OCTOBER 26, 17:37 EDT

Knoxville Monster Truck Nationals 2000

By Chris Anderson
AP Sports Writer

The unveiling of Disk-O Monster was a huge success at the Knoxville Monster Truck Nationals 2000. "Taking second place in the Monster Truck Racing Competion was beyond our wildest dreams. We knew we had a great truck but, to place second in a major competion the first time out is amazing," said driver Ted Shephard. A huge congratulations goes out to the Disk-O Monster Racing Team who were on fire this weekend.

Over three days of racing, monsters and super trucks bumped and grinded until the champions were crowned. Yes, that's right - the champions were crowned on Sunday.

Tensions rose through the weekend as all the drivers raced against each other and the thought of losing the championship. On Sunday, Disk-O Monster met Bone Crusher in the main event.

Disk-O Monster raced so hard that he finished with 29 winning points and a sliced tire gone flat. He had to borrow another tire from the Truckasauras team to finish the night. Thankfully, these teams are friendly to each other in times of need.

Round one of racing, was detrimental for the number two ranked Raptor. Sunday during Raptor's first pass, Raptor won the round but he landed on the right rear wheel and the wheel just snapped off, throwing the truck into a barrel roll that just tore the body into pieces. The crash was quite a scare for the auditorium as flames began to shoot from the carcas of Raptor. With firetrucks standing by and medical teams rushing Howard Forbes to the Hospital, race fans will be glad to know that he received only minor injuries and was released late on Sunday evening. Broken, Raptor was unable to return to the floor for Round 2. This allowed Disk-O Monster to advance instead to take on Bone Crusher in the finals. He gave a good race but Bone Crusher edged out Disk-O Monster by a hair.

In monster racing, Jim Hickey of Bone Crusher was crowned the overall Knoxville Champion.

Congratulations to all drivers and to the champions for an awesome Knoxville Monster Truck Nationals 2000.