The Gravity Slashers were in Hog Heaven tonight right in the heart of Razorback country at the Verizon Arena.  The crowd was treated to a spectacular display of riding from the very beginning with Shawn Connors taking the first at bat.  He sailed thru his run nailing a big Dead Body and really setting the vibe with all the fans.  He didn’t advance to the finals with his 83.1, but he did set things up well for rider number two, Rich Kearns.  Richy Rich took his time and went smoothly thru all the tricks on his bar pad, including a nac flip, to finish with a total of 89.6.  Keith Sayers came out next and while he still isn’t 100 percent he did get inverted and put up a very respectable 82 even.  Newcomer Jeff Griffin took center stage and looked much more relaxed than last night flipping the big landing ramp and hanging on to a nice double grab Hart attack.  The judges gave him an 81.6 and he smiled and thanked everyone for keeping it loud for him.  The final rider in the first half of preliminaries was Julian Dusseau and he was looking for a big night, but a lapse in concentration going into a turn caused him to wash out the front end on his final trick.  All that was injured was his pride but he smiled anyway and chalked it up to experience.

Between the prelims Heath Frisby came out and hit the ramp on his Ski-Doo showing the folks a super can and a double grab look back Hart attack before stopping to talk about the sport he loves.  He gave the fans a little insight into the inner workings of his big yellow sled and thanked them for being so loud.  They got even louder when he came out after the finals concluded and showed the skills that earned him X-Games gold by flipping his 400 plus pound sled in tandem with Keith Sayers on his bike.

Our second half got started with Drake McElroy and the always cool Reno native dropped a gnarly 9 O’clock nac that got a big rise out of the folks in attendance.  His 83.3 wasn’t quite enough for the finals but DMC was all good with that and yielded the floor to our next rider Javier Villegas.  JV was looking to improve on his second place finish last night and came out swinging leaving no doubt he was going to be a force in the finals.  His 91.0 was the top qualifying score and gave him the advantage of going last in the main event.  Dustin Nowak fired up his big YZF 450 and charged headlong into his run.  He turned in a solid performance including going upside down, but his 85.4 left him on the outside looking in.  Nick Dunne turned up the tunnel next and was running well until a dead sailor forced him to hurry to get an extra trick in.  He recovered nicely finishing with his signature trick the Captain Morgan and got a pass to the finals with an 89.4.  Greg Hartman finally dug his way out of Pennsylvania and turned in the final qualifying run.  He was a little shaky early but finished strong with a back flip heel clicker that was just enough to get him the last spot in the finals.

Three men brought their steeds to the floor for the whip contest and it was by far the best of the year.  Villegas led things off and went nearly upside down on his whip.  Dunne went vertical after him and showed a big salute whip followed by DMC with his supersized whip nac.  We used the crowd response to pick the winner and they cast their vote for JV.

That left us with the finals and Greg Hartman taking the floor first.  He definitely improved on his earlier run, hitting all of his tricks including a big super flip.  He landed comfortably in the hot seat with his 90.6.  Nicky “Six Guns” Dunne wheeled out behind Hartman and had things rolling but a bobble while trying to hit a cliff hanger dropped his score to an 87.4.  Rich Kearns made his bid to repeat doing a cordova flip and a super flip, but that wasn’t enough to unseat Superman.  So Hartman stayed put to watch the final rider, Javier Villegas take his run.  JV went big right from the get go, tossing a super flip indy and Kiss of Death as his first two tricks.  He finished with a 9 o’clock nac and it was over.  The judges gave him a 91.7 and he took home the hardware.

We had a great weekend here in Little Rock and look forward to seeing everyone as the season continues.  We are headed to the West Coast next week and Sacramento, CA.  Grab your tickets and get ready, because the Gravity Slashers are coming!  If you have any questions or comments check out Gravity Slashers on Facebook, or send me an e-mail at mxannouncer@hotmail.com  - David Kinsley