A Force To Reckon With!
Team #7 rips through competition; Orange Crush returns, stuns Team #2
Wicked wrecks, shocking defeats and a little de ja vu; nothing out of the ordinary, it's Team Demolition Derby after all! The 2009 Tournament of Destruction points chase is knotted up at the top after Round 2 thanks to Reckoning's dominating performance and the stunning return of Orange Crush as they defeated Seek-N-Destroy in the first race!
After the failed Flirtin' With Disaster experiment became a complete disaster at Round 1, the TDA quickly sought a resolution and a new team. Already a title sponsor of the tournament, Speedway Auto Parts & Wreckers stepped up to help supply the revamped Orange Crush led, of course, by Ron Tyrakowski. Their efforts on short notice paid immediate dividends as they dealt a lethal blow to Seek-N-Destroy's momentum. However, car shortage left them with not enough vehicles for their second race! One of many dramatic storylines throughout the night...
In the first race, two of the best lap-runner's in the sport immediately charged to the front and it was a close battle through the first lap, but timely blocking played a huge factor into Lap 2. #63 Tom "Brickman" Lewis dealt a critical hit on his former championship team mate, #22 Robbie Stahulak, at the start of Lap 2 with Stahulak in the lead. Ron "Ironman" Tyrakowski took full advantage and charged past Stahulak to take the lead at the halfway point after an ineffective hit by #20 Ron Johnson and a missed shot by #23 Art Scarbro.
#26 Levi Turnbaugh collided head-on with Tyrakowski on the back stretch of lap three, but Turnbaugh's already severely damaged front end, became nothing more than a push off for the leader. Turnbaugh's car was toast and it appeared Stahulak's car was dead too!
Scarbro blasted the leader with a high speed shot in turn 4, knocking the #66 backwards towards turn 3. Johnson followed up with a t-bone hit, but it knocked Tyrakowski's car free and he
escaped again!
The race was now a 3-on-2 battle, advantage Orange Crush. No other Team #2 car had collected any laps and it was simply a battle to stop the #66. Another block attempt by Johnson, but with some assistance, Tyrakowski pushed his way through. The damage-filled race caught up with Team #2 and they were completely stopped! Tyrakowski limped into the Final Lap, and dug ruts on three wheels around Lap 5 and took the huge win!
The Junkyard Dogs were ready to erase memories of the first event and started this night off strong as they laid waste to Damage, Inc. Not much offense at all from Team #8 and they were on the receiving end of several nasty shots from #34 Johnny "Rude" Ryan. #88 Rich Wilson felt the worst of it, as Ryan ripped Wilson's wagon from the frame and slammed it into the concrete. Devastating hit. #35 Gerritt "Big Kahuna" Vanderbilt ran 5 untouched laps and has yet to even dent his high-horsepower bubble sedan.
Mean Green Machines only fielded three cars in their first race last month, and it was a welcome sign to see all four roll out to stage this month. However, that's really about as far as they improved in this race. They showed some signs of life on Lap 1, even contending for the lead into turn 4, but Reckoning established a giant lead from there on. #76 Steve Gursky, Jr. and #7 Brian Anderson were off to the races while #78 Chris McGuire and #74 "Speedy" Steve Volbrecht attacked all the little green men they could. Repeatedly.
Volbrecht nearly knocked the #1 completely over with a huge rear quarter panel hit, destroying the rear end of the car. He didn't stop there! He backed up and charged full steam again, actually climbed the back of the #1 and ended up hitting rear window opening & C-pillar!
Reckoning has proven twice now they can stomp lesser first round opponents, but could they get past an equal power second round opponent?
After the first event, Team #4 was also a huge question mark. They were unprepared for the first night and the only car & driver to make a halfway decent effort immediately left the team! But, low and behold, several black & gray cars were sitting in the pits hours before the race. Freshly painted and with plush leather interior, German engineering and working brake lights.
Wait... what!?!
Simply cannot fault the guys of Smash, Bash, & Crash for showing up and certainly putting forth a decent effort, but they need some serious work put into car preparation if they not only want to mechanically survive the race, but physically survive. No door welds, stock belts and stock interior. Thankfully they brought better tires this time.
Their opponents, Stranglehold, are arguably the most prepared team on race day and they come out blazin' no matter whom they race. #53 Trey Van Allen led a systematic assault against Team #4 while #5 Matt Pierce dodged any smashing, bashing or crashing. The sole surviving #42 car tried a last ditch reverse shot on Pierce, missed, and was thanked with another rocket shot from Trey. Stranglehold continues to look strong, while there might be some promise and hope for Smash, Bash & Crash yet.
The Nitemare monster truck, driven by Andy Hoffman out of Huntington, Indiana provided some car-crushing and wheelie-poppin' entertainment before the Semi-Finals.
The Semi-Finals kicked off with the JYD up against a very non-orange Orange Crush. Team #6 had to buy cars off of three different teams to field enough cars. Two from Seek-N-Destroy and one each from Reckoning and Damage, Inc. At the start, Tyrakowski in his yellow #66 tried to break free, but #34 Johnny Ryan spun him out and two more team mates piled up right behind. Brickman and Ryan locked horns and the leader was surprisingly #33 Joe Snow! Tyrakowski broke free from a turn 1 mess and began to chase down Snow, but the #33 continued to plow through.
Snow was finally stopped by Brickman in turn 2 of Lap 5, problem was, no one stopped #03 Ryan Bleuer who was running 1 lap behind Snow the entire time! Bleuer drove right by all the limping Crush cars and easily secured another Final round for the Dogs.
For Stranglehold and Reckoning, the semi-finals are a very familiar, yet maybe haunting place. Stranglehold could not escape past the Semi's for all of 2008, while every member of Reckoning were on the winning side of the Semi's 4 out of 5 times in 2008, yet they were defeated in the Finals by the Junkyard Dogs on every occasion. And look who's waiting for them again this time.
Immediate spin outs left a mess on the starting line and a lone black car out front. #76 Steve Gursky, Jr. escaped into the open air for half a lap before he was met in between turns 3 and 4 by the ever pesky #57 Trey Van Allen. Zak Van Allen got in the mix and received a trunking courtesy of Volbrecht for his troubles. #53 Matt Pierce jumped into the runner's role and tried to track down Gursky who was already 3/4 of a lap ahead. #78 Chris McGuire threw down a side-swipe block sending Pierce into the wall, but Jay was right there to take over the position.
Volbrecht was still wedged into Zak's trunk and shoved him towards the back stretch. McGuire met Trey head-on and they had him sandwiched, however, they unknowingly became a rolling blockade for Trey as he was screaming along the inside with a b-line for Gursky in turn 2!
If Gursky saw him coming, what a disturbing few seconds that had to be. A horrific head-on hit absolutely mangled Van Allen's car and stopped Gursky cold! HUGE IMPACT! Both drivers were thrown forward violently and everyone was stunned by one of the biggest hits we've ever seen.
#7 Brian Anderson took over the lead with a 3-on-2 advantage for Reckoning. Jay Van Allen and Matt Pierce continued to try and run laps, but were not going to catch Anderson. They needed to attempt a stop, but never took a chance. Pierce plowed into McGuire's block on the final lap with a solid shot, but it was much too late. Reckoning survives and moves to the Finals.
Nitemare ripped up the track with a second freestyle destroying the car-van-car stack and leaving half of its fiberglass buried in the mud.
The Finals were set: Junkyard Dogs vs. Reckoning. Team #3 vs. Team #7, as mentioned before, a familiar site in the Finals over the last couple seasons. Gursky and McGuire, Havoc team members in 2008, also were at home in the Finals, reaching the round twice last year. A lot of similarities and they were about to take an eerie turn.
An 8-car drag race ensued off the line, both teams fighting for the lead into the first turn. Gursky tried for the lead on the outside in turn 1, but couldn't hold it over #34 Johnny Ryan with Bleuer right with him. #74 Volbrecht charged across the infield aiming for the leader. He missed a direct hit and instead got nailed by Ryan in the front quarter panel. Momentum from the impact pushed both cars into the concrete and the #34 wound up wedged on top of the wall! Incredible! It was a near replay of the July 2009 Semi-Finals between JYD and Killer Bees that left Bleuer up on the wall! Both times involving the #74 of Volbrecht!
In that race, Bleuer threw it into reverse, clawed his way off the wall and went on to win the race!
This time was different.
Gursky and Bleuer rocketed down the back stretch door-to-door, trading paint in a wild fight for the lead. Gursky struggled around turn 4 and Bleuer opened up a sizeable lead. McGuire looked for a big head-on block, but missed wide. He rebounded and ran #38 Kyle Shearer into the turn 3 wall. Gursky made up a ton of ground and closed within 2 car lengths around turn 2 and they again blasted full speed down the back stretch, RPM's at the limit and flames out the stacks.
Bleuer busted through McGuire's block and Gursky swung wide around turn 3 to avoid contact. Backup arrived in the form of the #7 wagon of Anderson who shoved Shearer out of the way in turn 4.
Meanwhile, Volbrecht made sure the numbers game stayed in Reckoning's favor and pushed Ryan's car further up the wall! The #34 was completely wedged on the concrete. Volbrecht swung around to try and stop #35 Vanderbiltt's run and got a glancing blow in followed by side swipe on Bleuer. The hit was not hard but did enough to slow Bleuer and set him up for a McGuire's second chance at a head-on and he didn't miss! Big hit in the turn 2 as smoke began to pour from the #03.
Bleuer did not back down and pushed forward down the back stretch with McGuire side-by-side but in reverse! Gursky shot around turn 2 and charged along the concrete to make it a 3-wide battle down the back stretch!
McGuire's efforts paid off and Gursky took the lead around turn 3! On the other side of the track, Shearer's car was barely limping around the track, Kahuna's car came to a sudden dead stop, then Bleuer charged hard into turn 1 and his car died! The jam-packed stands seemed for fall hush with a sense of shock and rightfully so. It was now a 4-on-1 Reckoning advantage!
Volbrecht rocked Shearer in turn 4 as Gursky took the white flag. McGuire was determined to make sure Bleuer did not have any last gasp of hope and blasted him with a big t-bone shot!
Gursky ran Lap 5 untouched and grabbed the checkered flag! Out of breath yet? What a race!
An incredible night of Team Demolition Derby action from top to bottom! Congratulations to Reckoning on the victory and with it they have tightened up the points race heading into Round 3 on July 25. Can they go back-to-back and perhaps take the first sizeable point lead of the season? Can the JYD get out of this final round funk and become the year's third different winner? Lost in this progression of the night was the impact Seek-N-Destroy's quick exit plays in all this. They along with every other team will need a strong performance at Round 3 or risk falling too far out of the chase. The level of competition is not going down, it's only intensifying!
Get a look at the wicked hit between Chris McGuire and Trey Van Allen right now on the VIDEOS page!
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