As the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series heads west, round five brought the Hooked Monster Truck team to St. Louis, Missori’s Edward Jones Dome for their next grueling battle. With each event passing, few points are up for grabs and driver Steven Sims came into St. Louis looking to move up in the points standings for a shot at qualifying into Monster Jam World Finals XVI.
It was a busy week for Crew Chief Tommy Powers as he once again got Hooked ready for battle as the season nears the halfway point. The massive floor of the Edward Jones Dome saw the largest track all sixteen competitors on the series have seen yet and it brought it’s own set of challenges with it. On Friday night Steven started off the weekend strong as he delivered an eighth place practice pass ahead of some big names like Grave Digger and Max-D. Saturday however didn’t come with the same good luck in Qualifying. Steven lined up against his dad during qualifying and was on a good pace and neck and neck with the Stone Crusher coming into the final turn. As Steven rounded the turn, the truck caught a rut and went up onto two wheels. He tried to turn into the impending roll in an effort to save it, but the right front wheel broke off in the process, rolling the truck onto its side. Not only did the damage prevent him from making the racing bracket, but it would be too much to repair in a short amount of time to return for the Obstacle Course as well. However, Tommy Powers, Gary Wiggins, and company came through delivering a speedy repair with a fresh spindle and Hooked would be back for freestyle.
After closing out freestyle in Indianapolis, Steven would be in the middle of the freestyle field this weekend and found himself going against some tough performances early. Neil Elliott and Max-D opened up freestyle with a strong performance and held the early lead with a score of 37. It would be a tall order to top but Steven was up to the challenge as he pushed Hooked to the limits. The two minute run was packed with some huge air as he sailed Hooked over every jump on the floor and had the over 50,000 fans in the Edward Jones Dome on their feet and cheering. With every jump Steven went higher and higher before finishing his run in the middle of the floor with an incredible save as bonus time expired. The body was in tatters, but Steven popped up through what remained of the battered shell of the body to be greeted by an ovation from the crowd. The judges score came up to a 37 which would tie Max-D for the current lead. The stakes were raised and several of his fellow competitors delivered spectacular performances of their own as Steven would be joined by Grave Digger and Titan with scores of 37 for a four way tie at third place in freestyle.
It was another spectacular weekend on the Monster Jam Fox Sports 1 Championship Series in St. Louis but there’s not rest for the team now as they head west for their first ever visit to Anaheim, California. Be sure to catch this weekend’s event on Fox Sports 1 next Sunday, February 8th at 12:00pm ET/9:00AM PT.
(Photo By: Brett Moist Photography)