It’s been a busy summer for the Hooked Monster Truck team as they’ve traveled up and down the East Coast thrilling fans at every stop along the way. Few events are as big as the annual Circle K Back to School Monster Truck Bash at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Last year Steven Sims and Hooked had a great showing at the event, with a strong effort in racing and one of the best freestyle’s of the night. This year, the track was tougher than ever with many jumps, long straightaways, high speeds, multiple turns, a double jump, and the notorious crossover jump that Charlotte has become known for.
After signing autographs for thousands of fans during the pit party it was showtime as Sims and the crew put their game faces on for a grueling night of competition. As the first one out in qualifying, all eyes were on Sims and Hooked to see how the trucks would react to the intimidating course. Sims was undaunted and laid down a strong pass in qualifying to take the fastest qualifier honors. Round One pitted Sims against Walking Tall, as Sims got the early holeshot in the race and held onto the lead to take the victory and advance to the semi-finals. The semi-final match up against Red Solo Truck was a wild race between two hard charging drivers. Sims once again got the early holeshot and held onto the lead through the first half of the course, until the truck broke traction exiting the inside of the speedway turn two. Sims tried valiantly to correct, but eventually spun into a donut mid-track, and then straightened out to continue the race. The unexpected donut cost Sims a great deal of time, but he wasn’t going to give up on the race. Despite the immense gap ahead, Sims ran a ruthless pace pushing the truck to it’s limits, and nearly caught Red Solo Truck over the final straightaway finishing a couple truck lengths behind.
While the track was tough in racing, it certainly wasn’t any easier for freestyle. The infield featured a number of daunting freestyle obstacles with multiple bus stacks, cars, dirt jumps, and even an FMX landing ramp. Sims didn’t back down from anything in his path as he was unrelenting in his freestyle run, getting some massive air and huge sky wheelies while thrilling the standing room only crowd. Unfortunately an aggressive turn down by the speedway turn one would bite the young driver and his mammoth machine. The tires grabbed hard, high siding the truck onto the sidewalls of the tires, and over onto the roof. While the truck was cosmetically damaged, both Steven and the truck were fine following the rollover. The run would take the lead at that time and be good enough for second place in the standings at the end of the competition.
It was a great night in Charlotte with plenty of highlight moments. Thanks to all of the fans who came out to cheer us on as well as the hard working crew for keeping the truck running at it’s best. Also a special thanks to several great new sponsors to the Hooked Monster Truck team including Logic Lures, FLW, TFO Rods, Costa Sunglasses, Keep America Fishing, Fishing’s Future, and Fishhound.com. We’re excited to be working with so many great new sponsors and to have them as a part of the Hooked team. This weekend we’ll be in Shreveport, Louisiana on display at the FLW Forrest Wood Cup Expo with our friends at Logic Lures. If you’re in the area come check us out today through the 18th.
