Black Stallion’s “Biggest Air Ever at Raceway Park!!!!!”

June 19, 2010   Englishtown NJ

     The Black Stallion team returned to Raceway Park in Englishtown NJ again this year.  They go to compete a couple times each summer against some of the best trucks in the business.  Michael Vaters behind the wheel of the Black Stallion and teammate Trey Myers driving the Iron Warrior competed with Maximum Destruction, Grave Digger, Spiderman and Taz. 

     In racing Taz beat Grave Digger in the first set.  In the second set Black Stallion eliminated teammate Iron Warrior.  Next up Spiderman vs Maximum Destruction, Spiderman took too long in the turn and Max D raced away with the win.  In the finals the two fastest times were paired up.  Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion with a time of 40.96 against Maximum Destruction.  Although Max D is the crowd favorite at Raceway Park the fans had to give credit where credit was due when Vaters drove the Stallion to a clear victory by several truck lengths.

     Monster Freestyle action was extreme as the trucks launched in the air off one car stack after another up and down the track.  Black Stallion was on a mission to double down with racing and freestyle wins.  The truck seemed to have wings as it leaped through the air off of the cars.  The crowd couldn’t believe the altitude.  The speedway announcer shouted “that’s the biggest air ever here at Raceway Park.”  Vaters’ commented in the post freestyle interview “I probably needed a pilots license for that one.”  Tom Meentz in the Maximum destruction had trouble with his rear steering as it wouldn’t re-center after turns causing the truck to drive catty wampus down the track during freestyle.  At the end of the labored freestyle Tom won the crowd over and stole the freestyle win when he drove the broken truck to its’ limits in a scorching cyclone. 

See the biggest air at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5-9CkdmvQk

Some of the members of the Black Stallion team….

Michael Thompson - Trey Myers - Denise Vaters - Michael Vaters - Matt Cody

Black Stallion launches multiple wins way up North!!!!

June 12-13, 2010 Halifax Nova Scotia

     Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion team traveled way North to Scotia Speedworld in Halifax Nova Scotia. The trucks in competition were; Black Stallion piloted by Michael Vaters, Grave Digger, Dominator, Instigator, and teammate Iron Warrior with Trey Myers behind the wheel. The weekend started off with a huge pit party Saturday morning for droves of fans who crowded down onto the front stretch of the track to get close to the trucks and get autographs from the drivers. 

     The first show of the weekend was on Saturday afternoon which got under way with the wheelie contest.  Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion leaped at the competition rolling away with the first win in the wheelie contest. Vaters continued on that same note throughout the weekend winning all three wheelie competitions!

     The racing course was tailor made for Michael Vaters with his many years of experience on concrete arena floors as the Thunder National Champion with no dirt ramps leading up to the car stacks.  In addition to the rampless obstacles the course was Chicago style with extremely tight turns. Vaters designed and built the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion to maneuver as if it was on rails.   Michael Vaters in the Stallion made winning look effortless as he took the turns defeating Instigator and Grave Digger in racing rounds to take the win.  Randy Brown in Grave Digger continued to taunt Vaters in their rivalry by stealing the donut win with a scorching cyclone. 

     The final element of the show was monster destruction freestyle competition.  The all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion put on a stellar performance both fast paced and radical with big air and close saves.  Brown in the overstated black and green machine took the freestyle win from Vaters who placed in second place with a score of 23. Mike Vaters was not discouraged by the freestyle loss but invigorated with his wins in wheelies and racing and looking forward to the remaining competition of the weekend.

     Saturday nights show was a picture perfect evening at the track with the sun going down during the show cooling off the track and all the while providing enough light throughout the evening clear through to the freestyle finale.  Michael Vaters continued on his path to dominate the wheelie contest yet again this weekend.  In racing Michael Vaters had the big black all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion’s horsepower screaming as tromped through the racing rounds to the finals.  The Stallion lined up against the Instigator and took the racing win easily coming across the finish line first to victory. 

     Freestyle competition was fast and furious as each truck was put through its paces one at a time.  Vaters in the Stallion let the all FORD horsepower loose and the truck reined it all in performing the way it was designed to.  The Stallion launched over car stacks speeding on the next to jump and clear that one as well.  The truck skidded around the turns as the tires slid on the asphalt surface under the 10,000 pounds of truck and torque from the powerful FORD engine.  When the Stallion screeched to a stop and the tire smoke cleared the crowd went crazy with applause.  Randy Brown in the Grave Digger had a tough act to follow and met the challenge with his radical run.  Grave Digger edged the freestyle win away from the Black Stallion and the rivalry continues. 

     Mike Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion continued his wheelie winning streak first off in Sunday afternoon’s show taking the third win of the weekend. Mike put the big Ford horse powered motor to work taking out the competition round by round in racing.  Vaters defeated Dominator in round one, defeated Instigator in the semi-finals and went on to double down wins by tromping the black and green machine in the racing finals. 

     The Black Stallion came out onto the track soaring over car stacks and bouncing the front of the monster up to hit another obstacle.  Vaters crisscrossed over the cars front ways and sideways.  The fans didn’t know in which direction to watch as the truck seemed to be everywhere.  When the monster FORD powered truck came to a stop the fans roared their approval.  Vaters with an unrelenting competitive nature drove the Stallion to the front of the Grave Digger bumping it nose to nose.  He wanted to get under Randy Brown’s skin carrying on their rivalry of previous competitions.  It was an unspoken challenge from one driver to another calling him out to try to top his freestyle run.  After several long drawn out minutes both trucks squared off against each other Vaters backed the powerful Stallion away from the Digger and allowed him to pass to start his freestyle run.  Randy Brown surely incited to the limit met the challenge and laid down the most radical freestyle performance of the weekend earning him the freestyle win.  In the end the fans were the real winners of the rivalry that continues between the Black Stallion and Grave Digger. 

View Black Stallion’s freestyle at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGsHxskUXH8

     Both the Kamikaze and Psycho jet powered 4-wheelers demonstrated their raw jet engine power at each of the events at Scotia Speedworld this weekend. 

Get a peek at the Jet War action at: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzYyWsI-5bI

Video & Photos courtesy of Dwayne Harvie

Black Stallion Wins Fans in Debut at Speedway 95

June 3-5, 2010 Bangor ME

     Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion team made their first ever appearance at Speedway 95 in Bangor Maine and after meeting the enthusiastic fans hope to return to compete for them again.  The trucks in attendance were Grave Digger, Michael Vaters in the Black Stallion, Iron Warrior driven by Trey Myers, Instigator, and Dominator. The stands were filled to capacity for all 4 shows with people sitting through downpours of rain under their umbrellas to see the trucks compete. 

     The rain held off for the first show on Thursday evening which started off with the wheelie contest.  Trey behind the wheel of the Iron Warrior was first up to take the leap across the fresh line of cars and a wet track from rain earlier in the day.  Trey launched the Warrior into the air and seemed to be going in slow motion as the crowd held their collective breaths before landing again.  Each truck seemed to get even more altitude than the one before.  Michael Vaters piloting the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion was on a mission to show off his driving skills and win over as many new fans as possible.  Vaters shot the Stallion up over the line of crushed cars and skyward as the truck went vertical into the air.  The fans went crazy with applause but the judges only gave him a score of 20.  Instigator won the wheelie contest with a score of 24.

     The racing portion of the show was all Mike and the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion as he easily defeated Dominator in round one, teammate Iron Warrior in the semi finals, and took the win by two truck lengths over Grave Digger in the finals. The muddy course didn’t show any challenge for the 28 year veteran in Black Stallion. The victory set the stage for Michael Vaters to attempt doubling down victories for the night.

     After watching the other trucks struggle with the mud, Mike launched the Black Stallion high into the air time and time again during freestyle to everyone’s amazement. Vaters threaded the Stallion back and forth across the junk cars putting major air under the truck.  Randy Brown in Grave Digger watched on and felt the pressure to raise the bar to obtain the freestyle win.  Brown was unable to maneuver the difficult track conditions and barrel rolled the Digger down the track.  The Grave Digger driver walked away without injury but lost the freestyle win to Vaters.  Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion double downed with wins in both racing and freestyle for his first competition at Speedway 95 in Bangor ME. 

     The sold out standing room only crowd on Friday night was thrilled to see beautiful weather all day long as they anticipated witnessing the top monster trucks in the country competing against each other.  Grave Digger and his team worked late into the night to make the needed repairs to the truck so it would be ready.  After the crash and loss the night before Randy Brown entered into competition with the purpose to redeem the black and green’s reputation in victory. 

     Grave Digger would sweep the wins on Friday night but it was not from a lack of effort by Michael Vaters in the Black Stallion. In round one racing Trey Myers in Iron Warrior was edged out by Dominator after the Warrior got crooked off the first jump on the tricky track.  Black Stallion lost by inches to Instigator in the semi-finals. 

     Vaters’ behind the wheel of the Stallion drove a fast paced freestyle run with long jumps that seemed to go on forever and put gravity defying vertical air under the truck.  Brown in the Digger was on a roll and was on a mission and put the truck through its paces giving the spectators in Bangor a show they will not soon forget.  Grave Digger took all three wins; wheelie, racing and freestyle Thursday night. 

     After working long into the night repairing damaged rear axle parts on the Iron Warrior and despite a huge rain storm on Saturday morning the Black Stallion team was ready to get the show started.  The track was a sloppy mess and would make for a difficult course for the drivers and an exciting show for the fans.   

     Mike Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black stallion made all the other trucks work a little harder to keep up to the pace.  Vaters pulled an almost vertical wheelie and the only other truck that could match him was Instigator who edged the Stallion out and took the wheelie win. 

     Vaters took out teammate Myers behind the wheel of the Warrior in the first round of racing.  Michael Vaters in the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion eliminated the black and green crowd favorite in the semi-finals.  Vaters let out all that big Ford power in the finals but was beat by Instigator in a photo finish.   

     Trey Myers in the Iron Warrior was out first for freestyle and laid down a fast paced high flying run setting the bar pretty high for the rest of the lineup.  Mike Vaters behind the wheel of the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion stepped it up a couple more notches with his run speeding towards the obstacles launching skyward and sliding the truck around and going back to do it time and again.  Brown in the Grave Digger answered the challenge laid out by Vaters and pulled some impressive cyclone donuts that had the crowd on their feet and earned him the freestyle win. 

     It’s all about the party on Saturday night…right…and the crowd was ready to see some monster action.  The threatening rain didn’t dampen the fans spirit but just in case the format of the show was changed to a “rain format.” This schedule is designed to eliminate the filler entertainment resulting in a faster paced more concentrated show of monster truck action to get the show in before the rain starts. 

     Mike Vaters stood the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion nearly on the tailgate as he took his first wheelie win of the weekend with a score of 23.   The left over mud on the track from the rain earlier in the day kept the racing fairly close as all of the drivers had a hard time keeping the monsters straight and on course.  Michael Vaters had a clear advantage with his many years of experience behind the wheel of the big bad black FORD.  The Stallion seemed to handle the slick difficult track effortlessly.  Vaters dominated in racing beating out each truck that he was lined up with as the truck seemed to get faster with each pass!  The all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion raced its’ way into the finals and beat Grave Digger to take the racing win along with the wheelie win from earlier in the night. 

     The muddy conditions and poor light finally caught up with the show as freestyle was definitely a slower pace than any of the other shows. The drivers toned the action down a bit to be safer since visibility was definitely at a minimum. Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion had some of the best air of the night skating the truck around on the muddy track effortlessly.  Vaters had to stop the freestyle run short like the other drivers before him because mud covered the windshield and visibility was zero.  Grave Digger was able to pull off the freestyle win with a mud chucking cyclone donut that turned the black & green machine to a mud colored machine.

     The weekend ended up bringing Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion many new fans as he swept wins throughout the weekend taking on his favorite rival Grave Digger.  The weekend at Speedway 95 was exciting for the Black Stallion team and they look forward to going back next year.

Summer Heat winner Black Stallion in Syracuse NY

May 22, 2010 - Syracuse NY

Photo by Ray Richer

     It’s official… summer has started at the Monster Jam Summer Heat which took place at the New York Fairgrounds in Syracuse NY.  Michael Vaters in the Black Stallion actually attended one of the first monster truck shows there back in 1987.  The Black Stallion and Iron Warrior showed up ready to compete against Eradicator, Backdraft, Spiderman and Grave Digger.

Photo by Kevin Berryman

     The show got under way with the wheelie contest. This time the wheelie contest had a twist to it. The competitors were scored on a best of three hits and nothing was off limits….even the large stack at the end of the track was fair game. Trey Myers in Iron Warrior started things off and stood the Iron Warrior almost vertical for 3 nearly identical wheelies over the race lanes. Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion came out and his first hit in the contest sent him vertical over the race lane. The Stallion developed rear steering problems after the first hit but he was still able to pull off almost perfect wheelies on his 2^nd and 3^rd hit.  Vaters despite his problems was able to land 3^rd place with a 25 in the wheelie contest.  Spiderman won with a 27.  Eradicator had mechanical problems with his distributor and was unable to compete for the rest of the night.  His teammate Backdraft also had some problems and had to finish the rest of the night of competition with only rear wheel drive.     

  The excited fans witnessed some high octane racing action and saw Michael Vaters in the all FORD Powered K&N Black Stallion power through elimination round by round and race away with the win.  

Photo by Kevin Berryman

     Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion had a stellar run in freestyle with him launching the truck nearly 70 feet past the large dirt ramp clearly getting some of the biggest air of the night. The Black Stallion was put through the paces and the crowd went crazy. Ultimately the Grave Digger, Backdraft, and Black Stallion would have a three way tie for the freestyle win.  The “silent judge” gave the tie breaking win to Backdraft for his outstanding run despite only having rear wheel drive in the truck.  All of the drivers in attendance agreed with the win and commended Backdraft’s driver Jeremy for doing a great job.

Photo by Kevin Berryman

Long time announcer Joe Lowe had this quote about Michael Vaters’ performance on www.monsterjamonline.com

“The big surprise of the night was the power and speed of Black Stallion.  Michael Vaters has a 25+ year tradition with the truck but I have never seen it with so much power off the line.  The truck seems to get faster and faster with each pass.  Mike said Ford Motor Company has become active in the trucks race program providing performance parts to the team.  It seems to be working quite well.”

Black Stallion flips for Quebec fans….

May 8, 2010 - Quebec City QC

     The trucks in attendance for monster competition at the Monster Spectacular show in Quebec this year were Michael Vaters in Black Stallion, Trey Myers in Iron Warrior, Bounty Hunter, Iron Outlaw, and Dominator.

     Vaters always the showmen started the show off with a BANG!!!  The first competition up was the wheelie contest.  Michael Vaters let the throttle get away with him when he launched the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion off the set of cars.  It was Vaters’ intention to have enough forward momentum to come back down on all four wheels, instead it landed squarely on the tailgate and stayed vertical for several long moments before falling off to one side.  To see the video follow this link.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vplV0RhINs4  The try

     The next element of the show was the side by side racing and Michael Vaters was ready to dominate the night. The first round of racing saw Michael Vaters take out Iron Outlaw. Trey Myers in Iron Warrior took on Dominator and was just edged out for the win.  The final round of racing came down to the two Monster Spectacular champions the Black Stallion and Bounty Hunter.  The rivals lined up, engines roared and then before the light turned green the Bounty Hunter driven by Jimmy Creten got a little anxious and hit the throttle “red lighting.”  Michael Vaters with his many years of experience held his position wanting a real race to show all the fans who had the skill and FORD Racing Power to win.  Vaters waited for Bounty Hunter to come back to the start line.  When the light turned green this time Michael Vaters launched the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion high in the air over the cars and took the win by over a truck length! In celebration of his racing victory Vaters put on a little freestyle show for the fans hitting the car stacks several times. 

     The final part of the show was the freestyle, and Iron Warrior started things off with some high flying hits over the van stack that had been placed between the race lanes. The crowd anxiously waited for the Black Stallion to come out onto the floor for freestyle.  Vaters blasted out of the pits and took off over a car stack shooting the Black Stallion into the air holding some serious hang time.  Vaters sped from one obstacle to the next never missing a beat as he hit them in every which direction.  The Stallion long jumped off of a van stack and bounced vertical wheelies.  By the end of the run the spectators were on their feet roaring their appreciation of the “all out” spectacle of speed and destruction. 

Photos from www.chrisarel.com

Black Stallion ROCKS Olympic Stadium in Montreal Canada…

April 17, 2010 - Montreal QC

     Eleven trucks competed in the bi-annual Monster Spectacular event on April 17.  The trucks in attendance were: Black Stallion, Iron Warrior, Dominator, Crushstation, Bad Habit, Martial Law, Razin Kane, Brutus, Snake Bite, Scarlet Bandit, Avenger and Bounty Hunter.

     In a growing tradition several of the trucks sported the local Canadian HABS hockey team logos and flags. The fans related their excitement to see the Black Stallion and Iron Warrior back at the big “O”, after scheduling conflicts kept the team from attending last fall.

     The show started off with a monster sized pit party with over 10,000 fans attending. A hot topic of conversation during the pit party for Iron Warrior's driver Trey Myers was the latest episode of the Canadian national TV show “Jobs De-Bras.”  Last April the show filmed a special on monster trucks at Olympic stadium. The show is comparable to Mike Rowe and the Discovery Channel’s hit “Dirty Jobs.”  The show features Patrick Groulx performing a variety of jobs related to getting the monster trucks ready for competition and even getting behind the wheel of the Iron Warrior and taking it for a spin.  The show aired the week of the event and will re-aired in Canada nearly a dozen times which is some great exposure for the Black Stallion team.  The Canadian fans had lots of questions about the experiences the host had during the TV show.

     As the stadium filled to over 45,000 attendees the monsters roared to life. The show started off with a long jump contest instead of a wheelie contest.  Trey Myers behind the wheel of the Iron Warrior was the first truck out to hit the ramp that was designed for a car stunt company.  Trey stabbed the throttle and the truck launched high into the air setting the tone for the night’s great action. Each truck after the Warrior seemed to go farther than the one before.  The Stallion was the next to last truck to long jump with long time rival Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter being last.  Michael Vaters piloting the all Ford Powered K&N Black Stallion appeared to take off into orbit with his hit.  Bounty Hunter struggled and with great effort was able to meet the landing point of the Stallion …. and so fueling the ongoing competition between the two Monster Spectacular champions. 

     The Racing portion of the show was some of the closest in memory at the Stadium. The Chicago style course feature race lanes that were several feet higher than the standard race lane. As a last minute change, all the drivers got together and requested the ramps approaching the race lanes to be shortened up to make the trucks fly even higher during racing!  Iron Warrior eliminated Razin Kane in their racing round when the truck went out with mechanical problems.  Vaters behind the wheel of the all FORD powered K&N Black Stallion annihilated the Hemi powered Dominator and moved on to the next round of racing.  Trey in the Warrior eliminated Snake Bite in a close race.  The second round of racing saw Black Stallion take on Bounty Hunter which would prove to be the match up of the night with each hungry to take the win. Both trucks lined up and brought their “A” game to the line but in the end the Hunter won by a very close finish.  The elimination brackets worked out with Trey in the Iron Warrior up against the Bounty Hunter.  The trucks kept pace with each other as they whirled around the track but Hunter pulled ahead as Trey took the last turn cautiously.  The Bounty Hunter won in a close finish. 

     During Freestyle the race lane approach ramps were removed and several more car and obstacles were set. The Iron Warrior was the third truck out to attack the beefed up course.  Myers set the bar for the following trucks as he went over all the big obstacles filling up his two minute run with constant air and action.  Michael Vaters sat in the Black Stallion watching all the drivers as he calculated his game plan.  It was an easy strategy.. go big, hit hard and fly high!  Vaters in the Black Stallion blew a tire after a huge hit on the box truck.  Vaters refused to stop or even let up on the throttle.  With a flat tire Vaters launched the Stallion over a double school bus stop in both directions, sideways and even long ways!!!  The crowd was all on their feet in amazement and awe screaming their excitement for Michael Vaters putting on such an awesome run with the Black Stallion lamed by the flat.

     The Black Stallion team has been traveling to Canada for many years, and no matter what Michael Vaters always delivers, and doesn't disappoint the Monster Spectacular fans.

Photos by Steve Parry