For the fourth straight year the Stone Crusher team ventured to The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the notorious Back To School Bash. The course prepared by the Monster Truck Challenge group is always grueling and this year would be no different as they created another variation of their famous cross-over racing course. For Steve Sims and the Stone Crusher, it was a chance at some redemption after breakage kept the truck from competing in racing the prior year. For Steven Sims and Hooked, it was a chance to prove themselves on one of the toughest stages in all of monster truck racing.Following the pit party, the team went right into qualifying where both father and son proved to be strong in their passes. The elder Sims put in a very aggressive run on the tricky track resulting in a 3rd place pass for the Stone Crusher. Steven wasn’t far off of his dad’s time and caught the attention of the competition turning in a run good enough for fourth in the order. Round 1 saw Steven paired against former event winner Chris Bergeron and Brutus. Steven was strong throughout the first half of the course, but had a slight bobble coming out of the turn onto the backstretch. He regained his composure and stayed in the hunt. As he rounded the final corner he was behind by over a truck length, but charged back over the second to last jump and closed the gap immensely, but came up just short losing by less than a tire length. Unfortunately for Steven, the engine in Hooked lost oil pressure over the final jump and would remove him from contention in receiving the fastest looser. With the crew set to thrashing on Hooked, Steve and Stone Crusher were on kill from the start. Steve knocked off the Equalizer in round 1 in convincing fashion. In round 2 he remained consistent and went on to take out War Wizard to advance into the semi-finals to face-off against Avenger. Steve would catch an early break as Avenger battled steering issues from the start leading to a smooth path to the finals. The final round pitted the Stone Crusher against veteran Dan Patrick and Samson. The two trucks both looked fast throughout the night, and continued the trend in the finals. At the halfway mark, it was Samson in the lead but Steve made up the difference over the cross-over and as he rounded the final turn he was now ahead by over a truck length. Patrick gave Samson all he had but it wasn’t enough as Steve sailed the Stone Crusher to victory by half a truck length.
While Steve Sims was soaring to victory in racing, the crew thrashed on Hooked in an effort to bring the truck back for freestyle. Tommy Powers, Craig Barnhill, Bryan Wright, and Steven Sims gave it everything they had and were able to return for the freestyle competition. The massive course gave plenty of options for Steven and he used them wisely in a great freestyle run. Steven didn’t shy away from the multiple bus stacks, as he flew Hooked over the obstacles with plenty of big air, as well as a donut and a nice leap over the backside of the cross-over jump to finish up his performance.
After watching his son set the bar high and with a racing victory already in hand, Steve Sims unleashed the Stone Crusher in freestyle. It was a no holds barred assault on the track as Steve skied out the Stone Crusher multiple times during the course of his run. No jump was safe on the track as he attacked everything in his path. Big air, crossthreads, and even a near rollover on the backside of the cross-over jump couldn’t stop the Stone Crusher and Steve emerged from the truck to salute the raucous Charlotte crowd. The run was good enough to take the lead and eventually the win, as Steve and the Stone Crusher would sweep the night’s competition.
In victory lane Steve Sims was sure to thank his dedicated crew of Tommy Powers, Craig Barnhill, Bryan Wright, and Steven Sims for keeping the truck in top performance throughout the night. With the backing of several great sponsors, including Cam2 Blue Blood Racing Oil the team was able to bring home two big new trophies. Thanks again to all of our sponsors and fans for your support. Be sure to like our official fan page on Facebook and don’t forget to stop by our store for all your Stone Crusher merchandise.