To say Round 4 of the 2019 Points Series was epic is an understatement. For Round 4, the goal was to do something big and special leading up to the championship event and I believe it’s safe to say: Mission Accomplished! Not only did we have a top notch facility go above and beyond in letting us use part of their track for a playground, they prepped an all dirt ramp figure 8 race course that was fast and challenging. To top it off, 8 trucks from the So Cal Monster Truck Racing Series made the trip up to Northern California to throwdown and take home some hardware. We were also fortunate enough to have Mario Zamudio of MZ Tiny Truck Pics cover the event and capture the amazing photos you see as well as some incredible footage by Dominic Callori. On to the action!
As usual, things kicked off with the novice class taking to the course first. For the first time this season, Sam Olson was able to compete with her “Deep Blue” Bronco and stayed smooth and made her way to the all-female finals. However, Tiffany Harris was on a rail and took the final race victory once again putting “Miss Rockstar” in victory lane.
2.2 qualifying was next and with a bounty on his “Joker” truck, Torey Heath was on a mission setting the pace once again with the fastest two runs of the night and getting both the “Joker” and “El Jefe” trucks into the second round with first round byes with Chris Prestwood on his heals in third and Harris in 4th. Taylor Underhill debuted an all new “Freedom” truck with a new chassis and a ‘Merica Mustang body to match and qualified 5th with Mikey Harris rounding out the 6 truck field with “Hulk”.
Next, the biggest 2.6 field to date took to the course and it was apparent early on that tonight was going to be wild. The trucks from Southern California came to play and show they did not just come to have fun as 4 of the top 6 trucks made the long trip up. Todd Henderson’s “Kamikaze” set a blistering time early 11.78 that seemed like it would not be touched, especially after Heath experienced mechanical issues that had him finish 13th in the 14 truck bracket. A cluster of trucks formed in the mid 12 to low 13 second range as 7 trucks qualified within half a second of each other. In the end, Michael Letcher and his sharp “McGruff” truck complete with light bar and grill LED’s, would set the time to beat at 11.25 with Kris Ribali’s “Raminator”, Travis Letcher’s War Wizard, and Jeremy Bunting’s Bad Company rounding out the top 5.
Once the brackets were set, things moved quick in the 2.2 class as the higher seeded “Miss Rockstar” and “SBC Monster” took out “Freedom” and “Hulk” to take on Heath’s two trucks. Heath’s “Joker” would get the best of “Miss Rockstar” leaving Prestwood as the final opportunity to seize the $25 AMain gift certificate up for grabs. Heath would prove to be too fast and would finish 1 and 2 going undefeated in 2.2 racing for the second straight round.
The “Miss Rockstar” vs. “Joker” battle would not be the only battle of significant others for the evening as the 2.6 class would lead off with Jessica Dahl and her “Wild Flower” truck taking on Letcher and his “Bounty Hunter”. As the light turned green, Bounty Hunter came over the jump and into “Wild Flower’s” lane and rolling getting a DQ. Dahl would then be up again with her “Scarlet Bandit” taking on Bunting’s “Bad Company”. The last time these two met was in December down in Santa Clarita on a similar track in round 1 and Dahl was looking for revenge. Both trucks were even early, but Dahl ended up on her lid letting Bunting advance to the second round. Heath was able to repair the “Joker” and would knock off the #4 ranked “War Wizard” to advance. Kris Ribali won back to back races with his “Raminator” and “Rammunition” trucks taking out Byron Clinton’s “Intimidator” and “Hurricane Force” leading to the unfortunate decision to eliminate one of his trucks in round 2. The final race of round 1 saw Bunting’s “Hooligan” take out Underhill’s “Freedom” making its debut in the 2.6 class.
The quarter finals saw a rematch of Letcher and Dahl, but this time Michael would take the win with his top seeded “McGruff”. Bunting had a unique opportunity to make up points as his two trucks were matched against Heath and Henderson. In the first match, “Bad Company” rolled after an odd landing off the first jump allowing Heath to cruise to an easy victory. In a rematch from Round 1 at Prairie City, Henderson would get revenge over Bunting as “Kamikaze” ran a smooth race and took the win to advance to the semi finals with 3 of the top 4 qualifiers.
In the semi finals, it was two Nor Cal trucks vs. two So Cal trucks! In two competitive races, Heath and Henderson would defend their home turf taking out #1 seeded Letcher and #3 seeded Ribali setting up a final between the top two trucks in the point standings. On green both trucks were even, but Heath took the jump nose high causing the truck to bounce and endo over and Henderson would bring home the racing victory!
The fantastic racing surface would then be turned into a playground of destruction as multiple ramps and obstacles were laid out on the track for the Fat Cat Customz Freestyle Competition. The 2.2 trucks would take to the track first and Mikey Harris and “Hulk” would set the high mark early with a long run full of good momentum and nice moves. Taylor Underhill and his new “Freedom” Mustang would take the lead notching a 19 which would hold until…the very next truck. Chris Prestwood missed Round 1, but since then has been unbeatable at freestyle and tonight was no different as he ran his “SBC Monster” into the ground with a run we’ve come to expect from him featuring huge air, crazy saves, and a few broken parts. The score of 20 would be enough to hold on for the win as early roll overs and breakage would take out Torey Heath’s two entries, but Heath would hang on to claim the Overall Round 4 Championship. With his freestyle victory, Prestwood has closed the gap to 3 points for the overall Freestyle Championship and is now only 1 point out of 2nd place overall!
For the grand finale, the 2.6 class stepped it up a notch and put on a show! The pictures, and forthcoming video really speak for themselves, but the highlight runs of the night included some massive air from both of Kris Ribali’s RAM themed Warpaths, Travis Letcher coming up with some great saves, Jeremy Bunting literally running the wheels off Bad Company for a third place finish, Todd Henderson making roughly 6 saves and then tipping over on a giant yellow cone, and Torey Heath going huge early and breaking trying to out-do the run of the night by Michael Letcher. The 29 point run by Letcher was the highest scored run of the year in the 2.6 class and propelled him to the overall win.
A HUGE THANK YOU to all of the racers that came up from Southern California to do battle, Mario Zamudio of MZ Tiny Truck Pics for getting the amazing shots of the action (link to the entire photo gallery is above in the first paragraph), Dominic Callori for getting video footage, and last but certainly not least, to AMain Hobbies for letting us not only come out and have a blast at their amazing facilities, but fully prepping the track beyond our expectations. We will DEFINITELY be back next year!
So now, it all comes down to the final round in Roseville on August 17th! With cash prizes and trophies for the podium, there are still plenty of points up for grabs! Make sure to check out our information page for all of the details.