Circle K Back to School Monster Truck Bash
Lowes Dirt Track
Concord, NC - 8.15.09

Hawkins Dominates Lowes Again
By: Everythingmonstertrucks.com Webmaster

     Mike Hawkins and his Lucas Oil sponsored Equalizer Chevrolet were on a mission this weekend. Last year’s winner of the annual Circle K Back to School Monster Truck Bash, Hawkins again dominated both racing and free-style this year. It wouldn’t be an easy task though, as nine of the country’s top monster trucks were also there, all ready to dethrone the king of the dirt track. Everythingmonstertrucks.com was able to make this event the last on their 2009 list of events to cover and was very pleased with the action and the opportunity to come back to the dirt track after taking several years off from the Concord event.

Monster Truck Challenge built the largest racing track in history! The course was an “over/under” road course, which is a rare track to see at a monster truck event. To really appreciate this track, watch the video’s below of qualifying, racing, and free-style. The fastest times were over one minute, which is unheard of on a racing course.  

The field of trucks that were ready to accept the challenge were Mark Hall and Raminator, Ricky Ownly in Mopar Magic, Carl Van Horn filling in for Steve Simms in the Stone Crusher, Dan Patrick in Samson, Mike Hawkins in Equalizer, Jim Koehler in Avenger, Chris Bergeron in Brutus, Andy Hoffman in Nitemare, Randy Moore in War Wizard, and Doug Noelke in Tailgator. The Hot Tamale was also on hand, but only as a display at the entrance of the dirt track. Qualifying started out at 7 pm and each truck would get one chance to run the track and try to get the number one qualifying spot. Hall and Bergeron would both get DNF’s (Did Not Finish) due to mechanical troubles. Hall’s Raminator suffered from some electrical issues that caused the truck to die mid run. Bergeron, in Brutus, flattened a front tire during his attempt and hobbled his truck back to the pits. Both trucks were able to get the problems fixed in time for the first round of racing or so they thought. Hawkins, in Equalizer, earned the top spot in qualifying that would pair him up against Raminator in round one, a pairing that you would normally see in the finals. Hall brought Raminator back out on the track for round one and subsequently the truck died again, Hawkins staged and ran solo giving him victory over the big red Dodge. Other round one winners included Stone Crusher over Brutus, Nitemare won in a wild race against Tailgator, War Wizard zapped Samson, and Avenger beat Mopar Magic.

 Round two winners included Stone Crusher over Brutus again; Equalizer stomped Nitemare, and Avenger overcame War Wizard. Over-heated engines and other mechanical issues were evident as Stone Crusher raced and beat team-mate Mopar Magic, who lost in round one, but came back when the round two losers could not answer the call. Equalizer beat Avenger setting up a classic Ford vs. Chevy final. The finals were extremely close as both trucks ran a perfect course and it came down to the final turn. Equalizer had a slight edge over Stone Crusher and held it to take the finals! Van Horn ran Stone Crusher so hard that he missed the last jump which sent the truck into the barricades that protect the infield lights! Everythingmonstertrucks.com would like to congratulate Mike Hawkins for winning the 10th annual Circle K Back to School Monster Truck Bash. 

Free-style was wild as usual. Monster Truck Challenge set up some wild obstacles including a four-bus jump! Nitemare, Tailgator, Raminator all laid down solid runs. Brutus put down a wild pass that would earn him 22 out of 30.  Avenger, Mopar Magic, and Stone Crusher all failed to fill the time allotted and didn’t receive a score. Stone Crusher rolled over, Mopar Magic broke the rear steer, and Avenger just quit running after coming off one of the jumps. War Wizard also rolled over, but did it after the allotted time passed that earned Moore a score of 27. Hawkins tore up the infield at Lowes and also rolled over…back onto his wheels! Hawkins was able to finish and earned a total of 29, which was enough to earn victory in free-style!

Overall, this event was great! It is a must attend for any monster truck fan. Come early for the pit party and stay late and camp with the Cub Scouts out on the infield. If you missed it this year, don’t worry there’s always next year. Be sure to check out Monster Truck Challenge for more information about the event and check out the photos and videos below. Thanks and enjoy – Everythingmonstertrucks.com Webmaster