What a Week in Tampa!

Hey guys, welcome back to Starting Line. It was another great week on the “I Love Florida” Tour, and the second time around in Tampa was just as sweet. I’ll keep it short and sweet with some bullet points this time; we were recording a brand new Beyond the Lens podcast and getting our 2012 monster truck photo galleries online this week:

-Dennis Anderson went from not completing the course in qualifying to blazing up the track with the fastest times all night, eventually beating Neil Elliott in Maximum Destruction in the final. Elliott has proven a more than capable foe this year and deserves a spot in Vegas. He and Anderson were the class of the field in racing.

-Jeremy Slifko simply went off in freestyle in Backdraft, with two rollover-saves and a torn up truck highlighting another standout freestyle from the young phenom. He had a rough week of repairs and some help from the Storm Damage team to get ready for Miami. Papa Slifko (Andy) didn’t hold back either, coming in with an aggressive run before Eradicator shut down early. Slifko’s got some new parts on Eradicator that have given him the confidence to fly high in freestyle.

-Speaking of new parts, Jim Koehler has built a truck that is near bulletproof in Avenger. It is unbelievable to watch that truck work, landing from a 45-foot moon shot of a jump like it was nothing. Koehler deserved the freestyle win hands down, and he had to have been fired up watching his brother Steve turn the fans on with a roll-save of his own earlier on in Wrecking Crew.

Other news and notes from the industry include Ryan Anderson continuing his roll with the best-working truck in the industry, doubling down in Vancouver in Son-Uva Digger, as well as a freestyle sweep from Charlie Pauken in Peoria, and a double down from Alex Blackwell and Wolverine. More to come next week from Miami, and thanks for reading! Be sure and Like AllMonster.com on Facebook for up-to-the-minute monster truck coverage.