wizard, El Toro Loco beat Pouncer, Amsoil Shock Therapy stopped Predator, Excaliber eliminated Instigator
Round 2 - Grave Digger over Superman, Gun Slinger defeated El Toro Loco, Excaliber bested Amsoil Shock Therapy (El Toro Loco returns as fast loser, Excaliber breaks a rear sway bar and yields spot to Amsoil Shock Therapy
Semi Finals - El Toro Loco edged Grave Digger, Gun Slinger beat Amsoil Shock Therapy
It was just last week Scott Hartsock driving Gun Slinger brought home a well deserved freestyle win in his home state of Florida at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, and again this past weekend he tried to dominate the competition and bring home another Monster Jam trophy.
During racing Scott piloted Gun Slinger into Round-1 Joe Sylvester in Bad Habit. Fast acceleration and experience allowed Hartsock to knock out Joe Sylvester, advancing Gun Slinger into Round-2.
Randy Moore and War Wizard paired up against Gun Slinger. Good buddies outside of monster truck racing, both wanted the win to show who’s boss. Hartsock raced hard and took advantage of Randy Moore’s driving ability to fly past the finish line with a victory, advancing Gun Slinger into the Monster Jam semi-finals.
Semi-Finals came down to Maximum Destruction defeating Black Stallion, and Gun Slinger taking on veteran Dennis Anderson and Grave Digger. Dennis, on a winning streak all night, was too tough to tame in Orlando and scored a win over Scott in a very close finish that was fast paced. Both drivers were gunning for the win, and wanted to go into the finals, but it would be Anderson narrowly defeating Hartsock, scoring Hartsock 3rd place overall in racing competition.
Tampa rocked for Scott in freestyle, and he was hoping for the same in Orlando. Starting his only a few trucks into freestyle, Scott knew he had to work hard to clinch another freestyle win. After several jumps the right front tire would blow, making it very difficult for Scott to perform at a level that would be competitive against the big dogs. A high-velocity donut finished up his run, but not before tipping the good ole’ Gun Slinger over on her lid in front of a sold out crowd.
This coming weekend the team prepares to invade Tampa once again at Raymond James Stadium to rip it up in front of tens of thousands of fans. We’ll have a full report early next week!
Scott Hartsock and Gun Slinger rocked the house that Tampa built this past weekend inside Raymond James Stadium. The impressive monster truck field would be a rather difficult field of trucks to beat, but Hartsock not only ended up in the semi-finals, barely taking a lose to Blue Thunder, but would go into freestyle and walk away with a well deserved and impressive win. Normally Scott dominates Florida events in racing, however the new shock setup for 2010 has proved successful to allow Scott to air it out more and land softer. Next up the team invades the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida on January 30th.
The following text is courtesy of MonsterJam.com.
Saturday 7: 30 p.m. - Native Floridian Scott Hartsock’s high flying performance won freestyle in Gunslinger after Dennis Anderson, who treats Florida like a second home, drove Grave Digger to the racing victory in the first of two Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam events scheduled for this winter at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
With the raucous crowd fired up from the start when Anderson rolled his Digger truck over in introductions, the icon proved that the rollover caused only body damage by flying around the Chicago style oval to post the fastest qualifying time and grab the number one seed in the race bracket. As Anderson marched through the upper part of the bracket into the Championship Race the bottom of the bracket also held true to form with Linsey Weenk, the second fastest in time trials, powering his Built Ford Tough Blue Thunder into the final race to challenge Grave Digger. The high profile pair conducted a classic Championship Race with Anderson beating Weenk by about a truck length for the popular racing victory.
Early on in freestyle rookie Dana Creech had put on the most impressive run in the Monster Mutt, the former Pro Quad champion vaulting into the hot seat with a high flying run, an outstandind show for a driver in only his second week in competition. The youngster held the top spot until Hartsock roared onto the floor in Gunslinger, announcing his presence with a huge leap right out of the gate. Not only did Hartsock fill the regulation :90 with the biggest air of the night, but stayed huge in the bonus time, and even after filling both clocks continued to hit big move after big move for almost another two minutes just for the fans after all the scores were in, a wild slap wheelie into the corner of the stadium ending the run with the crowd giving Hartsock a standing ovation and the Gunslinger knocking Monster Mutt out of the number one position. The Grave Digger team discovered than Anderson’s truck had broken the left rear axle in racing but with not enough time to change it, Anderson came to the floor with only three wheel drive. Even with the truck broken Anderson turned in a fantastic freestyle, the damage limiting his ability to hit huge air but not his intesnity or his ability to rock the crowd. Grave Digger may have had a shot at the win even broken Anderson’s run was that good, but he flipped the truck just as bonus time started, and not getting any bonus points cost him a shot a the Double Down trophy. Reigning World Freestyle Champion Damon Bradshaw came out last in the competition, but had trouble getting through the remnants of a smashed motor home on the floor, something from that wreckage damaging the Air Force Afterburner and ending the champ’s run just half way through regulation, leaving Hartsock and Gunslinger on top as the Tampa freestyle winner.
For the first time in the 26 year history of the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam in Tampa a second show has been added to this season, with the superstars competing again in Raymond James Stadium on February 6th.
RACING RESULTS
Fast qualifier - Grave Digger
1st round - Grave Digger bye run due to Air Force Afterburner’s broken rear end; Predator def Monster Mutt; Ground Pounder def War Wizard; Gunslinger def Instigator; Superman def Cult Energy Activator; Blue Thunder def Pouncer (Monster Mutt advanced to round two due to Predator’s flat tire)
2nd round - Grave Digger def Monster Mutt; Gunslinger def Ground Pounder; Blue Thunder def Superman (Superman advanced to semifinals as fastest 2nd round loser)
Semifinals - Grave Digger def Superman; Blue Thunder def Gunslinger
CHAMPIONSHIP RACE - GRAVE DIGGER DEFEATED BLUE THUNDER
Atlanta was the kick start to a season of air for Gun Slinger. After Atlanta the team headed had a long haul up to Detroit’s Ford Field for a night of Monster Jam action against over a dozen other trucks. Scott Hartsock was cocked, locked, and ready to rock and proved he has what it takes to be a freestyle champion.
Racing witnessed Hartsock defeat Michigan native Jim Koehler in Avenger, only to be knocked out by Koehler’s team mate Chris Bergeron in Brutus during Round 2.
Freestyle would be another story for Scott, with some slight changes to the shock setup, he rocked out in Detroit city finishing 4th out of 14 trucks and tying with Back Draft for a score of 22.
Scott Hartsock and the Gun Slinger crew arrived in Atlanta early Friday to prepare for the ultimate battle against 13 other Monster Trucks that would all be competing live on SPEED CHANNEL Saturday night. Everything on the truck was thoroughly checked over. The new shock setup was tweaked and modified in preperation for the massive launch ramps being constructed inside the Georgia Dome, and on Friday night the team went to sleep, ready to rock first thing Saturday morning.
During the drivers meeting it was announced that the Georgia Dome was sold out, which has been a tradition for nearly 5 years in a row. Not only would 70,000+ monster truck fans be awarded an amazing Monster Jam event in Atlanta, but those not able to be in Atlanta could watch Monster Jam live on SPEED CHANNEL beginning at 7PM until 10PM. The drivers were excited, and the Monster Jam staff was thrilled.
At the start of the Monster Jam Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits, the folks from Hedman Headers arrived in style with two new headers for the good ole’ Gun Slinger. In front of fans getting autographs and meeting Scott Hartsock, the Hedman Headers crew swapped out the trucks old set of headers for new, state of the art Hedman Headers.
Also during the pit party Gun Slinger Racing announced a new relationship with Miller, world leaders in the best quality welding equipment made. The teams shop will be outfitted with Miller equipment that will make life easier when repairing Gun Slinger after each weekend of action.
Before the team knew it, the Monster Jam event was underway and action started at 7:12PM with the largest number of trucks all coming out for several parade laps around the Georgia Dome floor.
Gun Slinger entered into qualifying and did well. Ending up in the middle of the pack. Hartsock would end up going against the corporate sponsored Advance Auto Parts Grinder monster truck, taking a lose only by feet after the shock setup lowered going into the final turn, but Hartsock still was able to pull off the fastest loser time, allowing him to return if another truck broke in Round-2 of racing. Sadly, all trucks returned in the second round.
Hartsock and the team prepared for freestyle. Constantly adjusting the shock setup, Hartsock planned to go out and dominate freestyle. One of the first trucks out to battle it out against 13 others, Gun Slinger quickly surpassed the previous monster trucks that freestyled. At the end of the night Gun Slinger and Scott Hartsock sat at the top of the freestyle points chart through 9 other monster freestyle performances, finishing 6th in freestyle overall, and raising the level of competition early on with an amazing, high-flying freestyle run.
“The new shock setup is amazing. We’ve been tweaking it since last summer when we installed the new shocks on the rear axle, then several months later we installed the shocks on the front axle. Adjustments each weekend of action allowed us to come to Atlanta with one of the most softest landing trucks in action right now. When I was launching off the ramps tonight each landing was very soft, it felt like I was landing on pillows, even though I was in a 10,000 pound monster truck 40 feet in the air,” said Scott Hartsock, owner and driver of Gun Slinger following his freestyle performance in Atlanta.
Next up the team makes a long haul up to the city of horsepower, Detroit, Michigan. Gun Slinger and Scott Hartsock will arrive Friday morning at Ford Field in Detroit where they plan to dominate racing, and clean house in freestyle.
Continue following Gun Slinger by stopping by here each week at www.GunSlinger4×4.com!
