Indianapolis 2002

Indianapolis 2002 was held at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis as the sixth stop of the 2002 Monster Jam Season. This event would mark the first appearance of the Chevy Nomad bodied Avenger and the last appearance of Jeff Patterson in Little Tiger as Sky Hartley would take over for the rest of the season as well as the last event of Carl Van Horn in Spider Man

Field of Trucks
Little Tiger- Jeff Patterson

Wolverine- Brian Barthel

Spider Man- Carl Van Horn

Avenger- Jim Koehler

Sudden Impact- John Seasock

Bulldozer- Guy Wood

Blue Thunder- Lyle Hancock

High Roller- Neil Elliott

20th Anniversary Grave Digger- Dennis Anderson

Team Meents- Tom Meents

Round 1 Racing
20th Anniversary Grave Digger vs. Little Tiger

The trucks were even through the start but a bad bite would send Little Tiger on its lid giving Grave Digger an easy pass

Score- 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

High Roller vs. Spider Man

Problems for Spider Man would mean Van Horn couldn't repeat the magic giving High Roller the win

Winner- High Roller

Sudden Impact vs. Wolverine

John Seasock looked to have this race in the bag but a bobble in the turn was enough for Wolverine to get by

Winner- Wolverine

Avenger vs. Team Meents

Tom in his home turf gets an easy win over the new Nomad and Avenger

Winner- Team Meents

Blue Thunder vs. Bulldozer

Bulldozer having issues coming around the track would play into the hands of Lyle for the win

Winner- Blue Thunder

Round 2 Racing
Bulldozer vs. 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Guy Wood almost did what Little Tiger did in the turn but saved the truck, sparing the body but costing the win

Winner- 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

High Roller vs. Wolverine

A dead heat as High Roller came back towards the finish to just barely edge by Wolverine

Winner- High Roller

Team Meents vs. Blue Thunder

Another dead heat until the turn where a mistake from Blue Thunder would be costly for the win

Winner- Team Meents

Semi Finals Racing
20th Anniversary Grave Digger vs. High Roller

Despite Elliott having the advantage it would be the final turn again that determined the race, this time in favor of Digger

Winner- 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Wolverine vs. Team Meents

A steering issue on Wolverine caused a hard hit with the bus and a win for Team Meents

Winner- Team Meents

Finals Racing
20th Anniversary Grave Digger vs. Team Meents

The first meeting of these two since Houston, this one again was to straight up skill and in the end Anderson had just enough to pass Meents

Winner- 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Freestyle
Little Tiger

Jeff Patterson and a battle damaged Little Tiger looking for redemption hit the track first. Despite some good sky wheelies the truck did not perform as well and couldn't make it over the bus, out of character for Patterson and Little Tiger

Score- 6+7+7= 20

Sudden Impact

Seasock came out hard with a couple big sky wheelies and crushing down the bus stack almost rolling the truck in the process. A couple more big sky wheelies and another hit on the bus would close another good run for Seasock

Score- 7+8+8= 23

Spider Man

Issues would plague Van Horn again as the truck wasn't running 100% and shut down after two hits after busting a hydraulic fluid line

Score- 2+2+2= 6

High Roller

Elliott went big jumping over the mini fountain on the track to open the run up. Elliott would continue to be consistent launching the truck over the cars several times and big air over the bus to end an impressive run

Score- 9+9+8= 26

Bulldozer

Guy Wood looking to continue two strong weeks in a row in freestyle started a bit slow but a slap wheelie over a couple cars would put a big highlight in the run. A big leap over the bus and another slap wheelie then soaring over the middle jump would conclude three out of three impressive runs for the bull

Score- 9+9+9= 27

Avenger

Koehler went big in the air department jumping the bus and the fountain but didn't match the same level of excitement as Bulldozer and ended the run early

Score- 6+6+7= 19

Wolverine

Barthel came out but didn't seem to get the same level of air of trucks like High Roller or Avenger early on. A good slap wheelie over the cars would help but the truck didn't seem to perform as high as it usually did

Score- 7+8+8= 23

Blue Thunder

Lyle much like last week in Tampa began with a power wheelie across the track and then doubled it to start the run. However after that he seemed to struggle, even getting stuck on the van for an extended period of time but made up for it reversing over the jump to end the run

Score- 9+9+9= 27

20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Anderson has yet to lose in freestyle in 2002 with four straight wins, he was looking for a fifth. He began by attacking the bus and the fountain with huge air then soaring over the center hill. A couple more big leaps over the bus and a good save before he jumped the dirt hill, hit hard on the cars caused the engine to smoke and after a bad turn he sent the truck over to end another crazy Digger run

Score- 10+10+10= 30

Team Meents

Deja vu for Meents as he has to match a 30 to win. Meents like his team mate Neil opened by clearing the fountain jump before hitting all three big jumps again, and even backsiding the center hill. This would however break a wheel and damaged a shock and tie rod in the process. Tom tried to continue but the truck tipped over in the end before the full time

Score- 10+9+10= 29

Damage Report
Little Tiger- Body (roof)

Spider Man- Hydraulic line

20th Anniversary Grave Digger- Engine and body panels (roof and sides)

Team Meents- Busted wheel, broken shock, broken tie rod, body panels (sides)