As the 2005 season in monster trucks winds down, I found it appropriate to reflect on all that has happened in our sport since I last posted a column here with a focus on the summer season.

The first stop for me was Quincy, Illinois for two days of Monster Jam. There were a couple of interesting storylines to look for in the winter season happening already at this event. Carl VanHorn was handed the keys to Dennis Anderson’s Grave Digger 19 and dominated the racing and freestyle both days. In his first hit on the van stack in freestyle, VanHorn did something even Anderson rarely does in 19–a slap wheelie, his trademark in Grave Digger 14. Rumors abound about which Grave Digger truck he will drive next year, but on this weekend and the following one in Baxter, Tennessee, VanHorn proved he will be a force in the season to come no matter what he is driving.

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