Pro Truck Challenge Open.

The sport of monster truck racing has a very humble begining. The American working man bought bigger and stronger parts for his work truck and to get the most from the truck. Then it was only human nature that men would get compedative with their trucks. Showing off who can pull the most weight, climb the biggest hill, and who has the best looking truck. Then came car crushing when owners bought bigger wheels for the trucks and car crushing started to entertain fans at local fair grounds to promote a small 4x4 shop or their buisness. Technology and the eventual desire to race the trucks against each other took off and what we know as the sport of monster trucks began. Today monster truck racing is a big industry just like any auto racing industry. Trucks today are no longer stock but build from the ground up with tube frame design which started on a computer instead of paper and pencil. Coperate sponsors and high profile drivers and teams with big budgets take place in this sport and the advancement of monster trucks have came super fast since the first 4x4 shop went up. The teams and trucks today are the best in the industry, but they to come from a humble begining and now entertain fans world wide and try to win the championship trophy, the Chandler Cup. Tonight from Daytona Beach Florida home of Daytona International Speedway 48 trucks will kick off the Pro Truck Challenge National Championship Series and start the 10 race season to earn what everybody has been seeking since the first pick up truck was modified at the local 4x4 shop, bragging rights.

Hello and welcome to Pro Truck Challenge's PTC Open! The gates has just open and we are two hours away from starting the fourth season of PTC and as fans walk into the seating area they see the tri oval of Daytona has been transformed into the center of monster truck racing.

The race tonight of course is very unique, as all 48 trucks registered with PTC for this season will run tonight. So as mention in the intro bragging rights will go a long way because it is the only time some one can claim they beat 47 other trucks in one night. Speaking about bragging rights the team that had the most to brag about and the best off season is no doubt Ellis Racing home of Son of Sam the defending PTC Chandler Cup Champion. Since the end of last season the team and driver Juan Perez has been on a media bliss going from talk shows, being on sports news, and same time ran events for other promoters. Now back in PTC everybody will be watching them as the team to beat. Speaking bout teams to beat two big teams returns Misfit Motors and Team Pman both return.

Last season Misfit Motors put two trucks in the top five of points and Team Pman struggle most of the season but some of their new trucks like Fire Fighter, Blitzkreig, and rookie drivers won events. This season lot of people wonder if the recent changes to Team Pman will help them out. Of course everybody at Misfit Motors has been working hard to. Colby Marshall has been really working hard also as his team did not do well last season. Purple Haze did make it in to the Championship Showdown but the big orange Dodge did not make it and for the first time didn't win an event. Which mean still the defending champion of PTC has yet to win a race or be in championship contention coming to the last event of a season.

Now we are just less then an hour away from the PTC Open and the speakers round Daytona International Speedway has just started to play some music, the fans are getting excited they know within the hour the drivers will leave the garage area and walk to their trucks. Well last season two drivers were the talk of the season and this season the same two drivers will be talked about a lot. First Ryan Roberts driver of Pman's Off The Wall. He leads all time drivers for wins with a total of six wins in PTC and he has been in every PTC race since the first race of the first season. But what could have been a big lead in most wins did not happen as Russ Ivy owner driver of Liberty One had a great season including winning two events in a row and is second in the all time win list with five wins. This season both of them return in the same truck and the big question is now how much pressure will both drivers feel. Everybody knows they're capable of winning events and it makes it where if anyone is to pair up against Ryan or Russ in the first round they will put in a great effort knowing who they face.

Well now we are within a few moments of this event to start and the fans are packed in the grandstand in front of the tri-oval here at Daytona and they are going crazy as now the drivers are leaving the garage area. They finished the drivers meeting and now 48 drivers are walking to their trucks. The trucks are parked in groups of 24 with some on the left of the tri-oval towards turn one and two and some on the right towards turn four and three. Fans have been taking pictures of the truck parked along side the outside wall at Daytona. Some drivers are walking joking with teammates or crew. Some walking with their wives or other family members enjoying the time, some drivers walking by themselves with a serious look and focusing on what is to come. The sun is setting here at Daytona and now the music playing on the speakers have stopped and the welcome to PTC event message is being played and the crowd is going crazy they know in a few seconds the video screen behind the pit wall which is used to show the NASCAR Cup cars race here will play the opening video for the PTC Open and a ton of fire works will go off and 48 monster trucks will fire it up. Now lets go to your play by play host Tyler Lewis and former monster truck driver Leroy Miller.

Hello race fans and welcome to the Pro Truck Challenge Open I'm Tyler Lewis been broadcasting for PTC Radio since the first season and with me the newest member of the PTC play by play team Leroy Miller a long time truck owner and driver of the popular truck Montana Blue Chevy welcome Leroy.
Thanks Tyler I am looking forward to working with you and everyone here at PTC as we follow these teams here which by far are the best teams in the buisness all together racing and going for the cup.

Leroy you bring a good point that all the teams here are registered for the season and this is the one event all 48 teams will be at the same location racing, my question is what are the drivers thinking right now as they now start to buckle up their belts and wait for the start of this event?
Well remember I only ran local events round my home state of Montana and I can tell you then being the local favorite and we get big names like Bigfoot or USA-1 and Awesome Kong at the fairgrounds, I got goosebumps. The thought of I'm racing against such big names here in front of friends and family the butterflies in you are going crazy just waiting for the event to start and try to get in that zone of what I got to do. So for the rookies here they are going through the same thing. PTC has been talked bout by people around the industry from local events, around the radio programs, the monster truck fan sites, and all over and now they are in such a huge stage we are in Daytona a large crowd, you got the media all here, lot of historical figures from the buisness are here, sponsors, and on top of that 47 other teams wanting to win and they will be on top of their game but same time got to try to control your emotions and remember, this is monster truck racing. If you have a problem with your truck, one or more of the 47 teams will be there with a helping hand.

Well taking a look at the track map this is by far one of the most extreme tracks PTC has ever done. A full week spent getting the track ready and it looks great. The track is a figure eight but there is only one lane. As you can see in the map the two trucks will start facing each other. You can see the color coded starting lane are red and blue. The truck starting on the blue will race to the center heading towards turn one while the truck in the red lane will race towards turn four and in the center will jump over the truck in the blue lane. The two will do a full lap so both trucks will have to make the jump and as you can see the color lane after the lap on the main. They will get in the color lane they started on and race towards the bus jump at the center and at the center of the bus jump is the finish line. Leroy what do you think of this track and what should fans look for?
Well, this is the new age of racing, these new track layouts that require big air and high speeds and remember this is a long season with a diverse bunch of races at next week events and in smaller venues. So the winner of tonight will be the one with the best setup no doubt and with a cool and calm driver behind the wheel. For the past two days the teams have been practicing on this track and been seeing great times and when I was in the pit area talking with the drivers lot of them feel like they have a chance of winning, but it's the first race of the season so really we don't know what to expect.

Well now the pre-race ceremonies are done, the command for the trucks to start engines have been given and the first two trucks that will race are about to line up and now the PTC Open is underway!

Round 1. Pro Truck Challenge Open.

Of course the PTC Open rules are for the most part the same the 48 trucks are divided into three groups of 16. Within the group of 16 they will race like any event with 16 trucks. The winner of each group get into the PTC Open final round where a three way race between three finalist in a double elimination format.

Ladies and gentleman the first round pairing for the PTC Open. The overall pole sitter of the Pro Truck Challenge Open driven by Juan Perez the defending PTC National Champion #1 Son of Sam owned by Ellis Racing and he face Mario in the Grave Digger. Ace of Spades the eight fastest in this group takes on ninth fastest Loaded Dice a pair of chevys and then the fourth fastest Hitman takes on Skull Crusher 13th in time trials. Then its Iowa's Matt Grossman in the Takin Chances Chevrolet going against David's MTC.com truck and the second fastest in this group Emaxx takes on Ultra Club 88 a pair of PTC winners. Twisted Obsession returning for his second season takes on Colby #36 Orange Dodge the team hopeful to put a better run this season and teammates Blitzkreig takes on Fire Fighter a two time winner and the final pair up feature two rookies the GM Performance Part Chevy against Iorn Horse.

Well Leroy the first two Son of Sam and Grave Digger are at the staging area ready to kick this season off who do you see as a favorite in this first group?
Well I really like Son of Sam. The defending champions of PTC has been struck with bad luck the two being Cold Fusion and then Colby Marshall's Orange Dodge but I think Son of Sam is going to win this group and possibly be the first time we see the #1 truck in victory lane.

We'll be looking for that but now Son of Sam and Grave Digger are getting lined up at the starting line the fans are standing and cheering the sun is setting here at Daytona towards turn one of the speedway and we are going to kick off season four of pro truck competition greeen!
Tyler the fans are going crazy you can barely hear the trucks!

The fans here are pumped indeed as the trucks come to the center Son of Sam will be jumping over Diggers lane here he come to the jump and Son of Sam flys over Digger and flashbulbs from the crowd here at Daytona are going off as they complete the jump and it looks pretty even between Son of Sam and Digger we know the Digger team can really adjust setup well now to the turns still looks even both of them making great turns as they approach the center of this figure eight again this time Digger will be flying over Son of Sam the fans ready to take more pictures and Digger flys over Son of Sam and now they will make this turn and head towards the bus jump!
PTC has invested in new finish line technology so we can find out quickly who won the race instead of waiting and it looks like we may use it in this first pairing.

Here they come Leroy to the finish I can't see who has a lead its going to be close over the buses neither letting up and Digger wins!
Son of Sam is out!
Son of Sam just got eliminated and the fans here; some are in shock and Digger fans are going crazy! Wow. Leroy looking at the reply do you see what advantages could have help Digger out in the last turn.
Yes I do I can see in the last turn Mario behind the wheel of Digger used lot more rear steer compare to Juan which used a balance of front and rear steer and to be able to use mainly rear steering on a turn and little front steering you need to have a great setup and looks like the Grave Digger team after time trials adjusted the truck to the track more and just pulled an upset as the overall pole sitter is done in the first round.

Ace of Spades defeats Loaded Dice.

Hitman defeats Skull Crusher.

Takin Chances defeats MTC.com.

Twisted Obsession defeats Colby 36.

Blitz defeats Fire Fighter.

Gm Performance defeats Iron Horse.

First round of group 1 is done, the top eight from time trials in this group all advances except the pole winner Son of Sam who is now the third truck to win pole and fail to advance in to the second round and the first time since the first event was called the PTC Open will the overall pole sitter not win. How does it effect a team to go out so early like Son of Sam or Colby 36?
Well Tyler it is tough. Especially here a week of build up here at Daytona and doing events for sponsors, fans, and you and the team had this weekend circled down on the calander for months and to come and go out in the first round is not fun especially to win a pole and expect to compete more and be one run and done is a big disappointment. But there is a bright spot because remember only the winner of the PTC Open recieves points and only 15 points. So there is always next week and the challenge is to get the team and everyone up and ready to try and win next weekend.
Thanks Leroy we now get ready for group 2 first round of racing.

Here is the first round pairing for group two. On pole five time PTC winner Russ Ivy in Liberty One and he faces last seasons PTC Open winner Ethan in Excaliber. Then its Krypt Keeper against Cold Fusion followed by Mini Bling against Rat Patrol.
Then we have Super Trooper the runner up last season against Red Foot III along with Natural High against Bigfoot. The winner of the first PTC Open Insanity takes on Monster Mayhem and the Nitro Power rookie takes Chevy Thunder the only diesel this season and the final pairing Blue Thunder against Taurus.

Liberty One defeats Excaliber.

Cold Fusion defeats Krypt Keeper.

Mini Bling defeats Rat Patrol.

Red Foot III lining up against Super Trooper. Red Foot III can put together great runs has a win in PTC already and Super Trooper is looking for his first PTC win and is consider a big favorite for the Chandler Cup green is out! They are off they look tied up no advantage as Super Trooper jumps over Red Foot III and now they are coming to the turns and still both trucks look great no advantage either one now Red Foot out of the turn and Super Trooper to! Red Foot has a small lead he jumps over Super Trooper lane and now Trooper makes it pass the jump so Red Foot III has a lead as he makes his last turn coming toward the straight and the bus jump now Super Trooper is on the straight at the bus jump its Red Foot III winning it and now Super Trooper crosses the line!
Red Foot III looked great in the turns and he just posted the third fastest time of the night so far but we still have more trucks to come.

Natural High defeats Bigfoot.

Insanity defeats Monster Mayhem.

Nitro Power defeats Chevy Thunder.

Blue Thunder against Taurus. won the Hall of Fame event last season and Blue Thunder won the Pre Showdown race and Jordon Robson went on to win three events last season. Now the two face each other green! Both trucks are off and Taurus has a great jump and leads coming to the center Taurus drags pass the jump now Blue Thunder makes the jump and isn't too far behind and still has a chance to close things up!
This track is so long that there is lot of time to gain ground but same time lot of time for things to break. Now they coming to the center again this time Taurus will do the jump and he is airborne now Thunder drags pass the center of the figure eight it will be hard to catch up now unless Taurus messes up the turn but Taurus is in the turn and is coming out now to the bus jump and Thunder still in the turn and Taurus will advance to round two of the PTC Open!

So the first round of group two is done we get ready for group three now. Stomper driven by Cody Boyce the driver of Sarge last season and won three events took the pole he faces Ryan Roberts the driver with the most wins in PTC. This race should be good because Cody has shown he can win races and shouldn't be taken lightly and he faces the racers almost no one takes lightly Ryan Roberts in Off the Wall green! Green is out both trucks are racing to the center of the figure eight and Stomper flys over Off The Wall and makes way to the turns.
Cody is not going to give Ryan an inch it appears as he is on it and comes out of the turn with a lead now over Roberts! This could be big for Stomper to win against Roberts the team struggle last season and hired Cody during the off season now Stomper drags through the center and Off The Wall makes the jump over Stomper's lane. Stomper now coming to the buses Stomper is going to win and make all but one pole sitter to advance to round two and Ryan Roberts now over the buses and he will pack it up but don't count him out for the rest of the season.

Disturbing the Peace defeats USA-1.

Destrucity defeats Pman-7.

TNT defeats Cooperhead Slinger.

High Anxiety defeats High Tech Redneck.

Bloodlust Tank defeats Liberty Girl.

The Outlaw defeats Bloodlust.

Radio Active defeats Purple Haze.

Well round one is done and we come to round two. The sun has set the sky is dark the moon is out and the fans here are having a great time and this track has provided some great racing so far.
Yeah the track has been great and the fans love seeing one truck jump over another truck and we havn't seen any reliability issues on any truck but we still have a long way to go as each group is now in their round of eight.

Round 2. Pro Truck Challenge Open.

Ace of Spades defeats Grave Digger.

Takin Chances defeats Hitman.

Emaxx defeats Twisted Obsession.

GM Performance defeats Blitz.

Round two for group one is done and the final four for this group is Ace of Spades against Takin Chances driven by Matt Grossman and Emaxx against GM performance. So we have three veteran racers and one rookie, Leroy do you see GM Performance getting to the final two and possibly to the final round?
Well considering a rookie has won this event I think GM Performance can take out Emaxx but then he faces either Ace of Spade who had a rough season and looking great or Takin Chances with Matt Grossman behind the wheel, and he came close to winning last season and now back with the truck for a second season it will be hard I see either GM Performance or Takin Chances advancing to the final round of three. Now we got group two second round coming up.

Liberty One against Cold Fusion. Russ Ivy taking on Cindy Munds. Green both trucks off Ford vs Chevy this race is to be good Russ will be making the jump over Cindy he leaps over Cindy and look out!
Oh my hard landing and Russ is on his side the race comes to a stop PTC officials running out to Russ. Officials now at Russ's truck we see Russ out of the truck the fans cheer and he waves to the crowd and wow what a scary wreck.
It looked like he may have had no front drive shaft the way the truck when he hit the jump the front wheels just went up and had a wheelie type jump like Stomper in 88 or Bigfoot at the Hoosier Dome and once the back wheels landed he was out of shape as the truck leaned left and his rear steer over corrected it but then once his front right hit the ground at such high speed blew the tire out and just rolled it. Glad to see Russ is ok but his night is done.

Red Foot III defeats Mini Bling.

Natural High defeats Insanity.

Nitro Power defeats Taurus.

Well group two features Cold Fusion against Redfoot and Natural High against Nitro Power. Red Foot has been quick so far for round two racing he is the second fastest the first being Emaxx in group one so far but we still got group three and they are next.

Disturning the Peace defeats Stomper.

TNT defeats Destrucity.

High Anxiety defeats Bloodlust Tank.

The Outlaw defeats Radio Active.

Round 3.

Takin Chances defeats Ace of Spades.

Emaxx defeats GM Performance.

Red Foot III defeats Cold Fusion.

Nitro Power defeats Natural High.

Disturbing the Peace defeats TNT.

High Anxiety defeats The Outlaw.

Well now its the final round for each group. The winner part of the PTC Open finals here.
Each truck looks great so far but we don't know bout mechanical issues. This round will be important.

Round 4.

Emaxx driven by Glen Milburn brother of Robbie driver of the Radio Active truck. He takes on Matt Grossman in Takin Chances. Winner is in the PTC Open finals green! Both of them are off they look equal as they come to the center Emaxx jumps over Takin Chances and now they still look even no advantage for either one and now they are in the turns still even and showing no signs of weakness. Now they coming to the center and now Takin Chances jumps over Emaxx and still both trucks look even this is going to be a close finish here they come to the bus jump! The fans are standing this is coming down to the wire and Emaxx takes it! Emaxx wins a close one against Matt Grossman.

Nitro Power defeats Red Foot III.

High Anxiety defeats Disturbing the Peace.

Pro Truck Challenge Open Finals.

Well now it is the final round of the PTC Open and now the fans are ready to see who wins this one. With the overall pole sitter out and all three pole sitter not making it into this round it goes to time trials so Emaxx, the fastest of the three faces third fastest of the group rookie Nitro Power. The loser faces High Anxiety. So now it is time to go racing.

Emaxx, taking on Nitro Power. Brad Shaw behind the wheel of Nitro Power in his first PTC event in the finals. This is going to be close green is out! The two are off Nitro Power with a jump on the start has the lead as they come to the center Nitro Power drags and Emaxx jumps over him and now they come to the turn looks like Emaxx has better turning ability compare to Nitro Power as they come to the front and race to the center this time Nitro Power will jump over Emaxx and they look even Glen has made up time and now Glen and Brad are even coming to the turn!
They're coming out of the turn now both of them this is going to be close who will win and Emaxx wins!Now it will be Nitro Power against High Anxiety to continue the double elimination.

Now High Anxiety with rookie driver Kyle Fisher is up against Nitro Power. Green is out and they are off High Anxiety with a great jump on the start they coming to the center now!Anxiety leading he now jumps over Nitro Power but the back wheels comes off! Kyle fights the truck for control its nearly rolls but he comes to a stop meanwhile the wheel is rolling on but looks like no one is in the path of the wheel. Safety crew coming to Kyle this race has stopped.
We seeen this happen before and for High Anxiety looks like reliability became an issue. Remember this long track and to run a group of 16 plus time trials and practice puts lot of stress on the equipment. Now looks like Anxiety maybe done for the night and it will be Nitro Power against Emaxx and winner of that will be the PTC Open winner since Anxiety is unable to compete.

Well, this is it. Then final race of the night. The fans are standing, they are cheering the two drivers as they both have came a long way to get here and one of them will win it all! Glen Milburn behind the wheel of Emaxx looking for career win number two and this will be a big win. His brother Robbie made it to the top eight of his group, a great run is watching you know he is rooting for Glen. Also rookie Brad Shaw in his first PTC event is wanting to get a win also and trying to be the third rookie to win this event in a row.
Brad Shaw has done great so far tonight and he is lined up Glen is lined up the engines are coming up in RPM green is out the final run!

Brad in Nitro Power got a jump again this time can he keep the lead as Emaxx in the turns got him.
Nitro Power probably tried a new setup but you know Emaxx team didn't just sit and take a break they made some adjustments as well!
That indeed as they come out of the center and it is till even as they make the turn they look close this is going to be good one more time over the center this time Emaxx jumps over Nitro Power now they will be coming to the turn Nitro Power with a tiny lead over Emaxx they coming to the straight they both on it to the finish!
Whoever has the horsepower is going to get it!
Emaxx gets it and Emaxx wins the Pro Truck Challenge Open!
The crowd is going crazy and so to is the Emaxx crew and look inside the Emaxx truck Glen is going nuts and he now makes some victory doughnuts on the grass!
What a win for Glen by far the biggest win of his career and a great run by Nitro Power we can look for more later on this season.
For sure Tyler, lot of strong rookies but we still have next weeks racing. Next Saturday.
For the pit reporters, Leroy Miller, I'm Tyler Lewis saying see you next weekend and congrats to Glen Milburn driver of Emaxx for winning the PTC Open.