Houston 2002 (Show 1)

Houston 2002 was the first televised stop of monster trucks at the Houston Astrodome and the second stop of the 2002 Monster Jam Season. This event would mark the debut of Chad Fortune in Power Forward, Scott Stephens in Firemouth, and Dennis Anderson's 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Field of Trucks
Destroyer- Dan Evans

Ragin Steel- Steve Reynolds

Prowler- Larry Jaruzel

High Roller- Neil Elliott

Power Forward- Chad Fortune

Firemouth- Scott Stephens

Predator- Allen Pezo

Gunslinger- Scott Hartsock

20th Anniversary Grave Digger- Dennis Anderson

Team Meents- Tom Meents

Round 1 Racing
20th Anniversary Grave Digger vs. Destroyer

Dan Evans struggled throughout the race while Anderson remained smooth and consistent and would easily come away with the win

Winner- 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

High Roller vs. Prowler

Despite Elliott getting the hole shot, two very wide turns would be more than enough for Prowler to get an arguably big win over last event's finalist

Winner- Prowler

Ragin Steel vs. Firemouth

Two big Chevys going head to head, and it was a close race but the more experienced Stephens would get the first win for Firemouth

Winner- Firemouth

Gunslinger vs. Power Forward

Fortune tried everything he could to catch up but a roll over in the turn would secure the win for Gunslinger

Winner- Gunslinger

Predator vs. Team Meents

Tom Meents would dominate throughout the whole race getting an easy win over Predator

Winner- Team Meents

Round 2 Racing
Firemouth vs. Prowler

Stephens had the lead until the final turn when over steering would give a big win to Prowler

Winner- Prowler

20th Anniversary Grave Digger vs. Ragin Steel

Reynolds had issues at the line, not even leaving giving Digger in essence a bye run

Winner- 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Gunslinger vs. Team Meents

Tom Meents looked dominant taking a surprisingly easy win over the Gunslinger

Winner- Team Meents

Semi Finals Racing
Prowler vs. Team Meents

Larry could not make three for three as Tom Meents left him in the dust

Winner- Team Meents

20th Anniversary Grave Digger vs. Gunslinger

Hartsock could not redeem himself as Anderson would take the win

Winner- 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Finals Racing
20th Anniversary Grave Digger vs. Team Meents

An almost photo finish race as both trucks were dead even throughout the entire race but a slight bobble from Meents would give Dennis the win for Digger

Winner- 20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Freestyle
Power Forward

Much like last weekend in Minny, the first truck out showed some damage from a crash in racing. A big sky wheelie would shed the entire back section of the truck's body easy. However the run was relatively slow save for a couple more sky wheelies.

Score- 8+6+7= 21

Prowler

After a few small hits, Larry tried tackling the bus but a bad angle would tip the truck off the bus and on its side early

Score- 7+5+4= 16

High Roller

Showed a bit more gusto than in Minny and a solid run overall from Neil Elliot including sideways over a dirt plateau

Score- 7+7+7= 21

Ragin Steel

Reynolds with some big sky wheelies and a couple hits over the bus would set the bar high in Houston

Score- 9+9+9= 27

Gunslinger

Hartsock came out with the most momentum yet attacking the cars and sideways over the dirt plateau before attacking the big dirt jump. However, a bad bounce and too little room sent Gunslinger into the wall hard and on its side in a rare and arguably most violent roll for Gunslinger

Score- 8+8+9= 25

Predator

Pezo carried solid momentum but only stayed along the cars making the run not very spectacular

Score- 7+6+5= 18

Firemouth

Stephens's run began slow until around 40 seconds left with a huge slap wheelie across the track but would end the run early

Score- 7+8+7= 22

Destroyer

Some good sky wheelies and a nice save would begin Evans's run late in the field and midway a nice bus hit would help build points and a solid slap wheelie although not as big as Firemouth and lacked his signature reverser

Score- 9+9+9= 27

20th Anniversary Grave Digger

Anderson looking for two straight wins in freestyle first began with a slap wheelie over the bus stack and huge momentum and speed, and a second hit over the bus would launch him straight up and down into a slap wheelie and finally some huge air over the dirt hill to finish another classic Digger run

Score- 10+10+10= 30

Team Meents

Not to be outdone again by Dennis, Tom Meents came out looking for revenge and began with massive air including backsiding the dirt hill for a sky launch and cross threading across the sand drag lanes to punctuate a spectacular run

Score- 10+10+10= 30

(No tie breaker, both trucks declared the winner)

Damage Report
Power Forward- Body damage (roof and back panels)

Prowler- Body damage (roof and side panels)

Gunslinger- Body damage (all over) broken four link bar and broken tie rod