FREESTYLE HIGHLIGHTS

NTNT played host to another great night of freestyle at Brampton as well. Bill Haught was hoping to get into Kill Devil Hills, and worried the fans of the Freak of Nature Ford with an early flip and a 20, but it ended up just barely being enough to get him into the lineup. Congratulations Bill!

Next came Bill's brother Robby. He had already guaranteed himself a spot in Vegas and was excited after doing well in racing, but he got a little too excited too early and flipped, also scoring a 20. He has second place in freestyle points all to himself at the moment.

Next on the clock for freestyle was Corey Davis' Reptoid. Corey was another one on solid ground for making the field, and so he could afford to let it all hang out the week before the Finals. He did exactly that, having the best run of the night so far that included an absolutely amazing save coming off of the triple van pyramid. Everyone in the crowd thought the truck was going over, but Corey had other plans, getting it up on two wheels and having a long sidesurf before bringing it back down. Corey continued with some more sideways jumps, then took on the triple van stack again and lost after pulling a wheelie, flipping the truck over. Afterwards NTNT caught up with him and he said, "Man, I didn't think I was gonna pull it out the first time, then it came back to bite me the second! It's OK  though, we'll have it fixed in plenty of time for Kill Devil Hills." Reptoid scored a 25 and took the lead.

After a run like that, the crowd was into everything! They got behind yet another driver vying for a spot in the World Finals, Dustin Hart and Pure Adrenalin. Dustin's home is very close to Kill Devil Hills, and he wanted an opportunity to perform in front of the hometown fans next week. His run, although short, was spectacular enough to give him the points he needed, putting him into fourth place overall in the freestyle points, the "bubble" spot for the World Finals. He'll have some body work to do on Pure Adrenalin, but nothing major, even though it was a flip over a railcar! He scored a 21.

The crowd was still buzzing; it had been a great freestyle event thus far, with even the early competitors stepping up their games. Scott "Razorbear" Bergman came out for his first NTNT freestyle with a great truck, Grave Digger 7. He tore the truck up early, but the crowd saw that he may be one to watch in the future. His score was a 14. Scott will be gaining experience in the NTNT Super Nationals circuit soon, so watch out for him next season!

David Stewart decided not to attend the Brampton event and instead to announce that he had already been working on a new truck in collaboration with truck builder Alex Weber (who drives Bear Foot in NTNT)! He was kind enough to show NTNT the new truck, then inform us that Corey Davis would be in the cab of Hot Shoe for the Brampton event, the last running of the original Hot Shoe before Hot Shoe 2 is tested and starts running. Corey scored a 22 in the green Ford.

Hot Shoe 2: The Competition crusher, as David likes to call it.

The original Hot Shoe in its last run in NTNT...Corey Davis put it through its paces, including wheelies, donuts, and some incredible air and saves, a fitting run to the end of the truck's (and usual driver's) rookie season.

Next out was the guy who is starting to have a hand in a lot of the trucks being made for online racing lately, Alex Weber. He decided to go out with a bang since he was just out of reach of the Finals, and jumped ANOTHER Bear Foot truck going over the double. He ended up catching some great air over the van/stunt ramp setup on the track and rolling over on his side, but he did score a 24, a great end to his rookie season that showed just how far he's come in freestyle this season.

Jim Hendrix came out next in the Avenger. He joined too late in the season to have a shot at anything points-wise, but if he joins at the start of the next season, look out! The old veteran scored a 20 and will be running hard this summer to shake off the rust.

Cory Schwab was not in action tonight, and it ended up costing him a shot at the World Finals, although it was simply amazing that he was even in that position. After joining with half the season left, Schwab dominated the racing portion of shows, with many showdowns against Landon Harrison that were very memorable. Mike Alston was behind the wheel of the Bigfoot T-Wrecks tonight and attoned for a sub-par racing performance in the Ford with a 26 in freestyle, pulling some great moves that had the crowd ready for more. Congratulations to Cory on a great season, and some of us shudder to think how the points would look if he and Landon had both joined at the start of the season.

Eddie Carmichael missed a few costly races during the NTNT season, but he brought Bigfoot 10 to the arena at Brampton to prove that he wasn't a quitter. He did just that, scoring a 22 in freestyle to finish the season on a good note. Rumor has it that there will be a major overhaul of his truck during the short off-season in preparation for NTNT's next season!

Another big Ford-powered truck came out for freestyle next, and that was John Everett's Built Ford Tough Blue Thunder! He was upset over his racing performance and pulled out all the stops, starting off with an awesome FRONTFLIP over the quad hills, and the truck landed back on four wheels and pulled a wheelie coming out! It was a move that others, including Robby Haught and Josh Rhodes, had been wanting to do in their runs, but John was the only one able to pull it off. John continued on for most of his allotted time, but then rolled the truck again. He had the following comments after his run, which he received a 27 and the current lead on with one truck left:

"I damaged the truck pretty bad, but I had already planned on bringing out a new one for the World Finals anyway. It'll look great and perform great too. If Josh can beat that run man, he can HAVE the win!"

Other scores were as follows:

Landon Harrison (MoonShiner)-18

Landon Harrison (Black Stallion, subbing for Robbie Milburn)-11

Mike Alston (Sniper)-13

Josh Rhodes is used to having his name down here, in the space reserved for the winner in freestyle, but tonight he may have outdone even his  high expectations. The score? A perfect 30 and the win. The moves? Absolutely unbelievable. The crowd might have been confused as to which side was supposed to be facing up on the Half Breed truck, because Dig was going to town and putting the truck through its paces, landing sideways, jumping sideways, wheelies, pogos, HUGE air, sidesurfs like nobody else, and amazingly, he never flipped, although he pulled some of the most incredible moves all year in the process. A deserving winner, he turned John's challenge to win into a message to all the competitors in the World Finals-Rhodes is ready for them, and there's a reason he's in first place! That's all from NTNT tonight...to everyone who raced and had a hand in this league's first season (except the World Finals, which is coming very soon ;) ), NTNT would like to thank you for coming out and hopes that you had a blast racing with us...and hopefully we'll see EVERYONE on the track for the start of the summer season!!! Good night, everybody!