Rematches, revenge-minded rivalries, and a new foe for all racers transformed Round 2 of the Team Demolition Derby Tournament of Destruction into into a battle of the elements and attrition. The unique enclosed oval at Route 66 Raceway is a dirt and mud-filled surface, that generally remains in the same condition from event-to-event. Round 1 back on May 21 provided some of the best racing we've seen in years; perhaps "the track" decided everyone had too much fun and decided to fight back. Instead of a sloppy, relatively shallow-depth mud covering the track, it looked and reacted more like fresh concrete.

Cars struggled to make their way through the muck and even line up for the Beauty Contest to open the night's action. It was immediately clear the drivers were going to have to fight one-another and contend with the conditions in order to advance.

Round 1 Heat 1
Reckoning vs. Stranglehold

Reckoning entered Round 2 leading the points standings after defeating the debuting Full Throttle in the Finals last month. They drew the first match of the night and faced off with Stranglehold, a team that lost in the opening round to Mean Green Machine last month, but gained plenty of attention for the numerous hard hits and the helmetless head-on hit from #57 Mel Noble, Jr. #7 Brian Anderson and #76 Steve Gursky, Jr. sped away from the green flag and jumped out to a huge lead.
#5 Nick Hartung made a play to stop them, but ended up on the receiving end of a head-on from #78 Chris McGuire.

#53 Bill Mcmahen and Noble, Jr. were struggling to gain traction and had to rely on #59 Michael Noble to try and collect laps by himself. Mid-race, Reckoning appeared to be in complete control and Gursky shifted into crusher-mode after he was spun around. Michael Noble also ditched the run and knew he had to stop the leader. Anderson came flying around Turn 1 on the final lap and Noble was right there to greet him with a nasty head-on shot! #74 Steve Vollbrecht shoved Noble away from Anderson, but the car was heavily damaged. Mcmahen finally got some momentum going and tried to capitalize and pick up laps. The car was pouring out smoke and died out on the back stretch which quickly ended any hopes of a comeback. Anderson pushed his way through the mud and took the win.

Round 1 Heat 2
Full Throttle vs. Damage, Inc.

Full Throttle made an immediate and shocking impact disposing of Orange Crush in the opening round last month. They squared off with Damage, Inc. this time around, a team that may hold the record for the youngest combined ages of drivers ever assembled. Furthermore, the team's owner and most experienced in the bunch, jumped over to Mean Green Machine for this race!
#46 Levi Turnbaugh, the newest addition to the team, roared away from the start, along with #41 Pete Millette, Jr., and left most of Damage, Inc. going no where in the mud. #88 Matt Wilson cut off Millette in Turn 2 with a nice front-end shot then caught up to Turnbaugh's in Turn 3 and brought him to a stop. Millette blew by both of them and took over the lead. #40 Ron Johnston swatted away the rest of Damage, Inc., of whom could not find much offense. Millette ran nearly untouched and coasted into the second round. Damage, Inc. fell victim to the track, but also mechanical problems on 3 out of the 4 cars.

Round 1 Heat 3
Seek-N-Destroy vs. Bad Company

The luck of the bracket draw matched-up Bad Company and Seek-N-Destroy, two teams in the middle of the numerous driver changes after the May event. Money, pride, bragging rights, and probably a little bit more were on the line. #31 Brice Martin sat in the front spot, but stalled at the line, blocked his team mates and handed Seek-N-Destroy a quick lead. #38 Kyle Shearer collided with #21 Greg Mesich in Turn 1, but there were no other Bad Company cars near by. All Seek-N-Destroy cars could've made it around the first two turns legally. First time driver #2 Emil Looze and #20 Steve Schaefer probably didn't expect to be all alone in the corner with no blue cars to hit. Whatever the case, neither driver made it around the first turn legally. Only #29 Charlie Turnbaugh went around the boundary tires, took the lead, and then took a stiff head-on shot from #39 Jason Ritacco! The cars were twisted together in a mess of sheet metal and bumpers that prevented either of them from breaking free. #32 Matt Pierce captured the lead, the only Bad Company car moving due to troubles with Martin and Shearer. Pierce neared the end of Lap 2 when Schaefer tore across mid field and blasted Pierce right in the passenger side quarter panel! Pierce's front-end and wheel were mangled and Seek-N-Destroy looked in firm control.

Mesich took over the lead and also had Looze running behind him, a full lap off the pace due to missing the first turn. Pierce managed to get moving again and tried to chase down Mesich. All the cars struggled to keep speed with the mud weighing down the rear-ends and the tires unable to dig in. Schaefer got in another shot to Pierce's already damaged front-end, which left zero cars moving at all. Shearer's car suddenly came alive enough to push Mesich up against the wall in Turn 4 and into a deep rut. Then, he changed directions and looked to gain laps. Schaefer met him at the end of Lap 1 and tried to shove him sideways, but Shearer fought back and rammed hard into
Schaefer's quarter panel. The hit was a deadly one as smoked erupted from under Schaefer's hood. Shearer's car came to a stop again while Pierce continued to dig ruts trying to gain any ounce of traction. Schaefer's car was the most damaged out of all 8, yet he was still able to keep picking up laps.

This back and forth struggle for supremacy reached the 10-minute mark when Schaefer's car suddenly died in Turn 3, still 3 laps behind.
Pierce's efforts to gain every possible inch paid off and he reached 1-car length beyond where Mesich sat, both cars 1 turn away from winning! Schaefer's car again came back to life and now was only 2 laps down. The 14-minute marathon finally reached its breaking point when Schaefer's car came to a halt right next to Pierce, except 1 lap short. The 10-second countdown reached zero and the victory went to Bad Company by a matter of about 10-feet! Pierce sat on the inside of turn 4, while Mesich was slightly behind and against the wall.

Round 1 Heat 4
Mean Green Machine vs. Orange Crush

The fourth race of the first round was nothing but trouble for Orange Crush last month. #06 Ryan Bleuer's wheel fell off, team mates collided with each other twice and led to defeat at the hands of Full Throttle. Mean Green Machine had high hopes of sending the Champions back to the pits early again. #19 John Clemmons could not pull to the starting line because of a broken starter on the motor that turned Mean Green's high hopes into a crushing nightmare.

Orange Crush took full advantage of the 4-on-3 attack, immediately ganging up on #16 Zac Van Allen. Van Allen's car was left twisted much in the same way, only more severe, as Matt Pierce's car in the previous race. #68 Johnny Ryan bashed #11 Dave Swan up into the Turn 1 wall, while #13 Ryan Decker barely missed a hit on #67 Elmer Fandrey. Ryan followed Decker in and trunked him hard. #65 Pete Ryan got in a shot on Decker too, then smashed Swan into the Turn 3 wall. Decker eluded a few block attempts and scored a hit on Bleuer, the leader. Swan and Decker did about all they could down 4-2, but the numbers game often reigns supreme in Team Demo. Bleuer blazed around the corners and advanced Orange Crush to the semi-finals.

Spectator Series
Figure-8 Cars
10-Lap Feature Race

A huge field of Figure-8 Cars trudged into the mud for Round 2 in their Spectator Series. #55 Wally Hartung pulled away right from the start and left numerous cars stuck near the starting line and piled up in Turns 1 and 2. #74x Chris Ricker plowed through and passed Hartung on the inside of Turn 2 for the lead. Point's leader #68 Doug McCarty was right on their tails. #64 John Klimek, #81x Kurtis Kraehmer and #88A Mike Anderson all wadded up in the middle of the 'X' creating a 3-car wide road block for the leaders.

McCarty took over second from Ricker on Lap 2 with Ricker's car spewing coolant out of the hood. Further back in the field, #92 Homer Pederson, #1h Rob Hess, and Klimek were banging doors for 6th place. The few leaders put numerous cars at least a lap down within the first few laps. Over half the field was stuck before the half way point.

McCarty finally got by Hartung on Lap 5 and was able to distance himself from 2nd place. #01 Andrew Sherman and #40oz Ed Mayr smacked sides throughout Lap 6 desperately trying to stay on the lead lap with McCarty breathing down on them. Ricker's car couldn't survive the conditions and died out on Lap 7 allowing #27 Brian Pietrarosso to slip into 4th.

Meanwhile, Hartung got hung up in Turn 4 and took a trunk shot from Klimek into the boundary tire! Both drivers struggled to free the cars, but could not break loose and Pietrarosso cruised around them and into 2nd place. By Lap 8, only McCarty, Pietrarosso and #60x Paul Finefield were left moving. McCarty had at least a lap lead on 2nd place and had no trouble taking the final two laps for the win. Pietrarosso takes 2nd and Mayr takes 3rd even with a DNF. Two wins in a row for McCarty and he remains on top of the leaderboard.

Visit Motorstats.com for complete Figure-8 Cars points standings

Figure-8 Spectator Series Car and Truck races are open to anyone! Build a car meeting the guidelines and bring it out every race night in 2011.

Semi-Finals
Heat 1
Full Throttle vs. Reckoning

A re-match of last month's Finals rolled out next: Reckoning vs. Full Throttle. It was an excellent pairing before and they
were ready to duel one more time. Gursky, Jr. sped away from the line first while Turnbaugh was spun instantly and couldn't attempt a run. Instead, he eye'd up Gursky on the back stretch and got in a solid shot to the rear wheel, spinning out the leader. Anderson got through the traffic and took the lead. Gursky recovered and was close behind Anderson into Lap 2. Turnbaugh did not give the leaders any running room and slammed into Anderson in Turn 1 bringing him to a halt.

Gursky recovered and roared down the straight away and drifted, dirt-tracked, power-slid, whatever you want to call it, his car through Turns 1 and 2 and then right into the awaiting front end of Johnston! Huge impact sending parts and pieces flying and both cars into the wall! Millette ran up and delivered the exclamation point knocking Gursky 90-degrees and then took over the lead himself.

Van Allen's car was already limping around the track when disaster struck for Millette. The rear axle broke and fell out from underneath the car! Vollbrecht raced by and took the lead leaving Millette stuck in the mud on 3 wheels. Johnston and Turnbaugh tried to fend off the now 3 Reckoning runners, but the numbers game was too much. Gursky ducked off the run and sealed the win with a head-on shot to Johnston. Vollbrecht took the checkered and put Reckoning in their 6th straight Final Round.

Semi-Finals
Heat 2
Bad Company vs. Orange Crush

Bad Company came in 0-for-2 against Orange Crush in 2010, but didn't go quietly and were ready to pull the upset. Crush wasn't tested in the first round while Bad Company wasn't going to offer any short cuts. #32 Matt Pierce's car could not fire and pull to the line, therefore back-up driver #30 Rob McKay rolled out instead. #66 Ron Tyrakowski broke out to the lead and McKay looked to have him lined up for a hard shot in Turn 2, but Tyrakowski backed off, cut inside and avoided the charging Bad Co. crusher. Ritacco did not miss in Turn 3 and punched the leader into the wall.

Fandrey took over the lead in Turn 4 as McKay decided not to wait for him to come into his sights and instead blasted Tyrakowski into the edge of the wall. #63 Tom "Brickman" Lewis got a glancing shot in on Ritacco and #65 Pete Ryan followed up with a crushing head-on hit. Martin was running laps and only 1 turn behind when the car came to a sudden stop on the front stretch. Fandrey slowed down and cut inside Shearer's block attempt in Turn 2 and did the same thing in Turn 4. Shearer wanted to deal another monster shot like he did at the first event to #7 Brian Anderson, but he could not get a good line on Fandrey. McKay did not miss on his attempt and drilled Lewis with a thunderous head-on smash against the back wall! McKay's car was cooked, but Lewis re-fired and backed away from the wreckage!

Fandrey continued to collect laps and dodged a 3rd attempt from Shearer. Lewis and Ryan tried to put Shearer out, but both missed as well. Shearer finally connected with a mild head-on out of Turn 3 that only temporarily stopped Fandrey. Tyrakowski tried to pick up his run again only to be brought to a permanent stop by Ritacco in Turn 1! Shearer missed Fandrey for a 4th time as the leader took the white flag and a 5th time in Turn 2. Shearer had one last crack as Fandrey came screaming towards the checkered. He rounded Turn 1 prepared to go for Fandrey head-on when Lewis cut him off with a timely and effect hit to defeat the threat. Orange Crush moved to the Finals!

Spectator Series
Figure-8 Trucks
10-Lap Feature Race

13 trucks lined up for the task of navigating through the thick mud and avoiding a collision through the treacherous 'X' for the Figure-8 Truck Spectator Series. 13 was the lucky number for #13 Donnie Lutz whom drew the pole position and it was quickly obvious he had the truck to beat. Lutz roared away from the rest of the field with #19 Travis Samborski and #K6 Nick Bleuer the only ones within striking distance after 4 corners.

Lutz nearly collided with the middle of the pack on his first pass through the 'X.' #67 Phil Duffin shot into 2nd place and #30 Pete Morris briefly took over 3rd before dying out right before the 'X.' #88 Ron Bleuer snatched 3rd with Samborski chasing him down. A pile-up in Turn 1 took out #50 Jim Morris, #89 Mark Vantlolum, #30 Pete Morris and Bleuer. Lutz continued to blaze a path around the track and had zero competition at this point. He tested the power of his truck numerous times through the 'X,' squeezing through lap traffic right before being t-boned. #67 Phil Duffin nearly hit Lutz the first time they met up in the 'X,' then didn't miss the second time and nailed Lutz right behind the driver's door!

#50 Jim Morris tagged Lutz in Turn 3, but didn't stray him off course far enough. Bleuer and #37 Dave Hagner got twisted up in Turn 1 which brought an end to their race. The road block expanded to include #14 Josh Crawford and #23 Jimmy Morris. Lutz swung wide and nearly grazed the wall just to get by the stagnant trucks. The remaining trucks thinned out allowing Lutz to run some of the quickest Figure-8 truck laps we've ever seen en route to the win.

Visit Motorstats.com for complete Figure-8 Trucks points standings

The Midwest's craziest stuntman "Scarecrow" set the night on fire with a daring leap up, over and through a flaming camper, motor home and vertical stack of 4 cars!

FINAL ROUND
Reckoning vs. Full Throttle

The next chapter in the Orange Crush / Reckoning rivalry was set to unfold in the Finals. They battled 4 times in the Final Round during the 2010 Tournament of Destruction, Orange Crush winning 3, Reckoning with 1.
Bleuer and Tyrakowski powered away from the starting line with Gursky, Jr. fighting for position between them. #68 Johnny Ryan shoved Anderson up into the front wall impeding his usual quick start. No collisions in Turn 2 left Bleuer with plenty of space to power down the stretch and open a big lead. McGuire tagged Tyrakowski on the back-stretching which spun the #66 around. Gursky and Vollbrecht both crossed into Lap 2 as Bleuer was already racing down the back stretch.

Lewis nailed McGuire's driver's-side front tire and wedged both cars together momentarily. Vollbrecht had the inside line on Tyrakowski in Turn 1 and spun him out. Gursky looked for open running room out of Turn 2, but instead met a stiff passenger-side blast from Ryan. The momentum carried Ryan's car towards Turn 2 where he glanced off Vollbrecht's nose then slammed right into Anderson's front-end! Crazy triple combo of hits.

All the Reckoning cars fought to continue, but were thwarted immediately. Lewis blocked Anderson against the wall and Ryan caught right back up to Vollbrecht and Gursky in Turn 3. Bleuer dodged the traffic and stretched the lead to another lap. McGuire knocked Ryan around then dealt a huge head-on to Tyrakowski on the front-stretch!

This set off a chain reaction of numerous wild hits including Lewis and Anderson locking up in another head-on!
Vollbrecht appeared to be the last hope for Reckoning, but was only on Lap 3 as Bleuer took the white flag. Gursky ditched the run and shoved Bleuer into the wall in Turn 3 giving his team mate some running room to try and catch up.

Bleuer reversed out of the jam and powered by Gursky and dodged McGuire's incoming shot as well. Two corners to go for Bleuer and he roared down the front stretch with the checkered in sight. Vollbrecht was right there to greet him and the two collided with a huge hit as the flag dropped!
Tournament of Destruction Round 2 top honors go to Orange Crush!

If there is such a thing as a "calm" night of Team Demolition Derby, this was it. The level of carnage was toned down, overall, from our usual chaotic, destructive events due to the wretched track conditions. TDA Officials have promised that a night like this will never happen again and greater care will be applied when preparing the track for future events.
The 2011 Tournament of Destruction is not over yet! Join us at Route 66 Raceway for thrilling conclusion to the
Summer of Smash!!