{"id":86228,"date":"2019-02-23T14:07:26","date_gmt":"2019-02-23T19:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=86228"},"modified":"2019-02-23T14:17:07","modified_gmt":"2019-02-23T19:17:07","slug":"its-a-monster-truck-win-for-armando-casto-el-toro-loco-opening-night-at-the-ppl-center-by-diane-fleischman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=86228","title":{"rendered":"IT\u2019S A MONSTER TRUCK WIN FOR ARMANDO CASTO (EL TORO LOCO) OPENING NIGHT AT THE PPL CENTER &#8211; by Diane Fleischman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.df-foto.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>Story &amp; Photographs by Diane Fleischman<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">Monster Truck fans filled the PPL Center Friday night for the opening performance of the Monster Truck Triple Threat series.\u00a0 The mechanical rasp of engines revving filled the arena as the show opened with each Monster Truck taking a couple of laps around the dirt track.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"su_carousel_6a0093a1137c3\" class=\"su-carousel su-carousel-centered su-carousel-pages-yes su-carousel-responsive-yes su-lightbox-gallery\" style=\"width:100%\" data-autoplay=\"3000\" data-speed=\"600\" data-mousewheel=\"true\" data-items=\"3\" data-scroll=\"1\"><div class=\"su-carousel-slides\"><div class=\"su-carousel-slide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1078r.jpg\" title=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-0\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1078r-249x300.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_1078r\" \/><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-carousel-slide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1110r.jpg\" title=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-1\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1110r-249x300.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_1110r\" \/><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-carousel-slide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1173r.jpg\" title=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-2\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1173r-249x300.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_1173r\" \/><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-carousel-slide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1257r.jpg\" title=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-3\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1257r-249x300.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_1257r\" \/><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-carousel-slide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1368r.jpg\" title=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-4\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1368r-249x300.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_1368r\" \/><\/a><\/div><div class=\"su-carousel-slide\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1444r.jpg\" title=\"\" data-rel=\"lightbox-image-5\" data-rl_title=\"\" data-rl_caption=\"\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/DSC_1444r-249x300.jpg\" alt=\"DSC_1444r\" \/><\/a><\/div><\/div><div class=\"su-carousel-nav\"><div class=\"su-carousel-direction\"><span class=\"su-carousel-prev\"><\/span><span class=\"su-carousel-next\"><\/span><\/div><div class=\"su-carousel-pagination\"><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Cambria;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Participating in the competition is Kristin Hope, Monster Mutt Dalmatian, Jared Eichelberger, Max-D, Tristin England, Earth Shaker, Bernard Lyght, Alien Invasion, Jack Brown, Megalodon, Krysten Anderson, Gravedigger, Armando Castro, El Toro Loco, and Joe Urie, Zombie.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">Besides their Monster Trucks with elaborate and unique character designs, each athlete also competed in ATV and Speedster racing, with their individual vehicles completely branded. <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">The competitions were thrilling to watch.\u00a0 As the fans cheered for victory to their favorite driver, the adrenalin of the drivers went into overdrive.\u00a0 The ATV race winner was El Toro Loco, and Max-D took first place in the Speedster Obstacle course.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Cambria;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As the athletes returned to their Monster Trucks, there were two events that the crowd chose the winners on a smart phone app.\u00a0 The criteria in judging the Two Wheel Skills Challenge was based on the completion of attempts, was the truck vertically inverted, and for how long.\u00a0 EarthShaker won the competition with awe-striking performance, matched by an astounding score of\u00a0 9.436.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">The Freestyle Competition had additional judging tips like how long the vehicle maintained control, creativity\/wow factor, the variety of tricks, technical moves, completion of time, within the 75 second time frame per truck. There is some irony to the fact that these 12,000-pound trucks can look so graceful flying through the air at up to 125 to 130 feet out and up to 35 feet in the air.\u00a0 After another spectacular performance, EarthShaker took the win with a score of 8.888.\u00a0 Zombie followed in a close second with a score of 8.699, and El Toro Loco rounding out third place with 8.475.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Cambria;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"margin: 0px; font-family: 'Cambria',serif; font-size: 12pt;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">At the end of the competition, Armando Castro was awarded the Event Winner.\u00a0 Castro remains ranked third within current points standing, and a fan base growing in the crowd.\u00a0 Who will today\u2019s winners be?\u00a0 Don\u2019t miss Saturday and Sunday shows now playing at the PPL Center.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=86150\"><strong>Click Here for more information about Armando Castro and El Toro Loco from his interview with The Valley Ledger&#8230;<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>EVENT:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <strong><u>MONSTER JAM PIT PARTY<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Pit Party Early Access starting at 10:30am<\/p>\n<p>Pit Party from 10:30am-12:00pm<\/p>\n<p><strong>Show dates and times:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Friday, February 22 at 7:00pm<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, February 23 at 1:00pm and 7:00pm<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, February 24 at 1:00pm and 6:30pm<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>LOCATION:<\/strong><br \/>\nPPL Center (Pit Party Entrance at Air Products Gate)<\/p>\n<p>701 Hamilton Street<\/p>\n<p>Allentown, PA 18101<\/p>\n<p>Tickets &amp; Pit Passes start at $15 each and will be available for purchase at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.pplcenter.com\/\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/www.pplcenter.com\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1550702942399000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH5K9rsJ1BQBJbzuXqNCS8emsQWuA\">www.PPLCenter.com<\/a>, charge by phone at 610-347-TIXX, or in-person at QNB Box Office at PPL Center.<\/p>\n<p><em>*Ticket prices subject to change \u2013 additional fees may apply.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Story &amp; Photographs by Diane Fleischman Monster Truck fans filled the PPL Center Friday night for the opening performance of the Monster Truck Triple Threat series.\u00a0 The mechanical rasp of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=86228\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">IT\u2019S A MONSTER TRUCK WIN FOR ARMANDO CASTO (EL TORO LOCO) OPENING NIGHT AT THE PPL CENTER &#8211; by Diane Fleischman<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":86235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5716,2290,1024,69,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-allentown","category-diane-fleischman","category-entertainment","category-in-the-valley","category-photography"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/El-Toro-PPL.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86228"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=86228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86228\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/86235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=86228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=86228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=86228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}