Black Stallion is at Home in Horse Country!!!

Lexington KY - Rupp Arena - March 28, 2009

     Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion felt right at home competing at the Rupp Arena. The Monster Jam took place in the World Famous horse capital of the world - Lexington Kentucky. The Black Stallion was at peak performance and took home the win in racing and freestyle.   The other trucks competing alongside Michael Vaters this past weekend was Gary Porter and Grave Digger, Trey Myers and Iron Warrior, Andy Slifko and Eradicator, and his son Jeremy Slifko in Backdraft. The event started off with fans flooding the floor of the arena to get up close to the monster trucks during the Built Ford Party in the Pits.

     The action took place on a concrete floor Thunder Nationals style. Unlike last week where the slick floor haunted the trucks until some rubber was laid down, this week the floor started off really tacky. Just how tacky….well the show started off with the Grave Digger rolling as it came out for introductions while attempting to do a donut.  The fans went wild and everyone in the house knew it was going to be an action packed show. 

     The wheelie contest kept the crowd on its feet with the high flying vertical wheelies started off by teammate Trey Myers in the Iron Warrior. Each of the trucks took on the cars and Michael Vaters studied the lanes gearing the Stallion up for the contest. As he launched the truck high into the air the place went nuts. The nearly vertical wheelie wasn’t enough to oust Grave Digger from the win.

     The racing competition was the first win of the night for Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion.  After the drivers had drawn racing order it was announced that Michael Vaters had got a bye run into the semi finals. The Semi final round would be a close one for the Black Stallion lining up to take on Trey Myers and the Iron Warrior.  Over the past few weeks the freshened up Ford motor in the Iron Warrior has been making for some close racing and Saturday night would be no different. Both trucks exploded over the start line but it was the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion crossing the finish line first taking Iron Warrior by ½ a truck.  The win set Michael Vaters up for a fantastic final run against Grave Digger. The first quarter racing season has set Gary Porter and Michael Vaters against each other on several occasions.  Both drivers have a long history in monster truck competition and although friends off the track very competitive at the start line.  Digger and Stallion poured it on with huge high flying runs but it was to be Michael Vaters in the K&N Ford powered Black Stallion that took the racing victory. 

     The donut competition would go amazingly well for how sticky the floor started out. Each of the trucks would be able to break the trucks loose and go for broke in some amazing donuts. Michael Vaters was burning up the track during his donut holding his steering wheel out the window of the Stallion.  At this level of competition anyone could win and yet again we had a different driver stepping up to take the victory. Despite Vaters’ antics Andy Slifko driving Eradicator performed a blazing donut and won the wheelie competition.   

     Freestyle competition allowed the trucks 60 seconds each to take on the track which included a van stack right in the center. Michael Vaters in the K&N Ford powered Black Stallion was able to out turn, out maneuver and out jump the rest of the of the field by a huge margin. It seemed as if the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion was on rails the way Michael Vaters was able to swoop down to the other end of the track and then make the turns lining up perfectly for the biggest air of the night over the vans stack! Gary Porter brought the Grave Digger out last but was unable to maneuver the truck in tight turns to compete with Vaters’ blazing freestyle run.  It was a sweet victory for the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion.  With so many freestyle competitions this season mysteriously being lost by just one point to the Grave Digger the Black Stallion team was thrilled with this win.  The fans left the show knowing that all their favorite drivers had just given them 110% for an awesome show.

Black Stallion Takes on Dayton Ohio!!!

Dayton OH - Nutter Center - March 20-21, 2009

     Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion completed the next stop on the Monster Jam tour this past weekend at the Nutter Center in Dayton Ohio. Joining Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion was; Trey Myers and the Iron Warrior, Gary Porter and Grave Digger, Bruce Haney and Bad News, Dave Rappach and Rap Attack, Ed Eckart and Full Boar, Jim Kohler and Avenger, and Chris Bergeron and Brutus. The weekend would include several wins by Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion.

     The fans filled the Wright State University for the first event of the weekend on Friday night. The wheelie contest started things off with a bang! Each of the trucks came out and got higher and higher in the air. Michael Vaters in the Black Stallion went all out for the win in the first event but unfortunately it was not to be due to some uncooperative cars and a bad hit that tossed him sideways.  The first round of racing featured a very close race between Trey Myers driving the Iron Warrior and Avenger. The Iron Warrior had victory in sight when out of nowhere Jim Kohler came flying past the finish. After reviewing the replay 3 times, it was decided that Avenger had the win by mere inches. Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion squared off with Bad News for the first round, with Bad News taking the win.

     The slippery concrete floor proved to be quite a challenge for the drivers in the doughnut competition. Logically you wouldn’t think that a slippery floor would be a problem when the goal is to slide a 10,000 pound monster truck around in circles.  In actuality on a slippery floor the trucks slide to one side or the other trying to gain purchase instead of hooking up and settling into nice tight doughnuts. Quite a few of the drivers would make a revolution or two and then stop in the interest of safety before going out of bounds or sliding into the race lane cars. Finally after several trucks laid down some rubber on the floor Avenger was able to get a doughnut going and took the win. The freestyle portion of the show raised quite a few eyebrows from the fans.  Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion powered his way to an excellent freestyle run. The exhibition consisted of very fast turns and lots of high flying air over the center van stack. Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion finished off the run with a spectacular high flying leap landing 10 feet away from the center van stack driving in reverse!!! The problem came when Gary Porter and the Grave Digger wasn't able to move around the course as quickly as normal due to a broken front differential and yet Grave Digger got the Freestyle win by one point over Black Stallion. The fans didn't approve and made mention quite a few times after the show in the autograph line. Black Stallion support runs strong in Dayton!!!

     A bright and sunny Saturday afternoon brought out the crowds to see the second show of the weekend nearly filling the house to a capacity crowd. The morning started off with the Built Ford Party in the Pits. Tons of fans got to meet the drivers and get up close and personal with the stars of Monster Jam.

     Dave Rappach got the wild action started with a very hard roll over during the wheelie contest which side lined him until the evening show. Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion proved to the fans right at the start he is still the “King Of Concrete” when he stood the truck vertical and took the win in the wheelie contest.

     Trey Myers and the Ford Powered Iron Warrior was looking to have revenge when he was paired up with Avenger again in the first round. This time no replay was needed to determine the winner of the race and Trey Myers moved on to face Bad News in the semi finals. The powerful A&C Racing Engines Ford motor was too much for the transmission coming around the last turn which caused the Warrior to lose all forward gears and Bad News moved into the finals. Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion had a hard first round pick going right up against Grave Digger, and missed moving on to the semi-finals.

     The doughnut competition was won by Full Boar as he spun the truck around so hard the transmission came apart and he was out until the evening show.  Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion continued his winning by taking the Freestyle win by one point over Grave Digger. The freestyle run included lots of high flying action and yet another solid run. 

     A sold out house rocked the Nutter Center as the stars of Monster Jam pushed it to the limit on Saturday night the last show of the weekend. The action got underway with several vertical Wheelies. Trey Myers and the Iron Warrior started the contest off and each of the following trucks got higher and more vertical with each pass. Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion stood the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion straight up and down nearly ripping the rear body parts off again.

     The racing portion of the show saw an incredible final round race with Michael Vaters and Black Stallion taking on Grave Digger. Michael Vaters made his way to the finals by taking out Iron Warrior in round one and defeating Bad News in the semi final round. The replays came in and Grave digger took the win.

     The doughnut competition was next and each of the trucks successfully lit up the tires and spun the huge trucks in circles.  Through the weekend the track got better as more rubber was deposited on the concrete floor. Full Boar won took the doughnut win again at the sacrifice of his second transmission of the weekend.

     The finale of the weekend was the freestyle competition. Trey Myers and the Iron Warrior set the bar high with a fast paced run. Michael Vaters and the K&N Ford Powered Black Stallion sent the crowd to its feet with his fast paced high flying run. The action was non- stop!  Grave Digger took the freestyle win but all the competing trucks were winners as they demonstrated some of the best action of the Monster Jam season.  Dayton fans were not disappointed.     

Photos by Paul Harry   www.themonsterblog.com

Black Stallion Grabs Racing Wins in Bridgeport!!!

Bridgeport NJ - Harbor Yard Arena - March 13-15, 2009

     Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion traveled to Bridgeport Connecticut to compete at the Monster Jam in the Harbor Yard Arena. The weekend was filled with high flying action, close racing and some of the wildest freestyles on tour this year. Michael Vaters and the Ford powered K&N Black Stallion took victories in both Saturday afternoon and Saturday nights Monster Jam. Along with those victories Michael Vaters pushed the truck to its limits even ripping the bedsides and tailgate off the truck in the Wheelie contest Saturday night! The field of trucks included; teammate Trey Myers in the Iron Warrior, Grave Digger driven by Charlie Pauken, Adam Anderson behind the wheel of Taz, U.S. Air Force Afterburner piloted by Damon Bradshaw and lastly Donkey Kong with Frank Krmel behind the wheel.

     Michal Vaters was hungry for another win though, and set his sights on the racing competition.  Vaters worked his way through the lineup of competing monster trucks and made it to his second finals in racing for the weekend.  In the finals it would be the Ford powered K&N Black Stallion up against the Grave Digger.  There aren’t many drivers that have more years behind the wheel than Charlie Paukin’s twenty one….except for Michael Vaters who has twenty seven.  Michael Vaters used every single one of those extra years to find the right formula to become a two time racing champion in Bridgeport with the Ford powered K&N Black Stallion.  The freestyle competition was started off again by Trey Myers and the Ford powered Iron Warrior. Michael Vaters and the Black Stallion took on the van stacks and the freestyle motocross jump with some high flying action and gave the crowd what they wanted to see…..action.

     The final show of the weekend on Sunday afternoon was a near sell out with the fans excited to see some of the true stars of the Monster Jam series. The wheelie contest was close with each of the drivers getting their trucks vertical. The Stallion crew worked late into Saturday night to repair the body damage from the previous show.  Michael Vaters and the Ford powered K&N Black Stallion was looking sharp and ready to give 100%. The fans were rewarded with two back to back sky wheelies from Vaters but the Stallion missed the win by a couple of points.   

     The racing competition was where Michael Vaters had dialed the Stallion in on “win” to make it a sweep for the weekend.  The Ford powered K&N Black Stallion was making tremendous power and was on the way to another victory by taking out teammate Iron Warrior in round 1, but Grave Digger just edged out Michael Vaters in the Semi Final round of racing.

     The weekend was rounded out with the freestyle competition were yet again Michael Vaters not only took on the obstacles driving in forward  but also mastered the jumps in reverse.  The freestyle FMX ramp allowed Michael Vaters to yet again stretch out the legs on the Ford powered K&N Black Stallion with some big air jumps. 

     Photos by Steve Parry.... www.allmonster.com