The Stallion team races out west to Bethany Missouri…

     Michael Vaters and his team traveled all the next day to the Northwest Missouri State Fair in Bethany for a Sunday event.  Along with the Black Stallion and Iron Warrior, Samson driven by Dan Patrick and Screamin’ Demon driven by Jay Snyder competed.  The fair had never had a monster truck show so this was a treat for everyone in the area as they came out in droves setting yet another record attendance the second for the Vaters’ team in 3 days. 

     The event started off with the sky wheelie competition.  Jay Snyder whipped the Screamin’ Demon up into the air and came down hard on the trucks rear.  He feathered the throttle and kept the nose of the truck in the air and walked the monster across the line of cars.  Samson was only able to get the trucks fists slightly in the air in his attempts.  The winning wheelie was Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion as he brought the nose of the truck up in the air and it seemed to be suspended in slow motion as he tore the tailgate off the truck on the line of cars. 

     Racing qualifications were up next with Samson timing a 27.07, Iron Warrior a 26.94 and Black Stallion coming in second fastest at 23.34 behind Sceamin’ Demon’s 21.55.  In round one racing Samson beat Screamin’ Demon and the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion won over the Iron Warrior.  In the losers round Iron Warrior came back to beat the Screamin’ Demon which put Trey back in line for the semi-finals. Michael Vaters was on a roll and beat Samson by a mile as he spun out in the first turn allowing Vaters an easy win.  In the finals it was the two teammates Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion against Trey Myers in the Iron Warrior.  Both trucks were dialed in which made for a great race as they came off the line simultaneously when the flag dropped and each truck throttled in the straight a ways across the car stacks and slid around the turns in the Chicago style course.  Both drivers were flawless in execution but it would be the years of driving experience that would determine the winner of this race as Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion took the win in a very close finish. 

     The crowd favorite car crushing monster freestyle competition was up next.  Screamin’ Demon was out first with just a “screamin” performance literally.  The truck’s motor was screaming loudly as he pushed the truck and the rpm’s to its’ limit as he broke a front universal joint in the drive shaft and it just wasn’t able to hook up.  Iron Warrior came out and put the truck into a frenzy of sky wheelies off the car and van stacks.  Samson came out and brought the big fists up into the air after a bounce landing off a van stack and drove a wheelie down the track.  This trick put him into contention in the freestyle cheer off with the “wild child” Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion.  Vaters tore around the track cornering the truck as if it was on rails, soared off the obstacles getting the biggest air of the afternoon.  When the blur of destruction was done Vaters brought the Stallion to a halt and popped the front of the Stallion up onto the tires of the Iron Warrior and the crowd roared their approval cheering the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion on for the freestyle win. 

Burton OH  - Geauga County Fair - September 4, 2009

     Friday night on September 4^th at the Geauga Fair in Burton OH Vaters’ Motorsports gathered seven of the east coasts best monster trucks together for a night full of high octane motorsports thrills.  The grandstand was packed with a record crowd of excited fans ready to witness the action.  Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion and teammate Trey Myers in Iron Warrior competed with; Rodney Tweety in Bigfoot, Jim Koehler in Avenger, Chris Bergeron in Brutus, Dan Patrick in Samson and Jay Snyder in Screamin’ Demon.  Mike’s son Michael Vaters the 2^nd provided the high altitude negative gravity motocross stunts and the Kamikaze jet 4 wheeler rounded out the nights’ line up of entertainment.

     In racing qualifications the drivers didn’t hold anything back.  The fastest qualifier was Avenger with a 22.74 and slowest was Brutus with a 33.77.  Trey Myers driving the Warrior went up against Samson in the first pair and beat him by a truck length.  Brutus was beat by Jay Snyder in the Screamin’ Demon in the second pair.  Avenger got a bye run into the semi-finals as fastest qualifier and Big Foot got a bye run into semi-finals as the Stallion was unable to make it to the line.  Trey Myers behind the wheel of the Iron Warrior was on fire and beat Screamin’ Demon in the semi-finals.  Big Foot appeared to have the win against Avenger but in the last turn got a little sloppy and Avenger took the win and advanced to the finals.  Iron Warrior on a racing streak went up against Monster Jam World Champ Jim Koehler in Avenger in the final racing round.  It was a close race from the drop of the flag up until the last turn where Avenger got lose and spun out allowing Trey Myers in the Iron Warrior to power forward to the finish line for the racing win. 

Stallion & Warrior back at the Buck!

Lancaster PA - Buck Motorsports Park - August 29, 2009

Photo by Jason Miller

     Buck Motorsports near Lancaster PA has all types of motorsports events each weekend of the summer like mud bogs, tough trucks, tractor pulls and demo derbies.  It also has put on monster truck events for quite some time and long time monster truck driver Mike Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion has been competing there just as long.  Saturday night August 29^th Vaters’ competed along with teammate Trey Myers in Iron Warrior, Randy Moore in War Wizard and Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter.  The colorful graphics of the pro-mod War Wizard won best appearing monster truck. 

Photo by Jason Miller

     The timed single racing event was won by Bounty Hunter with a 5.44 and coming in second was Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion with a 5.66.  In side by side racing action Trey in the Warrior pulled off an easy victory against War Wizard.  The next pair was to be Vaters in the Stallion against Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter.  As Mike pulled to the line he noticed that his rear steer self centering wasn’t working properly.  The track is very narrow at the Buck with spectators sitting on both sides of the competition area.  Vaters pulled off the line and forfeited the race because it wouldn’t have been safe to run.  The Bounty Hunter won by default taking a bye run.  Michael Vaters went back to the pits and was able to fix the problem to later come back for freestyle competition.  War Wizard was able to come back into the racing bracket as fast loser and made his way to the finals against the Bounty Hunter.  Wizard beat out the Hunter for the racing victory. 

Photo by Jason Miller

     The monster freestyle action was wild and crazy this summer night with the stands packed full of wound up fans cheering and pounding their feet in anticipation of the completion.  All the trucks pulled out their best stuff soaring higher, landing harder with some close calls and expert last minute saves.  In the end when all the dirt settled the winner was long time veteran Michael Vaters driving the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion dominating as the reigning king of carnage. 

Photo by Jason Miller

     The Stallion team loaded up and headed out for home to get ready for another double header the following weekend…..Friday September 4 at the Great Geauga County Fair in Burton OH and then on to the North West Missouri State Fair on Sunday afternoon.

     A special note to our sponsors and followers.  The Washington Post came out to the Stallion’s shop and interviewed Mike and Trey for an article about the racing team that they will be publishing soon so heads up when you are skimming through the Post.  We will get a copy and attach it to one of our weekly updates if you miss it.  We want to thank all of our sponsors again for all your support because if it weren’t for your help we wouldn’t be one of the biggest independent teams competing in the industry today.

Black Stallion powers through rain and mud at the West End Fair…

Gilbert PA - West End Fair - August 28, 2009

Photo by Jason Miller

     Vaters’ Monster Motorsports was back at the West End Fair on August 28^th.  It was like Déjà because like last year the rains came in hard and heavy throughout the entire show.  The fans in Gilbert PA stuck it out under the covered grandstand and had a blast watching the trucks slide around the track and splash through the mud.  The all star monster truck lineup included; Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion, Jim Koehler in Avenger, Trey Myers driving the Iron Warrior, Chris Bergeron in Brutus and Jay Snyder behind the wheel of the Screamin’ Demon monster truck.  The monster thrill event was rounded out with tough truck racing competition and the “Jet Show” with the Psycho and Kamikaze jet 4-wheelers.

     The event started out with the monster sky wheelie contest.  All of the drivers did an excellent job considering the difficulty they had getting traction in the soupy mud.  The wheelie competition was about the only portion of the night the spectator got to actually see the body of the trucks because the rest of the night they indistinguishable because of the mud covering them.  The trucks got two hits each and got some amazing air as the spectators cheered on.  In the end the Avenger won the fan cheer off and was designated the winner in the wheelie competition.

     The monster truck racing was Chicago Style over the salvage cars.  The slick track made the racing even more exciting as real driving skill was needed to know when to let off the throttle to allow the monster tires to hook up and slide around the corners and when to put it to the floor to gain your momentum back to clear the cars.  Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion was lost out to Brutus in a photo finish in the first pair.  Screamin’ Demon beat out the Iron Warrior and the wheelie winner Avenger got a bye run to bring him into the semi-finals.  Screamin’ Demon had some ignition box problems and was unable to make it to the start line.  This gave Trey in the Iron Warrior a second chance and put him up against Brutus.  The Iron Warrior beat out the dog and advanced on to the racing finals.  Jay was able to make the repairs to the Demon and come back out to race against Avenger and win the round putting him back in line in the finals.  The final race was Trey Myers in the Warrior and Jay Snyder in the Demon.  Iron Warrior was running strong but in the last turn Trey lost traction which allowed Screamin’ Demon to take the racing win.  Jay drove the Screamin’ Demon around the sloppy track in a victory lap shooting waves of mud across the junk cars as the spectators cheered their approval. 

Photo by Jason Miller

     In monster freestyle the trucks were already coated with mud and were pretty much indistinguishable from each other except for Brutus who could be identified by its dog ears on top of the cab.  The drivers each used the slick track to their advantage getting incredible speed in the cyclones.  The crowd loved it all and yelled and cheered.  Each driver that came out soared higher slid farther and splashed though the muddy water as the rains continued to deluge the track.  It was clear that Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion put on the most extreme and daring exhibition by far and secured the monster freestyle win form the ecstatic crowd. 

Photo by Jason Miller

     After all the autographs were signed and the spectators left the Black Stallion crew had quite a muddy mess on their hands.  It took several hours and a few fire trucks lending their hoses for the cause to clean up the trucks enough to put them back in the trailers.  The tired team was off to Lancaster PA to the Buck for a show on Saturday night.

NEWS & RESULTS ARCHIVE