Photos credited to TheMonsterBlog.com
Now that the winter season of monster truck action has come to a close, the focus is no longer on the confinds of the indoor arenas. Instead, the focus turns to the fairgrounds and speedways across the country.
The premier series for this kind of action is the Lucas Oil 4-Wheel Jamboree Series. The 2011 campaign kicked off this past weekend in Springfield, Missouri.
Held at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds, the Special Events Performance Series brought the biggest line-up to Springfield since the days of the Penda Points Series in the early to mid-1990s.
The leaders of the pack are the defending champion Hall Brothers, who have seemingly made this their own personal playground as they have dominated the series the last seven years, winning the championship. Mark Hall in Raminator and Mat Dishman in Rammunition came to Springfield to start the season off right.
But, Team Bigfoot was looking for redemption as they sent their top driver, Dan Runte, to start his quest for the championship in the E3 Spark Plugs Bigfoot 16.
Team Scream was well represented as 2011 World Freestyle Champion Jim Koehler brought out Avenger, while teammate Chris Bergeron returned to the seat of the General, sponsored by General Tires. Also making a welcome return to the series is Monster Nationals Champion Bobby Holman in the Lucas Oil Stabilizer.
Four new trucks entered the Jamboree season as Monster Nationals competitors Chalkboard Chuck and Star Marshall made their summer debuts, as well as Ironman.
Finally, one of the wildest trucks to ever enter the circuit was prepared to chomp on the competition as Greg Wichenbach was ready to make an impact in the Crushstation, or as most fans know it by these days...the "Monstah Lobstah."
The straight-line course is traditional at the Springfield show, but making it difficult was the track was dirt on asphalt.
That didn't seem to phase Dishman in the first show of the 2011 season has he out-muscled the other nine competitors to take the opening win of the year in Rammunition.
But, freestyle was all about Team Scream as both Koehler and Bergeron continued to show why they love the outdoor portion of the year as they put on epic runs for the fans.
The win gave Dishman the early season lead in the truck that has won the championship in the past.
It was going to be hard to repeat as there were still two more shows over the course of the weekend.
Saturday evening was a different story as it was not the Hall Brothers making it back-to-back victories to start off the season.
Instead, the truck that was victorious was one that won the Monster Nationals racing title this year. However, the driver that won the title was not driving.
The original plan for the jamboree season was to have Rick Long drive the E3 Spark Plugs Bigfoot. But, it was the fans that were asking to have the team's lead driver, Dan Runte, to get behind the wheel.
So, to keep all the fans and promoter happy, the E3 body went on Runte's chassis, and in the second race of the year, he put the truck into victory lane. That made the score even between Team Bigfoot and the Hall Brothers to start of the season, just like in 2010.
This meant heading into Sunday it was going to be a battle of these two teams once again for the victory. Last year it was Runte getting the jump on the field as he took two of the three events.
But this year, every race was won by a different driver.
In the final event of the weekend, every driver was looking to get that victory. In the end, it was the team that won the title last year that took the win, but it was a surprising fact that came with it as well.
On Sunday, it was Mark Hall putting the Raminator Dodge in victory lane for the first time in the series, but also for the first time in 2011. Throughout the winter season of the Monster Nationals and Monster Jam, Hall never took a racing victory.
The win was the first for Hall since the 2010 Jamboree finale in Indianapolis, so the Ram Trucks-sponsored team was extremely happy with the win.
The show ended once again with great freestyles from the drivers, including an exciting run by Wichenbach in the Crushstation, and Bergeron putting the General Tire truck on it's side for the first time in 2011.
If this is any indication how the season is going to go, especially with line-ups as stacked as they are, it will be one to keep an eye on.
For all these teams, there is no rest as the jamboree season continues this upcoming weekend in Lima, Ohio. Historically this has been a great racing facility and has brought some exciting moments.
It was here last season that Hall began his dominance of the series, so the competition is already eyeing him as the top dog in the next event.
But, Runte is right there and wants to win for all the sponsors of Bigfoot.
Four racing events await the monsters at the Allen County Fairgrounds from May 20-22. Tickets are available online and are also at the gate.
For more information and photos of the show, visit 4WheelJamboree.com.
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