Mobile, AL - Mobile Civic Center

Trucks: Grave Digger, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Ground Pounder, Gun Slinger, Subject to change without notice.

By David Knisley  

MOBILE GOES BALLISTIC FOR FREESTYLE MANIA  

Friday Night   

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.  

The show opened with the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Wheelie competition and all six drivers got impressive air.  But the black and green wrecking machine driven by Pablo Huffaker took things to another level leading Grave Digger to the first win of the night.  

Ground Pounder and Ben Winslow opened the Subway Maniac challenge with an impressive 22.3 but that was not enough to hold off Ryan Huffaker in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles truck as Rockin’ Ryan posted a 21.4.  But with one driver left to run the course Ryan had to watch his Dad take Grave Digger through the course and the senior Huffaker was the only driver able to go under 20 seconds to capture his second win of the night.  

The BMX, FMX and Quad FMX riders came out next and impressed the crowd with a dazzling mix of high flying maneuvers.  Cody Elkins capped things off with an awesome backflip on his quad that brought the entire crowd to their feet.  

After intermission the monster trucks were at it again in the Southern Ford Dealers Doughnut Challenge.  The conditions were a little sticky and the early competitors had trouble getting the wheels turning.  However Ryan Huffaker made his Turtle rotate on a dime and set the mark to beat with only his Dad and Grave Digger left to run.  Pablo came out hard and caught an edge causing Grave Digger to flip and end up on its roof giving Ryan the victory.  

That left only the Advance Auto Parts Freestyle competition and everyone was airing it out.  Scott Hartsock and Gunslinger went after it taking on the FMX landing ramp and showing the next three drivers what it would take to get the victory.  Both Huffakers duplicated his effort but the veteran Pablo executed a massive jump over the 22 foot mound of dirt and earned his third win of the night.  He was all smiles as he thanked the crowd and made a parade lap through the stands to find a lucky fan to receive his trophy.  

It was a great start to the weekend here in Mobile and we will be back for another awesome show tomorrow night at the Mobile Civic Center.  Get your tickets at the box office for the best seats in the house!  Make sure to check out www.MonsterJam.com  and become our friend on Facebook.   http://www.facebook.com/mjonline 

 

Saturday Night 

Things kicked off Saturday night with the Advance Auto Parts Wheelie Competition.  Ground Pounder and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle put the pressure on Grave Digger posting an 18 and 23 respectively but the veteran Pablo Huffaker was able to stand Digger on end to notch the win with a 24.

Next on the agenda was the Subway Maniac Challenge and every truck on the floor went under 20 seconds tonight with Gunslinger holding trying to hold off the black and green wrecking machine but Huffaker was able to squirt across the line 3 tenths of a second faster to take his second win of the night.

As always the FMX portion of the show was off the hook.  The boys on the pedal bikes were stoked to nail their flip train in the Freestyle Jam session and “Backflip” Billy Genet lived up to his name railing an awesome final flip.  Cody Elkins ignited the crowd again with a picture perfect flip on his quad that had every fan in the house going wild.

After intermission we went right into our Southern Ford Dealers Doughnut Competition and again it was Gunslinger and Grave Digger slugging it out for the win.  Pablo Huffaker put his ride on the roof, much to the delight of the crowd, and beat Scott Hartsock by only one point.

The Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Freestyle Competition was a very close battle and Ground Pounder set the bar with a 20.  Gunslinger came to the floor next and had a phenomenal run and it looked like he was going to get the win with a 23.  However Pablo Huffaker and Grave Digger went all out charging into every obstacle and doing enough to impress the judges and make it 4 for 4 with a total of 24.

The great fans of Mobile made the entire weekend a rousing success and we look forward to coming back next year!  Make sure to get online and friend us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mjonline  and check out Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam  at www.MonsterJam.com.