TheRetroStyle

BRANDON VINSON RED LIGHTS AND CORY RUMMELL WINS THE DOUBLE DOWN SHOWDOWN!!!! PIRATE'S CURSE IS GOING TO THE MAIN FIELD!!!

And we have an upset! Cory Rummell takes out Jared Eichelberger to make it to the Finals! BRANDON VINSON TAKES OUT CAMDEN MURPHY! COME ON BRANDON GO GO GO!!!!!

Cory takes out Kayla to wrap up Round 2. Camden vs Jared and Brandon vs Cory in the Semis.

Jared knocks out Ami. Brandon beats Tony.

Tony beat Krysten, Brandon took out Matt (Jester), and Kayla took out Matt (Blue Thunder). And already, everyone's predictions are out the window. Cory beat Collete. Camden takes out Brad at the start of Round 2 (WHYYYY)

Legofan506 spotted!

SCOTT DOUGLASS IS BACK! YES!! Technicians of the Year: Tim Mente - Multiple Trucks, and Dennis Folts - FS1 Cleatus Rookie of the Year: Brandon Vinson - Grave Digger Rising Star of the Year: Cynthia Gauthier - Monster Mutt Dalmatian Arena Two Wheel Move of the Year: Cam McQueen - Northern Nightmare - Pensacola, FL Stadium Two Wheel Move of the Year: Lee O'Donnell - VP Racing Fuel's Mad Scientist - El Paso, TX Donut of the Year: Tom Meents - Max-D - East Rutherford, NJ Arena Freestyle of the Year: Tyler Menninga - Grave Digger - Rosemont, IL (They actually snubbed Armando Castro's run from Fargo. I'm dead serious.) Stadium Freestyle of the Year: Ryan Anderson - Son-Uva Digger - Syracuse, NY Crash Madness of the Year: Randy Brown - Grave Digger - Detroit, MI (There was a double nominee in this category: Scott Buetow and Ryan Disharoon in Syracuse) Arena Save of the Year: Justin Sipes - Megalodon - Hampton, VA Stadium Save of the Year: Morgan Kane - Grave Digger - Indianapolis, IA WOW Factor of the Year: Ryan Anderson - Son-Uva Digger - Anaheim, CA (They had camera issues with this one, so they just showed the drivers nominated. lol) Extreme Air of the Year: Rosalee Ramer - Wild Flower - Oakland, CA Ronald McDonald House Outreach Award: Camden Murphy - Pirate's Curse I will say I agree with nearly all of these winners. The only one I disagree with had to be Tyler in Rosemont. Great run, but should've gone to Armando in Fargo.

Confirmed in the truck parade, Jimmy's got a special paint scheme on his Bounty Hunter. Austin's is normal.

Is that ramp in the back even going to be a backflip ramp? Looks like it's just a small ramp there.

My pics were too big, so I'll just type my predictions. DOUBLE DOWN SHOWDOWN CHAMPION: Grave Digger - Brandon Vinson - This guy has an advantage nobody else in this year's DDS field can say they have; being a former crew chief of a world champion. And that advantage is bound to come to good use tomorrow night. May not have been as fast as Camden, but he was consistent, which is what matters. As long as he holds on to the consistency he had, he's a definite contender for the win. Double Down Showdown Semi-Finalists: Pirate's Curse - Camden Murphy, El Toro Loco - Mark List, and Blue Thunder - Matt Cody RACING CHAMPION: FS1 Cleatus - Marc McDonald - I've waited so long for this guy's year to come, and this year may finally be it. He's been very consistent throughout the year and came so close to winning his tour. As long as he keeps on nailing the turns like he did in Qualifying yesterday and remains consistent, I see him finally going all the way. Semi-Finalists: Son-Uva Digger - Ryan Anderson, Mutant - Todd LeDuc, and Max-D - Tom Meents FREESTYLE CHAMPION: Max-D - Tom Meents - He's on the hunt for Championship #12, and he might just get it this year. He's been a mad man as usual in all of his runs, and even attempted a reverse backflip in San Diego. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he comes out as the champion, and on Max-D's 15th anniversary, that makes it extra special. Top 5: Son-Uva Digger - Ryan Anderson, Grave Digger - Charlie Pauken, Wild Flower - Rosalee Ramer, and Avenger - Jim Koehler

Becky with the first red light of the night, Scott with another DNF

Linsey Read almost pulled a repeat of Matt's DDS passes from last year. She got a 5 second penalty for it. Speaking of Matt Pagliarulo, he just repeated what he did last year.....and wrecked. PAUKEN WITH A BIG TUMBLE

Justin Sipes with a very impressive first ever Qualifying pass. Took that turn like a champ.

Remember Titan's crash in World Finals 15 Qualifying? Yeah, that could be repeated several times if they do it on Thursday. The conditions are most likely gonna be worse than that of WF 6, so I don't think they wanted to take any chances with it.

Due to inclement weather conditions on Thursday, they're doing it early to avoid it (At least, that's the most likely reason). I'm not too sure about the rest of this but those guys will eventually know why they did this.

Good ol' Scott Douglass just made his Double Down Showdown odds. https://www.monsterjam.com/en-US/news/double-down-showdown-odds

Wasn't that container on the backflip ramp painted last year? If it really is a dirt ramp this time around, then I'm surprised. Good to know the fountain jump's sticking around. And according to the banners, the track will be green and yellow yet again.

The Arena Tour Champion is CAM MCQUEEN! YES!!!

With 30 out of 31 qualifiers confirmed (not counting the DDS champ, which makes 32), the last spot will go to one or the other. There's no guarantee that Cam will get the spot, especially with how close the two of them are. If Pablo wins, no Vegas for Cam this year. It would definitely be nice to see Blacksmith return with Pablo behind the wheel. Just hope the body would be really sturdy unlike a certain new truck this year that has the exact same body style.

Okay so Cam and Pablo are separated by only 3 points on their tour as of the time of this post. Kevin and Linsey just got eliminated from the chance to win this afternoon. At this point it's down to the two former world champs. Really hoping Cam stays up top. I like Pablo and all but it's gonna cause controversy if Cam doesn't win, especially adding the fact that yet another Digger would be added to the big show.

Heard some rumors that there might be rain next week, and checked the forecast for Vegas. Friday and Saturday are looking good, but it may rain a bit around Qualifying time on Thursday.

Here's what I think would make a great track for Freestyle this year: A design similar to last year's; not too crowded, and with enough room for drivers to decide where they want to go after jumping instead of ramming into the ramp ahead of them upon landing. The Fountain Jump somewhere. Some obstacles that make a bit of a throwback (like the bus used last year). NO. STEEP. AS. HECK. RAMPS. ABSOLUTELY NOBODY WANTS RAMPS AS STEEP AS THE STEP UP RAMPS IN WORLD FINALS 16 OR 17. A middle jump about the size of World Finals 14's middle jump. If the track is designed like that, I'm pretty sure we'll be seeing a good Freestyle competition again this year.

Brandon Vinson - My pick to win it. He's the favorite to win the Double Down Showdown and I agree! He made a great final push towards the end of his tour, and scored a handful of racing wins, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if he came close to winning on his debut year. Jared Eichelberger - Almost won Triple Threat East and almost made it to the Semis in both of his previous appearances. Plus, he did get the fastest qualifying time of this field last year, so I wouldn't be too surprised if he comes in swinging. Mark List - The only competitor on here who made it to the Semis last year and I honestly think he can go all the way. Camden Murphy - The favorite last year but unfortunately got terrible luck. Fought really hard on Triple Threat West and I think he can get pretty far. Matt Cody - If you don't think this guy can get really far, allow me to say.......you're making an underestimation you might regret making. Cory Rummel - He took a Stadium Racing win this year in a major destination, so that's bonus points on his part. Tony Ochs - Knows how to get pretty decent times, and could go pretty far. Brad Allen - He may be more known for his Freestyles, but he's no slouch in Racing either. Bernard Lyght - Took quite a lot of Racing wins on his tour, so hopefully he can do just as well here. Kayla Blood - May have done well in qualifying last year, but the problem is there's a lot of big guns in the field who can easily take her out early on. But I won't say she can't beat them, cause she proved that she can do well. Krysten Anderson - She could improve but I honestly don't think she'll get past Round 2. Austin Minton - Made a few upsets throughout the season, but I think the turn might bite him. Ami Houde - Did take a few Racing wins, but same case as Austin. Collete Davis - She seems to do stronger in fields with not a lot of big guns. That could be a problem here. Linsey Read - She's been very consistent in some competitions throughout the year. Unfortunately, Racing isn't one of them. Matt Pagliarulo - As much as I really like this guy, he seems to do way better in Freestyle than Racing. Not to mention the turn bit and swung him TWICE last year.

Sooo I got 12 out of 16 right. Ultimate snub was Armando Castro. Really surprised Austin Minton got a spot, and Mat Dishman should've gotten a spot as well.

Forgot to post the pics of confirmation: There you have it. Double Down Showdown competitiors will be announced throughout the day tomorrow, probably 3 or 4 at a time. My new DDS predictions list (Old one is outdated): Rammunition - Mat Dishman Grave Digger - Brandon Vinson Grave Digger - Krysten Anderson Zombie - Travis Mowrey Monster Mutt Rottweiler - Brad Allen Scooby-Doo - Linsey Read Stinger Unleashed - Zane Rettew Monster Mutt - Kevin Crocker Pirate's Curse - Cory Rummell Pirate's Curse - Camden Murphy Soldier Fortune Black Ops - Tony Ochs Megalodon - Trent Montgomery Over Bored - Jamey Garner El Toro Loco - Kayla Blood El Toro Loco - Armando Castro Max-D - Jared Eichelberger