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Anaheim CA., Jan. 14 - NMRA-TQ Midget
teams participated for the first time in the Grand Slam of
Motorsports "Monster Jam" Saturday night at Angel Stadium,
home of the major league baseball American League Angels. Presented
by Clear Channel's Live Nation racing subsidiary, 11monster trucks
headlined the event on dirt spread over the entire baseball field.
The event attracted a near sellout crowd estimated at 40,000 on a
cool, rainy evening. Late morning and early afternoon rainfall of
0.17" delayed the event pre-show by 30-minutes. Brief light
rain also fell shortly after 9:00 p.m during monster truck match
races. However, event ads and tickets said, "We race rain or
shine". The event, which included quad racing, radio-controlled
car racing and a ten-car demolition
derby, concluded as planned after 10 p.m.
The TQ Midget non-point, exhibition or
demonstration race took place on an oval track laid out between
second base and the center field wall in front of the rock
pile/waterfall beyond the outfield fence. Two TQ heat races were
part of the pre-show activities from 6:00 to 7:30, the advertised
event starting time. Fifteen TQ Midget teams present ran two ten-lap
heat races between 6:00 and 6:15 on a 45-foot wide, fifth-mile oval
marked by plastic cubes and flourescent orange cones. Jody Bandfield
and Wiley led all the way in the two heats.
Other events by 13 quad cycle racers used the
oval and right/left turns and jumps over dirt hills. Individual and
team races between California and Nevada riders followed.
Radio-controlled cars also used the same layout as the quad racers.
Two giant stadium Jumbotron screens atop the left and right field
bleachers and television screens throughout the stadium showed all
action live.
There were 15 TQ midgets in the pits, located in
the parking lot beyond right field and near the big A stadium sign.
At 8:45, during a 15-minute intermission for the featured 11 monster
trucks, 13 TQ midgets entered the track from the right field
baseball bullpen gate. They utilized a reformed, more circle-like,
smaller tenth-mile oval for a 10-lap main event. Drivers used a
two-abreast start and completed a six-minute 10-lap race with only
one yellow flag for a spin by Chris Hedge in turn three after
contact.
Inside-running Kenny Wiley, the 2002 NMRA-TQ
rookie of the year, started third. He took the lead on the front
straight as he and nine-lap leader Chase Barber, 18, received the
white flag from starter Noel Dawson. Wiley led the final lap in Paul
Lopiccolo's Stewart/750 cc Honda and won by five yards in a
fan-pleasing race that introduced many in the huge crowd to TQ
open-wheel racing. Early-arriving spectators were allowed to roam
the parking lot pits for all competitors and sit in the cars.
Outside-running front-row starter Barber, the
2005 USAC Ford Focus Midget dirt series champion, settled for second
in his uncle Guy Barber's Stewart/Honda. Pole starter Ron Ahrendt
finished third in Jim Adams' Stealth/Honda. NMRA 2003-04 champion
Steve Lambert came from eighth to finish fourth in his dad's
Hart/Honda. Richard Ortega, Jr, the 2005 NMRA rookie of the year,
started and finished fifth in his own Stealth/Kawasaki. Jody
Bandfield, NMRA's 2005 champion, rookie Richard Marshall, Bruce
Hiroshima and 23-year old rookie Jenna Bliffen were the other
finishers. Eight drivers completed all ten laps. Other starters were
sprint car veteran Gary W. Howard, Hedge and 2002 NMRA champion
Chuck West. Michael Bliffen, Steve Parke and West Evans did not
start.
Interestingly, the track announcer called the TQ
midgets "800 pound, 120 horsepower mini hot rods powered by
motorcycle engines". TQ teams raced for money put up by TQ
sponsors Gary Schroeder Racing Products and SDTC Equipment
Rental-United Rentals. NMRA booked a second demonstration race with
the touring monster trucks Saturday night, January 21 at Qualcom
Stadium, home of the NFL San Diego Chargers in San Diego's Mission
Valley. Major league stadium motorsports events utilize dirt trucked
in for the popular Supercross motorcycle races that routinely
sellout the huge grandstands. Angel Stadium was the site of a sold
out Supercross race January 7 with another Supercross motorcycle
race scheduled at Angel Stadium January 21.
In monster truck match race semi-finals, Iron
Outlaw defeated Shocker, which replaced crowd-favorite Grave Digger,
which experienced a mechanical problem before the green light.
Bounty Hunter beat Del Taco-sponsored Del Scorchio in the other
semi-final match. Iron Outlaw defeated Bounty Hunter in the final
match race. More monster truck free-style events, quad cycle races
and a 10-car demolition derby at mid-field concluded the evening
after 10 p.m. The event featured aerial fireworks shot from the
infield, plus dimmed and darkened stadium light and use of
spotlights for added effect during introductions.
Summary:
First Heat - Jody Bandfield, Chase Barber,
Richard Ortega, Jr, Richard Marshall, Steve Lambert, Michael Bliffen,
Bruce Hiroshima.
Second Heat - Kenny Wiley, Chuck West, Chris
Hedge, Ron Ahrendt, Jenna Bliffen, Gary W. Howard. DNS-Steve Parke,
West Evans.
Main Event - Wiley, Barber, Ahrendt, Lambert,
Ortega, Bandfield, Marshall, Hiroshima, J. Bliffen, Howard, Hedge,
West. DNS-M. Bliffen, Parke, Evans.
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