Not even two days after the completion of the September/October series, the monsters shook the arena we house our events at once more. This time it was the Muscle Machines circuit that was starting up. Since the Hot Wheels and Muscle Machines currently run on different circuits (this will change in November), this tournament will be an exhibition match and the Muscle Machines trucks will have random seeds in the November Nationals. With Frankenstein and Raminator just joining the group today, it should be an interesting competition to see just how the new trucks measure up.

Starting off our tournament today is Bigfoot T-Wrecks. The truck goes up and over the ramp, down the alley, and out into the landing zone. He swerves into a stop and ends his run with success. He pulls back to the pit area and the next challenger, Dracula, approaches.

The black winged truck goes up and over the ramp. He comes down on his front wheels too hard and the back wheels go forward – up and over the truck. The truck winds up resting on his lid. He’ll finish in 10th place here tonight.

The next truck up is the other winged truck on the Muscle Machines circuit. Frankenstein pulls up to the line and begins his run. The truck lands on its side and goes into a roll. He stands on his back wheels for a half second and then finally comes to a rest on his side. Frankenstein will finish in 9th.

The next truck up is no stranger to monster truck fans worldwide. Snakebite pulls up to the line and stages for his run. The red Ford snake attacks the ramp and soars through the air. He comes down on all fours and is able to drive out of any rollover. Snakebite will continue to round two.

The next truck up is another famous truck – Bearfoot. The truck pulls up to the line and launches over the ramp. The truck has a good landing, but goes into a cartwheel and flips over. The red truck comes to a stop on its side, finish in 8th. The next truck up is Wolfman.

The white Ford pulls up to the line. Wolfman is another of the Universal Studios “Monster” trucks, alongside Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy. (Just to name the ones we have competing here today.) Wolfman, with the engine howling, zooms into the air. He comes down hard on his tailgate and bounces up into the air. He comes back down on his side and is disqualified in 7th place.

Next up is another of the “Monster” trucks – The Mummy. The black truck approaches the ramp and starts off. The truck has wonderful run until he picks up too much speed in the air and hits the ground too hard. He bounces up in the air with his front tires coming back down first. The back end has too much velocity and it sends the truck over. He flips again and the truck is back in its wheels. However, the roll has him eliminated in 6th place.

Next up is the famous Samson monster truck. The truck with the massive arms pulls up to the ramp and blasts away. He comes back to ground and goes into a wonderful slap wheelie before going back onto his wheels and making a secure stop. Samson will advance to round two. The next truck up to the ramp is the infamous Dodge Raminator.

The red Dodge thunders out of the pits and over the ramp. After a brief stint in the air the truck comes down in a wheelie and then goes down onto all four wheels. A beautiful run for the famous Dodge. Now with nine trucks having run, that only leaves one truck left to run. The one. The only. Bigfoot!

The blue Ford legend roars out of the pits and onto the line. With a few quick revs of the engine, the truck is into the air. The truck launches up into the air, but accumulates too much speed before coming to the ground. He bounces back up into the air but this time comes down on his side, going into a barrel roll. The legend finally comes a stop on his wheels, but has been disqualified. Bigfoot will rank 5th here tonight. We are now onto round two with the surviving four trucks…T-Wrecks Bigfoot, Snakebite, Samson, and Raminator.

The first truck to take to the ramp in round two is T-Wrecks Bigfoot. The truck launches off the ramp, and holding true to its name, hits too hard on the front end and sends the back end of the truck ahead of the front. The truck sits wounded on the course and the event staff come out to right him. He’ll finish in 4th here tonight. While the truck is being removed from the track, the next truck, Snakebite, takes to the staging area.

T-Wrecks Bigfoot is cleared away from the run, and Snakebite guns the engine, sending the truck up into the air. The truck comes down with a thud, and doesn’t even bounce. He makes a smooth drive away from the landing and advances into round three, which, with one more elimination, will be the finals.

The next truck, Samson, comes up to the line. He hits the gas and the truck goes up into the air. He comes down with a run similar to Snakebite and leisurely drives away from it. Samson will also go into round three. The next truck up, and the last for round two, will be the Dodge Raminator.

The pride of the Dodge motor company drives up to the ramp and guns the engine. The truck takes to the air like a bird, but comes down to the ground like a pogo stick without a rider. The truck bounces and winds up on its side by the end of the run. The Dodge company executives sigh and mumble something about running Ramunition next time. With the elimination of Raminator, who came in 3rd, it is now the jump-off finals. Snakebite VS. Samson.

Snakebite comes out and has a good run, but Samson’s run has problems and he winds up on his side. Now, according to jump-off rules, Snakebite must make a good run, or Samson is allowed to come back into competition. Snakebite stages to run again.

The red snake lines up and the starting lights go green. The truck roars to life and thunders over the ramp. He comes down hard on his tailgate and flops down onto his side. Samson will run again, and start a new round.

The blue Chevrolet lines up to the ramp and guns the engine. The truck, up in arms, comes down to the ground on his tailgate and meets a fate similar to Snakebite. Now Snakebite is in the same position to have a good run. The red snake lines up to the ramp once again. He guns the engine and the truck flies again. His tires finally connect with the ground and he goes into a wheelie. The truck has just the right velocity and he comes back down. Snakebite drives away from the run victories. Samson will finish 2nd with Snakebite claiming the win here tonight.

Having claimed victory, Snakebite will be the first truck to do freestyle. This part of the tournament is not graded or judged, and is just from the entertainment of both the drivers and the fans. Snakebite first goes into several tight donuts, and then heads toward the car-van-car pyramid set out for the freestyle competition. He iron walls them and does a wheel stand atop the van.

He comes off of the pyramid and loops around toward the dirt ramp set out. He goes over the ramp and comes down on his nose, sending the back of the truck over the front and leaving him on his roof. The audience goes wild, and the event staff comes to remove the truck from the course. Your winner tonight – Snakebite.

The truck balances for a second, but the back end of the truck starts to come back the direction it came. The truck guns it and manages to pull out of the near rollover. In search of safer territory, the truck loops around for the dirt ramp. He floors the gas pedal and the truck gets major air off of the ramp. Taking out several banners as he goes, the truck makes a good landing, and goes into a slap wheelie. The truck finally comes down on all four tires and the timer for freestyle runs out. Samson pulls back to the pit area to the cheers of the fans. The lights of Raminator come on, and the red Dodge truck begins his assault on the arena floor.

Raminator makes a start at the jump-off ramp and gets some major air, however, he has too much speed going and he crashes into the car-van-car pyramid. The truck goes vertical and then over backwards. An exciting but quick freestyle performance ends for Raminator with the event staff coming to clear the truck off of the course.

With only two more trucks remaining to do their freestyle run ( the top five trucks), we’d like to take this opportunity to remind the readers that the trucks competing here tonight will go on to compete in a few more exhibition matches before going onto the November Nationals on the 9th. The next event to catch Muscle Machines action at, will be the “Hot Wheels vs. Muscle Machines” jump-off this coming week. Nine of tonight’s trucks will return, alongside eight of the Hot Wheels trucks, joined by the custom “Pike’s Peak Celica”. The action will feature a new truck, and a new breed of competition. But now that Raminator has been cleared off the track, and the pyramid has been fixed, we continue freestyle with our fourth truck in line – T-Wrecks Bigfoot.

T-Wrecks launches out of the pit area, spins around backward, and makes a spectacular backwards jump over the jump-off ramp. He then makes another loop and attacks the side of the car-van-car pyramid. The truck bounces away from the stack of steel, and makes a run at the dirt ramp. He catches some brilliant air, and then tries to go into some donuts. However, the truck has too much speed behind it, and he goes over onto his side. Once again, the even staff comes to remove the truck. After he has been cleared away, the final truck to freestyle tonight comes into action – Bigfoot.

The big blue Ford comes our roaring. He tears through the Hot Wheels, Chevy, and Dodge banners (poetic justice) and out onto the course. He tackles the dirt ramp backwards and catches a lot of air. He goes into a reverse wheelie and finally comes to a stop. The truck shifts into drive and he makes a run at the car-van-car pyramid.

The truck goes straight up and is on its way back down, when the back wheels of the truck catch of the top of the van and take it down with it. The truck gases it and finally escapes its new attachment. The truck goes into a power wheelie and narrowly avoids the edge of the arena. Finally, the timer on the freestyle clock ticks to zero and the audience cheers on their hero.

The track lies in ruin. Several trucks have sustained serious damage. Not a person in the arena is sitting down. This is the peak of the sport. Join us next time for more of the same as heroes of the Hot Wheels circuit, take on the Muscle Machines for bragging rights. Also, we will unveil the new “Pike’s Peak Celica” custom truck. That’s all for tonight, everyone. We leave you with this image of the aftermath of an action packed monster truck event. Goodnight, all.
– Herman.