Big Air and Wild Rides at Spring 4Wheel Jamboree Nationals in Lima

05/27/2008

(INDIANAPOLIS) The 23rd Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts Spring 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals Presented by Toyo Tires attracted a huge crowd to the Allen County Fairgrounds in Lima, Ohio on Friday, May 16 through Sunday, May 18, 2008. Competition was held at the event among nine top Monster Trucks, the Mickey Thompson Tires Tough Trucks® Challenge, Comp Cams NMRO Mud Drags presented by TCI Automotive, in professionally-judged Show N’ Shine competitive classes, and in the Mickey Thompson Tires Burnout competition.

Geremie Dishman driving Rammuntion and Mark Hall driving Raminator of Hall Brothers Racing from Champaign, Illinois dominated the 2008 Monster Truck Thunder Drags® at the Spring 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals, splitting the four heats held over the course of the event with two wins each. Mark Hall in Raminator moves into a 120 season-points lead over Dishman and Rammunition after the Lima weekend. For the 2008 season, Jim Koehler of Columbus, MI in Avenger remains tied for third in Monster Truck Thunder Drag competition with Chris Bergeron Columbus, Michigan in Spike. Avenger and Spike remain 520 points behind second-place Rammunition.

Jim Koehler in Avenger thrilled the huge crowd during Saturday’s final freestyle competition. He rolled Avenger onto its top early in the run. Footage of the rollover is online at www.familyevents.com. Other Monster Trucks competing in Lima included Bigfoot, Tailgator, Monster Mutt, Big Dawg, and Batman.

In the Modified Division of the Mickey Thompson Tires Tough Trucks Challenge, Sonny Dohrmund of Davenport, IA and his ’00 Ford named “After Burner” holds on to his lead in the 2008 points championship by finishing in the semi-final bracket. Jeff Dedick of Carol Stream, IL in “Autumn Woods Racing” won the Spring competition in his first 2008 series appearance. Finishing second on the weekend was Mark Noto in “Super Truck”. For the season, Josh Fridley of Middletown, IN driving “Rolling Thunder” is in second place behind Dohrmund and holds a close 15 point margin over third place Gary McIver of New Castle, IN driving “Bit’s N Pieces”.

Racing in the 2008 Comp Cams NMRO Mud Drags Presented by TCI staged its second round of competition for the 2008 season. In Class 6, Tim Wheelus of Jefferson, GA driving “Simply 1” was the overall winner. Mark Osteen, driving “Dirty Bird” picked up the second-highest point total for the weekend. Tim Wheelus also scored third in points for the Lima round in Class 6 in his other truck called “Simply 2”. For the season, Tim Wheelus holds first and second place in Class 6 in Simply 1 and Simply 2 respectively. Chuck Courty III in “Mud Missile” is tied for third place in season points with Mark Osteen.

In Class 5, Mike Lane, driving “Wicked Sensation” picked up top weekend points. Tim Wheelus in “Simply 1” came away with second-place points. Mike Lane in “Attitude” finished third. Chad Miller in “Instant T” suffered a spectacular crash in Saturday Class 5 competition. He flipped end-over-end four times before landing right-side up at the end of the track. The crowd held their breath, but Miller was able to walk away from the crash, experiencing only next-day soreness. His crash was captured in still shots and video posted here at www.familyeents.com. For the season, Tim Wheelus holds first and second place in “Simply 1” and “Simply 2”. Mike Lane is in third place for the season in “Wicked Sensation”. Only 50 points separate first from third place for the season in Class 5.

The Class 4 NMRO Mud Drags Anderson top point-getter was Brian K. Sears of Mt. Lookout, WV driving “Mud Hopper”. Sears picked up the top point total by virtue of winning the bonus points for best reaction time of 0.055 seconds. The low E.T. Class 4 honors went to Eric Klos in “The Judge”. Third highest points for the weekend went to Jason Williams in “Getting Jiggy”. For the 2008 season, Brian Sears leads, followed by Billie Gillispie in “Anger Management”, and Scott Schane in “Just Bring It”.

In Class 3 of the Comp Cams NMRO Mud Drags Presented by TCI, Scott Schane in “Just Bring It” had the low E.T. and picked up top points. Kirk Miller of Matthews, NC trailed Schane by only .003 E.T. in “The Grinch”. Tom Davis, driving “Split Personality” picked up the third highest point total for the weekend. For the season, Kirk Miller leads by five points over Scott Schane. Dodd McDowell is third in Class 3 points for the ’08 season.

In the pro-judged Show N’ Shine competition, the Grand Champion class winners were: Street/Street Zero Category- Mark Coffman from Rossville, IN for his ’79 K30 Scottsdale; Modified Category- Brian Smith of Spencerville, OH for his ’89 Sierra; and in the Pro Category- John Leonard of Richmond, IN for his ’94 Ram.

Jason Legault of East Hartford, CT in his ’97 Chevy won the Mickey Thompson Tires Burnout Competition at the Spring 4Wheel Drive Jamboree Nationals. Kenny Clowes of Millfield, OH in a ’98 Dodge Ram came in second, and Jessup Ball finished third with his ’06 Ford F250.

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