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