Gun Slinger 1 of 14 that rocked Atlanta live on SPEED

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!