Atlanta 2002

Atlanta 2002 was the third event of the 2002 Monster Jam season and was held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. This event would mark the first out of three events this season not including Dennis Anderson driving Grave Digger, instead it would be Pablo Huffaker debuting Grave Digger 16. This event also marked the return of Brian Barthel behind the wheel of Wolverine after an injury in 2001, the only appearance of Mark Taylor and final televised appearance of Mountaineer

Field of Trucks
Mark Taylor- Mountaineer

Norm Miller- Blacksmith

Jim Jack- Reptoid

Jim Koehler- Avenger

Neil Elliott- High Roller

Brian Barthel- Wolverine

Jeff Patterson- Little Tiger

John Seasock- Sudden Impact

Tom Meents- Team Meents

Pablo Huffaker- Grave Digger

Round 1 Racing
Team Meents vs. Mountaineer

It would be no sweat as Tom would easily get the win over the Ford

Winner- Team Meents

Wolverine vs. Avenger

The usually fast Wolverine was a bit slower perhaps due to Barthel's return to the seat and this would give Avenger a win

Winner- Avenger

Sudden Impact vs. Blacksmith

Blacksmith maintained an easy advantage and took over the win from Sudden Impact

Winner- Blacksmith

Reptoid vs. High Roller

In a surprising victory High Roller got an easy win over the favorite Reptoid

Winner- High Roller

Grave Digger vs. Little Tiger

Surprisingly showing no big bugs in this pass the brand new Digger was able to outclass Little Tiger for the win

Winner- Grave Digger

Round 2 Racing
Little Tiger vs. Team Meents

Fast loser Jeff Patterson would not be able to redeem himself as Tom Meents was dialed in and Little Tiger would suffer transmission issues

Winner- Team Meents

Avenger vs. Blacksmith

In an exciting photo finish run it would be Blacksmith squeezing by Avenger for the win

Winner- Blacksmith

Grave Digger vs. High Roller

Another close race, this one a bit easier to determine as Grave Digger won by about less than half a truck

Winner- Grave Digger

Semi Finals Racing
Team Meents vs. High Roller

The first of two team mates semi finals matches and Tom Meents would take another big win over his protege

Winner- Team Meents

Grave Digger vs. Blacksmith

The second team mate match up a five second penalty would end Norm's racing night

Winner- Grave Digger

Finals Racing
Grave Digger vs. Team Meents

The race was close at the start, but Tom got on two wheels and despite saving the truck it would cost him another win

Winner- Grave Digger

Freestyle
Mountaineer

The truck struggled on the track as it crawled over one van stack and then didn't have enough power to get over the second stack

Score- 6+2+3= 11

High Roller

Elliott came out with much more gusto attacking the cars and vans with solid air and filled the clock

Score- 7+7+6= 20

Little Tiger

A huge sky wheelie launch would kick off the run for Little Tiger, looking for redemption from racing. Patterson stomped around the track with solid air and more sky wheelies to end an impressive run

Score- 8+8+9= 25

Reptoid

Jim Jack came out with solid momentum, but could not match the ferocity of Little Tiger. He would take a chunk out of the van though and dragged it along

Score- 8+7+8= 23

Sudden Impact

Seasock had a solid run including some impressive sky wheelies over the cars and van stacks but lacked the momentum of Little Tiger

Score- 8+7+6= 21

Blacksmith

Norm Miller kicked off the run with some good leaps over the vans, a nice bicycle save, an impressive one wheel save over the van stack ending a spectacular run

Score- 8+9+10= 27

Wolverine

Barthel's first run back in the seat the run was expected as reserved with a few solid hits, but a locked wheel would cut his run short

Avenger

Koehler carried a lot of momentum, combos over the vans and massive sky wheelies including losing the tailgate and a huge past vertical wheelie on the vans and a spectacular save

Score- 8+9+10= 27

Grave Digger

Huffaker began with big air and even a cross thread over the cars but the truck got stuck on the vans and shut down ending the run disappointingly early

Score- 4+5+7= 16

Team Meents

Tom Meents looking for revenge and his first win since Minneapolis he came out with massive air over the cars and large leaps over the vans, as well as cross threads and even a bit of tinsel getting wrapped around the axle. A bad bounce ended up Tom hitting the wall protection dumpsters, however Tom continued on finishing with donuts on the concrete section of the floor

Score- 10+9+10= 29

Damage Report
Mountaineer- Engine damage

Little Tiger- Transmission issues (fixed before freestyle)

Wolverine- Broken rear steering

Blacksmith- Broken rear steering

Avenger- Body damage (tailgate)

Grave Digger- Electrical issues