Minneapolis 2002 (Show 1)

Minneapolis 2002 was the first televised event of the Monster Jam 2002 season, although the event occurred in 2001. Some things to note about this event is that this was the debut event for both Team Meents and Neil Elliott with High Roller, and that driver Randy Brown would fill in for an injured Brian Barthel

Field of Trucks
High Roller- Neil Elliott

Scarlet Bandit- Dawn Creten

Bounty Hunter- Jimmy Creten

Ragin Steel- Steve Reynolds

Little Tiger- Jeff Patterson

Wolverine- Randy Brown

Gunslinger- Scott Hartsock

Blue Thunder- Lyle Hancock

Grave Digger- Dennis Anderson

Team Meents- Tom Meents

Round 1 Racing
Grave Digger vs. Ragin Steel

Despite the hole shot from Reynolds, he completely missed the turn while Dennis was smooth and would easily advance

Winner- Grave Digger

Blue Thunder vs. Bounty Hunter

Bounty Hunter would cross the line first, but a knocked down pole would add a five second penalty and end Bounty Hunter's racing night

Winner- Blue Thunder

Team Meents vs. High Roller

Despite a good showing from team mate and then rookie Neil Elliott, Meents would prove to be too much for the protege

Winner- Team Meents

Scarlet Bandit vs. Wolverine

The trucks were even down the straight but in the turn Dawn would roll the Scarlet Bandit over giving Wolverine an easy win

Winner- Wolverine

Gunslinger vs. Little Tiger

The much more advanced Hartsock would win in the turn as Patterson missed the turn entirely

Winner- Gunslinger

Round 2
Grave Digger vs. High Roller (FL)

Another close race but Anderson would end up getting the advantage and the win

Winner- Grave Digger

Blue Thunder vs. Team Meents

An issue in the turn would be more than enough for Meents to pass by

Winner- Team Meents

Wolverine vs. Gunslinger

A bicycle in the turn for Brown would give Gunslinger enough to eek on by for the win

Winner- Gunslinger

Semi Finals
Gunslinger vs. High Roller (FL)

Neil has been living on reserve but in this race it would finally pay off as he would get a huge win over Gunslinger

Winner- High Roller

Grave Digger vs. Team Meents

Classic match up, usually reserved for the finals now in the semi finals with the closest race of the night and Anderson would etch by with the win, but it would be for nothing as a flat tire at the end would mean he would have to withdraw from the finals

Winner- Grave Digger (Forfeit due to damage)

Finals
Team Meents vs. High Roller

Elliot's worst pass would come at the worst time as Meents would easily get by and score the first win of the 2002 season

Winner- Team Meents

Freestyle
Scarlet Bandit

A worn from battle Scarlet Bandit first took on the van stack and almost rolled it over again but saved it. A couple good slap wheelies and some big hits over the van and bus stacks would end an impressive opening run

Score- 7+6+6= 19

Ragin Steel

Reynolds would carry a bit more momentum throughout the run but rear steering issues would cripple him towards the end along with a damaged hood

Score- 5+4+5= 15

Little Tiger

Patterson would explode out with some big sky wheelies and slap wheelies early in his run however much like Reynolds, rear steering issues would hurt him midway

Score- 7+7+7= 21

High Roller

Not as action packed as Little Tiger, Elliott stayed mainly around the cars until his final hit over the bus.

Score- 5+5+5= 15

Bounty Hunter

Started off with a van hit and a big sky wheelie. A bad bounce over the bus pyramid would make Creten lose rear wheel drive with a broken axle in Bounty Hunter

Score- 2+3+4= 9

Wolverine

Big slap wheelie and a good save would open up Randy Brown filling in for an injured Brian Barthel with Wolverine and add in a big launch and slap wheelie, but bad luck would strike again as he would lose rear steering.

Score- 6+6+6= 18

Gunslinger

Hartsock came out charging and despite a somewhat disappointing power wheelie attempt he would follow that with big air over a roller. Following up with another big sky wheelie, but then a bad landing would blow out a tire for Hartsock and end his run early

Score- 5+6+6= 17

Blue Thunder

Much like Hartsock except much earlier, Lyle would blow a tire and end Blue Thunder's run significantly short

Score- 2+3+2= 07

Grave Digger

A huge sky wheelie would open up Digger's run strong but a bad landing off a huge jump would blow a tire for Dennis. He wouldn't stop, in fact going even faster as revenge for a tire causing him to lose in racing Anderson rocketed across the track every which way before rolling the truck over

Score- 8+9+10= 27

Team Meents

Tom's first run in the truck would start off with big air over the rollers and a bicycle save. A bad landing would break an axle rod though and would tip the truck over early

Score- 7+8+8= 23

Damage Report
Scarlet Bandit- Body damage (side panels and roof)

Ragin Steel- Broken rear steering and body damage (hood)

Little Tiger- Broken rear steering

High Roller- None

Bounty Hunter- Broken rear axle

Wolverine- Broken rear steering

Gunslinger- Blown tire

Blue Thunder- Blown tire

Grave Digger- Blown tire (X2) and body damage (roof and side panels)

Team Meents- Broken tie rod and body damage (roof and side panels)