After 4 rounds, it all came down to Round 5 in Roseville to crown the champions of the 2019 Points Series. As practice got underway, it became apparent early on that the “Monster Crossover” track would prove to be a challenge on a loose surface and when the dust settled (and there was a lot of dust) there were quite a few surprises!
The Novice class kicked things off and the challenging track got the best of the class early on with double DQ’s and rollovers. But Sam Olson and “Deep Blue” showed that slow and steady does win the race as she was able to control her truck around the two lap course and loose surface to capture her first win of the year! Fun fact: through 5 rounds, each competitor that raced at least one race in the Novice class ended up winning a round of racing.
2.2 qualifying took to the course next with a landing ramp added to the crossover jump adding a chicane element to the already challenging track. As with the Novice class, there were a lot of DNF’s and time penalties in qualifying as drivers tried to get a handle of the track. Chris Prestwood came to Roseville on a mission to beat Torey Heath and move up in the standings, even bringing a second 2.2 Grave Digger truck as the AMain Bounty on the “Joker” truck was still alive. After a blistering 30.09 qualifying pass by Heath in “El Jefe”, Prestwood recorded the fastest time of the day at 29.88 earning a round 1 bye.
In the 2.6 class, Torey Heath brought a second truck as well with the hopes of beating points leader Todd Henderson and debuted an all new “Punisher” scheme. Unfortunately, “Punisher” would post two “DNF” times in qualifying, while “Joker” would post a 36.03 time good enough to land 3rd in the brackets; just ahead of Henderson’s “Kamikaze” which was sporting yet another new body/paint combo. 
Jeremy Bunting would take the top two spots in qualifying with two runs under 35 seconds and within .12 seconds of each other with the new “Hooligan” taking the bye into Round 2. Jim Prestwood brought his “Blood Thirsty” truck back after a 3 round absence and qualified 5th with Taylor Underhill coming in 6th with a wild qualifying pass that nearly ended in a rollover.
After a long morning of practice and qualifying, the brackets were set and it was time to go racing! In round 1, the “SBC Digger” would knock out Mikey Harris and “Hulk” setting up a round 2 matchup of Chris Prestwood’s two entries. On the bottom half of the bracket, “Joker” took out “Miss Rockstar” followed up with “El Jefe” defeating “Freedom resulting in Torey Heath’s two entries being matched against each other. Prestwood made the easy decision to advance his “SBC Monster” to the finals with the hopes of gaining valuable points and the Bounty reward. In a bit of gamesmanship, Heath opted to have “El Jefe” take the win as “Joker” had all but clinched the 1st place overall in the standings, and in doing so, captured his own Bounty. The two fastest trucks in the class squared off in a less than perfect final race as both trucks accumulated multiple penalties for not getting two wheels up ramps, however Prestwood had less penalties as he tumbled across the finish line while Heath missed the final jump.
Onto the 2.6 class, Todd Henderson came out strong with a victory over Jim Prestwood. In a repeat of the 2.2 class, Heath’s Joker would once again eliminate Underhill’s “Freedom” entry. In the final race of the round, “Punisher” dished out a punishing blow to Jeremy Bunting’s hopes of moving up in the standings taking the easy win after Bunting rolled “Bad Company” off a jump. And just like the 2.2 class, both of Heath’s rigs would be matched up against each other in the semi finals, however this time, he chose to have the “Joker” advance. In the other semi final round match-up, Henderson ran a smooth, clean race and took out Bunting’s top-seeded “Hooligan” to once again set up a heavy-weight final between the top two in points. The final race started even, but Henderson missed a jump in the first turn resulting in a penalty and would later roll over after hitting a turn marker letting Heath cruise to the racing victory and further closing the gap in the standings.
The track was then reset and obstacles were added to finish off the year with a bang. Normally, after the 2.2 and 2.6 classes’ competitions, the track is then open to let Novice entries bash and have fun. But for the finale, we decided to change things up and let Connor Anapol take to the track first and put on an exhibition run. Connor shed the borrowed body on the first hit and held it wide open crushing everything in sight and hitting the jumps to get all in attendance pumped up.
Taylor Underhill and “Freedom” got things started and literally ran the wheels off the truck as is becoming tradition. Unfortunately, the truck only lasted about 50 seconds resulting in a score of 16.
Tiffany Harris, who over the year was becoming known for being a consistent racer and top competitor in the Novice class, took to the track and put on a show. Carrying great momentum and catching some air, Harris filled the clock without a rollover deduction vaulting into the lead with a score of 25! Check out this awesome shot captured by our event photographer Joey Washburn!
Mikey Harris, perhaps intimidated by what his mom just did, had two early rollovers and only was able to get an 8. Chris Prestwood would then take to the track and throw down a solid run in the “Digger”, but only filled half the time.
Heath and “Joker” would go big early in an effort to keep his lead for the Fat Cat Customz Freestyle Championship, but the big gamble would not pay off as early breakage ended the run and a score of 15. Heath would then bring “El Jefe” out and put on a blazing run that almost became a literal fire as the truck was running very hot by the end. Out of caution, the run was ended early, but still resulted in a solid 21 points.
Finally Chris Prestwood would send out his “SBC Monster” to try and overtake the top spot. It was a run we’ve come to expect featuring huge air and crashes that became saves. Prestwood got all 9’s, but the rollover deduction and a broken steering rod would come into play and give the Round 5 freestyle victory to Tiffany Harris! Prestwood’s racing victory and freestyle score would be enough to secure the Round 5 Overall win.
Finally, it was time to settle the 2.6 class! “Freedom” would once again start things off and provide a brief, but spectacular run scoring 11.
Jim Prestwood came out next with “Blood Thirsty” and much like Tiffany in 2.2, raised some eyebrows and threw down! With body piece flying off, Prestwood filled the clock with great momentum and some spectacular moments raising the score to beat to a 24.
With the Fat Cat Freestyle Championship still in sight and looking to repeat his Round 4 freestyle performance, Jeremy Bunting went out and put down a run to forget with two early rollovers and a score of just 9. With the “Punisher” truck out for freestyle, Bunting redeemed himself with a solid run with the new “Hooligan” truck. A broken rod end limited steering for the final 15 seconds of the run scoring a 22 and Prestwood remained in the hot seat.
So once again, it would come down to “Joker” and “Kamikaze”. Heath would put down his best run of the year in the 2.6 class sending the truck into orbit while carrying lots of speed and filling the clock getting two 10’s and a 9. However, an early rollover deduction would drop the score to a 26 leaving the door open for “Kamikaze”. Henderson as usual went for broke and early on looked like he might just take it with the biggest air of the day and massive backflips. But a rough landing that ended up breaking the front axle housing would end his run after only a minute giving the freestyle and overall Round 5 victory to Heath.
At this point, it was time to do some math and figure out the final results of who would be taking home the series trophies and prizes. Perhaps the most incredible part of the series was that the 2.6 class was decided by only 1 point!
For 2.2, Torey Heath clinched 1st place with “Joker” and Chris Prestwood moved up into 2nd place over “El Jefe”. Because Heath had two trucks make the top 3, he received a bonus in payout in exchange for having a three person podium which allowed 4th place Taylor Underhill and “Freedom” to take the final podium position.
All year, the 2.6 top 3 has been a dog fight and in the end, Todd Henderson and “Kamikaze” beat out Torey Heath by 1 point. Jeremy Bunting rounded out the podium in 3rd place with “Hooligan”.
The Fat Cat Customz Freestyle Champions ended up going to the two guys who basically punished their trucks and were not afraid to send it all year long, and for their efforts, Chris Prestwood and Todd Henderson will receive custom wrapped bodies from Fat Cat Customz!
A big thank you to everyone who made this first year a success: first and foremost all of the racers who took time to travel near and far and throw down with us. To Fat Cat Customz, Proline Racing, Eat, Sleep, Race MT, Insano Industries, CowRC, and AMain Hobbies for donating awesome prizes throughout the series. Thanks to Mario Zamudio and Joey Washburn for capturing the amazing photos and Dom Callori for our great Round 4 highlight video. Make sure to check out Joey Washburn (@joeywashburn on Instagram). Thanks to Torey Heath for all of your help in planning and executing a great series, Todd Henderson for doing video and bringing prizes, Jacob Smallwood for the starting light and crew shirt, Taylor Underhill for building/hauling ramps, and Ash Robertson for designing the series logo and other artwork used for our trophies.
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