Truck Town Thunder Robotics Competition Season Concludes at World Championship
The wheels on the bus went round and round as FIRST Team 68, Truck Town Thunder, journeyed to the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri to compete in the FIRST Championship held April 23-26, 2014.
FIRST Founder, Dean Kamen, FIRST Advisor, Woodie Flowers, and more motivational speakers delivered speeches that inspired students, mentors, volunteers, and parents.
The competition grew in intensity as over 400 of the best teams from around the world gathered in the 66,000 seat stadium to duke it out for the championship title.  The competition was separated into four divisions of 100 teams each. Team 68 was placed in the Curie division of the qualification matches.
The team seeded 26th as a result of each team members hard work and gracious professionalism demonstrated throughout the 2014 build and competition seasons. Qualification matches ended with a 6-4-0 record, after which Truck Town was selected as an alliance partner for the elimination matches.
Allied with Truck Town Thunder in the elimination matches was Team 11, MORT, Team 1241, THEORY6, and Team 135, The Black Knights. Despite an excellent performance, the alliance was eliminated during the quarter finals.
The winners of the Curie division included Team 54, The Cheesy Poofs, Team 469, Las Guerrillas, Team 2848, The All Sparks, and Team 74, C.H.A.O.S. The winning alliances of each of the divisions gathered on Einstein field for the ultimate showdown to determine this year’s world champs.
Dean Kamen lightened the tense, competitive mood by talking about the future expansion of FIRST programs. To get out his message in a LOUD way, Dean Kamen invited William Adams (a.k.a. will.i.am) and Rachel Crow to perform for the crowd. Black Eyed Peas singer, will.i.am, along with The Script, unveiled a new version of “Hall of Fame” made specifically for FIRST, where he performed it live for the first time.
When competition resumed, the crowd was anxious to see which division would come out on top.  As the championship entered its fourteenth season with divisions, the Curie champs had yet to emerge from Einstein as victors. The Curie division had been infamous for having the “Curie Curse”.  However, superstition is no match for an outstanding alliance, because Curie took the championship after three heart-pounding final matches.
Truck Town Thunder headed for home while contemplating their never ending challenge to change the culture and spread the word of FIRST during their upcoming off season. It has been a banner year for Truck Town Thunder, and it would not have been possible without the incredible support of the team’s sponsors.