Steve Sims and the Stone Crusher have turned in some stellar performances over the years at Orlando’s Citrus Bowl with final round appearances in racing and multiple high scoring freestyle runs, including a spectacular run just one year ago. After a strong outing the week before in Tampa, the crew got the Stone Crusher back to 100% for a packed house of over 60,000 of Monster Jam’s most die hard fans. Sims had a tough go in racing, falling to Madusa in round one. A fast loser spot allowed the Stone Crusher to return in round two but Sims couldn’t take advantage of the reprieve against Monster Mutt Rottweiler.
When it came to freestyle, Sims put it all on the line in Stone Crusher and didn’t hold back during his performance. Sims, never one to shy away from big air soared the Stone Crusher right out of the gate with some huge air under the big blue Ford. As he whipped the truck around the floor, Sims hit everything in his path getting more air along the way, working in some nice slap wheelies and sky wheelies in the process. Just before the end of bonus time the rear steer started to go away on the Stone Crusher, but that wouldn’t stop Sims. The crowd cheered Sims on has he continued onward past bonus time, smashing through a motorhome and over the double. The back end wouldn’t center and Sims wouldn’t quit, and he launched the Stone Crusher skyward over the van stack with a massive sky wheelie. Sims continued on for two more jumps before the Stone Crusher couldn’t take anymore as the left front wheel broke off of the truck. As Sims emerged from the truck he was greeted with a roaring ovation of over 60,000 fans saluting his efforts. The run would be good enough to take the lead and held onto the top spot for most of the competition and would result in a third place finish when all was said and done.
With another great weekend in Orlando in the books, the team heads back to Tampa for the second time in 2013 to rock Raymond James Stadium once again. Until then be sure to check out our schedule for more dates to see where we’ll be in 2013!
Photo By: Andrew Fielder