Monster Photos

(Coverage By Christopher Allen, Photos By Jim Allen)

Weekend Recap

This time on The Allen Report, we make our way to Puyallup, Washington with the bright lights of Seattle not far away – a city known globally for its coffee, Pike Place Market and no shortage of sporting excitement. On this night, the excitement was in the Washington State Fairgrounds, where a sold out crowd packed the grandstands to watch roundy-round style racing and hot, car crunching freestyle. The trucks and drivers arriving to do battle were headlined by former World Freestyle Champ Jimmy Creten in his traditional Bounty Hunter Yellow. Teammate Russell Steeley was right behind in the new Knucklehead, the official monster truck of heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch. From just down the road in Watsonville, California was the father and daughter team of Kelvin and Rosalee Ramer, Kelvin in his usual Time Flys and Rosalee continuing to establish her own identity in Wild Flower. Twins Travis and Tyler Groth stepped up for the home state crowd with Travis piloting Trouble Maker, a truck brand new for this season and Tyler in his bright green Double Trouble. Roger Stidell had double duty tonight as not only did he drive Destroyer in racing but Tony Canedo’s new truck Enforcer in freestyle as well. Tony himself drove Play N’ 4 Keeps as well as his third truck Survivor, having recently bought it from Chuck Jordan. In a rare moment in the sport, there was no dirt on the performance floor, making things interesting for all competitors. With that, the battle began.

In side by side racing, Bounty Hunter and Time Flys got off to fast starts, handily dispensing their respective opponents. In the final quarter final race, Destroyer got the best of his home state rival, Double Trouble. In the heavyweight side of the semi-finals, Kelvin Ramer did not hold back but Bounty Hunter was spot on in the turns and low over the straightaway cars, entering the final round. Trouble Maker beat Destroyer to the finish line, avenging his brother’s loss to get a chance against the former World Champion in the finals. The race for all the marbles was one to remember. Halfway home, Bounty Hunter’s lead was not so clear cut anymore. The final jump was too close to call. WGAS officials reviewed the video several times. To rather mixed reaction from the audience, Jimmy Creten was declared the winner by the slimmest margin. But the ultimate excitement of monster truck freestyle was still to come.

Travis Groth and Russell Steeley set the bar early with scores of 26 out of a possible 30. Double Trouble gave the capacity crowd a reason to cheer with a spectacular cartwheel crash after hitting the race lane ramp way off center. Tyler was okay, but no score was given due to finishing his run early. Rosalee Ramer showcased what she could do with very good air, smoke blowing cyclones and continuing on despite a blown right front tire. The judges rewarded her efforts with a perfect score. To ensure there would be only one freestyle winner, the crowd’s applause would be the decision maker in the event of a tie. The second to last competitor was Rosalee’s father in Time Flys, Kelvin threw down the best wheelies of the night and had good air, but he also backed up without hitting anything several times, so he ended up one single point shy of perfection. With only the night’s racing champion left to go, all signs appeared to point to a rare double victory for Jim Creten. But early in his run, an awkward landing bent Bounty Hunter’s four link bar which took out his drive shaft on the very next jump. For safety, event officials shut the truck down. With no score, this meant that Rosalee was declared the event’s freestyle grand champion, which caused the crowd to erupt in applause and cheers. The World’s Youngest Professional Female Monster Truck Driver was ecstatic to receive the win, jumping up and down and waving.

To close the night, a Washington State Fair tradition continued through an epic fireworks show as legendary rock band Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” song played over the stadium loudspeakers. It was a wild night in Puyallup, and we at “The Allen Report” are very confident that the fans got their money’s worth. We are going to take a break now, but we will return to the San Diego County Fair very soon after a year away, and more coverage will follow. Well then, thank you for reading, a special thanks to John Borba and WGAS Motorsports for having us, enjoy the photos and cheer on!

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