Halfway through the 2020 Points Series presented by JConcepts, things are starting to shape up at the top of the standings. 21 entries braved the 100+ degree heat to take on the remodeled Redding RC & Hobby track one last time this season. The course was “toned down” from the cavernous obstacles from last month’s North vs. South Summer Showdown while still providing a challenge and scale look. Round 3 would feature a callback to the 2015 Monster Jam stadium tracks (minus the inflatable starting gates everyone hated) with the trucks starting towards the middle of the course and transitioning into a more traditional St. Louis style oval. The heat kept the track dry and loose which made for some unpredictable racing.
In the 2.2 class, Chris Prestwood has yet to lose a race and continued where he left off setting the fastest qualifying time for the class of 12.25. Micaiah Holt was right on his heals with his ASD 4 Runner clocking a 12.46, nearly 3 seconds faster than the rest of the field.
With the brackets set, Round 2’s freestyle winner Connor Anapol had a tough draw after a transmitter issue in qualifying prevented him from recording a time and would now face Prestwood in racing. Running a special “Launch Control” body given to him by the North vs. South Showdown racing champion Trever Adamo, Anapol was hoping the body could provide a little luck in racing, but would roll over in the turn and the “SBC Monster” advanced. Newcomers JJ Moreno would get the first upset of the day taking out “The Twins” with his Metal Mulisha entry and Skyler Richter would pilot his third ranked “Grave Digger” to a first round win over Jacob Smallwood and the “New Age Outlaw”. Holt would take out Kaeson Prestwood and the other “Grave Digger” in the field to advance to the second round.
In the semi-finals, Prestwood advanced into the finals after taking out Moreno staying in the preferred left lane. On the other end of the bracket, Richter, in his first event ever, had Holt on the ropes going into the final turn but would clip the freestyle obstacle going over the final jump and roll over just short of the finish line giving the win to Holt.
The two fastest trucks in the class squared off in the finals and were dead even to the final turn, but Prestwood would make a tighter line and pull off another victory over the final jump.
Wes Harriger and last year’s overall champion Todd Henderson would make their return to the series after being unable to attend July’s event. In addition, a couple new entries joined the series in Zac Soares with his own “Excaliber” and Joey Moreno who came down from Oregon to compete. Harriger would put his “Excaliber” in the pole position with the fastest pass of the day at 10.55, over a second faster than Prestwood’s “Ride or Die” and Jeremy Bunting’s “Bad Company” who would all get byes into the second round.
Round 1 of racing kicked off with Henderson’s all new “Kamikaze” getting the win over Soares preventing an all “Excaliber” second round race, however it was evident that the new truck had some gremlins still needing to be worked out. Bunting’s 5th ranked “Crash Test Dummy” eliminated the 12th ranked “Son Uva Digger” piloted by David Heimbigner sporting an all new look as well. Heimbigner would get another shot though as his 4th ranked “Grave Digger” would take out Smallwood’s “Dragon Slayer”. On the bottom half of the bracket, Holt’s “Slimer” advanced to the second round with a win over Moreno’s “Hooters” entry and the “Turd Wrassler” would move on after eliminating Jim Prestwood’s “Blood Thirsty”.
With 8 trucks remaining, Harriger made quick work of Henderson’s front wheel drive “Kamikaze” to advance to the semi-finals. Bunting would make it 2 for 2 taking out Heimbigner’s “Grave Digger” with “Crash Test Dummy” and then putting “Bad Company” into the semis beating “Slimer”. The final race of the round was a close one between “Ride or Die” and “Turd Wrassler” in which Prestwood would pull out the win, but sheered off the rear wheel crossing the finish line and would now have to scramble to replace the broken axle.
Harriger would advance “Excaliber” to the finals staying in the left lane and taking out “Crash Test Dummy”. The final race of the semi finals was in question as Prestwood replaced the broken axle and Smallwood waited ready to take his spot. However, Bunting did not stage his truck to implement the one minute rule requiring a truck to be staged and Prestwood was able to make the call. With the truck back together and valuable points on the line, both trucks were even throughout the race with Bunting pulling ahead at the end to send “Bad Company” to the finals.
Harriger came into the event on an 8 round winning streak would increase it to 9 in a row as he would run a smooth race while Bunting took out a turn obstacle which was all the bobble needed to take advantage and take his 3rd straight racing championship.
In freestyle, Anapol would get things started with a score of 14 after getting a couple saves early on but only filled 38 seconds of the clock. Smallwood would take the lead with a 16 that would hold until Richter would hit the track and put on a high speed run that filled the clock without any rollovers and would catapult him into the lead with a score of 28. Holt’s high-powered “ASD 4Runner” would take to the track on a mission to claim the top spot but would suffer breakage early on netting only a score of 11 with one truck to go. Needing only 16 points to clinch the overall Round 3 championship, Prestwood went full send with the “SBC Monster” and looked to have a winning run going, but a rollover with 20 seconds left would have him come up just short of the win, but would secure the overall championship and push his points series lead to 49 despite not winning a freestyle competition this season, which was his strong suit in 2019. Richter would end up second overall in his debut event with 44 points and Holt would round out the top 3 with 33.
In the Monster Truck class, Smallwood came out guns blazing with “Dragon Slayer” filling the clock with a high-speed run kicking up dust all over the track and setting the bar high at 24. Despite valiant efforts by “Son Uva Digger”, “Hooters”, “Excaliber” (Zac), and “Blood Thirsty”, Smallwood remained comfortably in the lead until Henderson brought out “Kamikaze”. Known for big air and backflips, Henderson was hamstrung by only having front-wheel drive for his normal big air assault, but was able to fill the clock without rolling over and still got some exciting tricks and even a wheelie to set the new high mark of 26. That high mark would last…until the very next truck hit the track. Holt would go on to fill the clock as well without rolling the truck, but was able to have the big air including two massive backflips and saves to close out the run giving him a score of 28 and guaranteeing the only way to beat him would be to have a run that filled the clock without a rollover deduction. Heimbigner would take to the track with “Grave Digger” and carried great momentum with a pair of somersault saves early, however a broken four-link would end his run early with a 19. Smallwood brought out the flying turd and put it through its paces, but a turtle rollover would end his run with half the time still remaining.
Not even 30 minutes after fixing the truck, Prestwood seemed on a mission to destroy it going huge in typical “Ride or Die” fashion while keeping the truck on all 4’s. The truck took the abuse for most of the run until a rod end failed towards the end. With the rear end going wherever it wanted, Prestwood finished the run in reverse and got a 28 to tie for the lead. Bunting would take to the track and his “Crash Test Dummy” lived up to its name sheering the rear wheel off like Prestwood earlier on an awkward landing that made everyone groan with a minute remaining. Despite having only 3 wheels, he was able to fill the clock but would not get enough for the lead with a score of 25. He would then bring “Bad Company” out for a shot at the lead and would fill the clock and had high scores for momentum and tricks, but a rollover early in the run deducted 3 points for a score of 24. Finally, Harriger would take to the track and had a solid run going but two rollovers cut his run short and would get 18 points for his effort and leaving us with a tie for the freestyle victory.
Holt and Prestwood had identical scores with 10’s for time and 9’s for both momentum and air/tricks without a rollover. Because neither truck had a rollover, the next tie breaker then goes to whoever had the score first which gave the victory to Holt and “Slimer”. For the overall event total, Harriger finished with 56 total event points securing the victory by 1 point with Bunting and Prestwood tied for second with 55. Harriger is now 17 points ahead of Bunting and Prestwood who are now tied for second place going into Round 4.
The series now shifts to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico for the final two events of the season in September and October. Chris Prestwood can potentially clinch a podium spot during Round 4, but only 30 points separate 2nd through 6th place leaving the 2.2 class still wide open. In the Monster Truck class, only 10 points separate 2nd through 4th place with Todd Henderson and Jacob Smallwood still within striking distance of making the podium. Who knows who could come in and upset the standings, we’ll find out on September 26th at Silver Dollar Speedway!
Finally, a special thank you to Redding RC & Hobby for letting us use their facility to build our track and race this season as well as Jacob Smallwood and David Heimbigner for making the long drive up early to help get the track ready in the heat.