Last year at Bristol Motor Speedway, Steve Sims and Stone Crusher put it all on the line and thrilled the fans in freestyle but were just short of picking up the freestyle win. This year he wasn’t leaving anything on the table coming into last Saturday’s event, and did just that during his freestyle run. His biggest challenge in pursuit of the win would come from his own flesh and blood, his son Steven. With both turning in spectacular performances, the crowd was left to decide the victor.
After coming so close to the win last year expectations were high for the Stone Crusher team heading into Bristol. After a string of four shows in West Lebanon, New York the crew worked hard to have the Stone Crusher in peak performing condition in Bristol. The large jumps and asphalt can be brutal on equipment as the team found out last year, when breakage towards the end of Sims’ freestyle hampered his efforts. As qualifying got underway Sims and Stone Crusher showed some promise with the second fastest qualifying time. As Sims was instructed to fire up the Stone Crusher and pull to the line for round one, the engine wouldn’t turn over. The problem was quickly traced to the magneto. Despite the crew’s best efforts they wouldn’t be able to make the call for round one. Tommy Powers and company would get the problem fixed with plenty of time to spare for freestyle.
As the last truck out Steve Sims got to watch the entire field go ahead of him in freestyle, giving him a good idea of what it would take to pick up the freestyle win. When his son Steven Sims and Hooked went out second and put on a stellar run with massive jumps, huge wheelies, and even a rollover back onto all four wheels and continued his run, Sims knew it was going to be a tall task to defeat his son. Sims hit the floor hard and turned in a relentless freestyle performance with his own big air antics and even a tailgate dragging slap wheelie. The truck seemed unstoppable and despite 4 bent rims and fiery orange brakes glowing the Stone Crusher wouldn’t quit on Sims, as he finally came to a stop minutes after his run began. The score would be good enough to tie with son Steven, as officials decided to leave the tiebreaker up to the fans. In a cheer off the victory went to Steven and Hooked, but Steve certainly wasn’t disappointed losing to his son.
Our next stop takes us to Eldora Speedway in New Weston, Ohio for a two event weekend with Monster Jam. We hope to see plenty of Stone Crusher fans there!