T-Maxx Reaches Semifinals in Houston Monster Jam

HOUSTON, TX (January 8) – Make way for the T-Maxx™, Monster Jammers! John Seasock proved that Traxxas’ entry will be a force in the United States Hot Rod Association® Saturday in the Monster Jam Motor Spectacular®, racing into the semifinals. Some 4,500 yards of dirt covered the floor of Reliant Stadium, home of the NFL’s Houston Texans, during the 2005 USHRA Monster Jam season opener.

“It was awesome,” Seasock said. “The place was sold out with 64,000 people. The T-Maxx and the new trailer were received very well. There were at least 15,000 people at the Pit Party and we signed thousands of autographs. Everybody really liked the truck and we met plenty of R/C T-Maxx owners. I was really pleased with that.”

The monster trucks raced Chicago-style, meaning they started at opposite ends of the oval course allowing each to jump high over the cars simultaneously. T-Maxx narrowly lost its first-round race against Black Smith™ but, as the fastest truck to lose in the opening round, Traxxas’ entry progressed when mechanical problems kept King Krunch™ from competing in the second round.

“We had some first-night jitters during our first night in the new truck,” Seasock said. “I made a mistake in the first round. Black Smith is a tough competitor; he has been a World Finals finalist every year so far. We drove pretty well, but I accidentally hit neutral and I bobbled. The T-Maxx has a conventional shift pattern; that’s exactly opposite of what we had in the Sudden Impact truck. Those guys are so tough, you make a small bobble like that and you lose.”

Maximum Destruction™, which defeated the Annihilator™ in the opening round, was all that stood between T-Maxx and the semifinals. Seasock raced to a photo-finish victory over Maximum Destruction and the T-Maxx was one step from the finals in its first USHRA event.

“We got lucky and came back as the fast loser against Maximum Destruction,” Seasock said. “He has been the world champion three or four times, but we were able to take him out in the second round.

“In the midst of all that, we found a small crack in the frame. Between rounds, with the help of another crew, we got the welder ready on our tractor and ran the truck outside into the pits and welded the frame together really fast.”

Blue Thunder™, which defeated Black Smith in the second round, was the semifinal opponent for Seasock and the T-Maxx.

“We came back in and went up against Blue Thunder,” Seasock said. “I thought it was an awesome race; I felt like it was my best pass of the night. It was a pretty close race. I thought I had it, but I spun out in the final corner. I got a little over-zealous with the throttle and the truck’s big engine and spun. We lost, but we made it to the semifinals our first night out. You really can’t complain about that.”

Blue Thunder defeated Bounty Hunter™ in the finals, prompting Seasock to feel like T-Maxx finished third-best in the 16-truck competition.

“If you have to lose, I guess it’s best to lose to the guy who won the event,” Seasock said. “I don’t like losing, but I feel like we got third place. That’s not bad, considering there were 16 monster trucks there. We definitely let the world know that T-Maxx is out there and it’s for real. I’m proud of the way we finished that night.”

Following the racing competition, each truck competed in the freestyle competition. All 16 monster trucks got 90 seconds to show off their best jumps, donuts and climbing ability.

“Freestyle is fun,” Seasock said. “Racing is what we have to do and freestyle is where we get to show off. We get to show who can handle their truck the best and it really gets the people in the seats off their feet. Houston was always really good to me back when I was running the Sudden Impact truck. It’s one of my favorite places to compete. The crowd is always very enthusiastic there. The crazier they get, the crazier we get. We feed off that energy.

“We went flying out of the pits and again, I had some bobbles. I’m still trying to get used to the new truck. I felt like we got some pretty big air when we were jumping the school-bus pyramid. We came out pretty late in the pack (ninth), so many of the obstacles were knocked down. The school bus got tricky and the front of our truck nosed over pretty hard, but that’s all part of the deal. Then I took the truck into a donut, which is awesome. The real (1/10-scale) T-Maxx responds the same way when it spins. I got some more big air and put it back into a wild donut the second time. I had it spinning pretty well, came out of it and did a little roof walking for the fans. It was good. I’m not sure what my score was (15), but I heard some fans complaining my score was too low. They take fans out of the crowd to judge the freestyle competition. There are all kinds of factors in that; different fans like different things, and that night the judges were looking for destruction. We had a really clean run with plenty of big air, so I think the other 64,000 fans were happy.”

El Toro Loco™, the 2004 World Freestyle champion, won the freestyle competition with a 29-point score, barely edging Blue Thunder’s destructive 27-point run. El Toro Loco’s performance was so radical, none of its body parts remained after its winning performance. Pablo Huffaker rolled Grave Digger™ during the first 30 seconds, drawing the approval of the sellout crowd.

Following the freestyle competition, Seasock greeted fans and signed autographs for several more hours.

“We signed autographs through the night and didn’t get to breakfast until 1:30AM,” Seasock said. “Overall, everything was good. There were 15,000 people at the (two-hour) Pit Party and we took care of everybody we could there. We were signing non-stop from the minute they opened the doors to the time they closed them. We also signed autographs for about an hour before the show, then afterward until everybody left. Everybody who wanted an autograph got one; we didn’t quit until we took care of everybody. That’s one good thing with the USHRA and Clear Channel; we’re there for the fans. We’ll stay until everybody gets their autographs and their questions answered. We’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done for the fans. If it wasn’t for the fans, we would have to go out and get real jobs. We want to make sure they’re happy. They’re the ones who make it possible for us to have this great career It’s all about the fans.”