Junkyard Dogs strike first blood;
take first night victory!!

The Junkyard Dogs staked their claim as the team to beat in 2008 after a thrilling and chaotic night filled with excellent racing and insane moments.

The Tournament began with a lop-sided match between the Mean Green Machines and the new team Beyond Driven. The Machines could not get two of their cars to the Start line resulting in a 4-on-2 advantage for Beyond Driven. They took full advantage and blew away the Machines. Veteran driver Joe Snow 'terminated' Tim Pankow with a wicked head-on blast that sent shockwave's up the sold-out grandstands!

The JYDs matched up against Damage, Inc., but quickly put them in the
unemployment line.

Last year's champions, the Killer Bee's, drew the new-look, "ode to the Pink Panthers," Havoc battalion. Former Havoc member Brian Anderson led charge against his former mates and put the Bees in the next round.

Stranglehold concluded the first round with an easy victory over the impromptu Orange Taxi Co. The Taxis have big shoes to fill with the last-minute replacements of the legendary Orange Crush. A pummeling by the Van Allen's is not the way to start.

Beyond Driven walked into the second round without a fight, but could they step-up and do battle with the 'Dogs? You bet! They pushed JYD beyond what anybody anticipated and left it all on the track in a valiant attempt to pull one of the biggest upsets ever. #33 Ryan Bleuer made several attempts to run away with the race, but the #20 was constantly right on him with several hits and spins to prevent any high-speed getaway. Beyond Driven put up a heck of a fight, but ultimately did not collect enough laps and let #35 Gerrit Vanderbilt slip past and score the victory for the JYD.
As the race concluded, the #36 car of Tom "Brickman" Lewis erupted into flames and ignited the fuel lines inside the car! Lewis walked away from the heart-stopping, dramatic escape, but was left with minor burns on his hands and legs.
Watch the drama unfold:

 

The semi-finals closed with a wild brawl between Stranglehold and Killer Bee's. #47 "Speedy" Steve Vollbrecht ran coast-to-coast several times delivering bone-crunching hits on any white car that got in his way. #50 "Cadillac Zak" Van Allen tried to make a run for Stranglehold, but got pinned in turn 3 by Vollbrecht, which allowed #7 Brian Anderson to shoot around the track and put the Bee's back in the Finals.

For the 5th event in a row, the Junkyard Dogs squared off against the Killer Bee's to etched yet another chapter in this storied rivalry. Unlike their past encounters, this one, surprisingly, was not a complete bloodbath. Instead, both sides relied on timely maneuvers and precision driving to take advantage. The Bee's took the early lead and were solidly in control with Anderson out front running away from the pack of dogs. But, Bleuer was not far behind and was going nearly untouched again to collect laps of his own. The JYD finally pinned off Anderson on Lap 4 and Bleuer sliced through one last road block to clinch the victory!

Congratulations to the Junkyard Dogs as they take the early lead in the Speedway Auto Parts & Wreckers National Points Standings with a 2-point lead over Killer Bee's. Watch highlights from the entire night in the Videos section and view more photos in every Team page.