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 ORLANDO, FL (January 29) – John Seasock thrilled Florida Monster Jam® fans for the second straight week Saturday, driving the Traxxas® T-Maxx™ into the quarterfinals in the Superbowl of Motorsports before a sellout crowd at the Florida Citrus Bowl.
“We had a great crowd in Orlando,” said Seasock, who raced into the semifinals at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium January 22nd. “They sold out the Florida Citrus Bowl by Friday afternoon. The T-Maxx felt really good all night long.”
Seasock and the T-Maxx recorded the second-fastest qualifying time among the 12 trucks competing in the United States Hot Rod Association® event.
 “We ran head-to-head against Chad (Fortune, in Superman®) in qualifying and beat him,” Seasock said. “We did our best, but came up a little bit short overall. Gunslinger® was the quickest qualifier – just a little faster than us – and he ended up beating Grave Digger® in the finals.”
Seasock and the T-Maxx battled fellow Pennsylvanian and former teammate Andy Slifko in the First Round of racing competition. The T-Maxx was even with Eradicator® through the first two jumps, but Seasock was quicker on the throttle in the final corner to pull out the victory.
“Andy had some bad luck a few weeks back when his trailer burned to the ground,” Seasock said. “Fortunately, he’s racing again. He’s a good racer; a diehard racer. We had a good, tight race going with him, and we managed to win it.”
 Despite a good, strong run in the quarterfinals, the T-Maxx finished three car-lengths behind Grave Digger.
“We took on Grave Digger in the Second Round,” Seasock said. “We beat him by quite a bit in qualifying. The track got slipperier in the races though. I used my head and didn’t overpower the track. I finessed it, but Dennis Anderson managed to beat us.”
Several teams, including the T-Maxx crew, helped six-time USHRA champion Tom Meents repair the broken planetary on Maximum Destruction® before the semifinals. “We’re like family out there,” Seasock said. “We all help each other.”
Traxxas’ T-Maxx, the sixth monster truck to compete in freestyle competition, looked exceptionally strong and finished eight points behind the winner: Grave Digger.
 “We had a good freestyle,” Seasock said. “I really like the school bus pyramid. I went out and got some good air on it every time. We turned some good doughnuts, too. We scored a 21, which was good for sixth place.
“All in all, it was a good night. It would have been better if we had finished higher in the rankings, but I was pleased with how we ran. Considering we’re out there with a new team and a new truck, I’m pleased with how we’re doing. The truck has been great every week.”
Photos courtesy of Shawn Hancock (Monster-Style.com) and Bryan Wagner (MidwestMonsters.com)
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