Weekend Race Recap

Friday -
Round One:
Black Stallion (fl) def Grave Digger
Full Boar def Black Stallion
The Broker def Iron Warrion

Round Two:
The Broker def Full Boar
Black Stallion def Grave Digger

Final:
Black Stallion def The Broker

Wheelie:
The Broker - 23
Iron Warrior - 16
Full Boar - 22
Black Stallion - 29
Grave Digger - 30

Doughnut:
The Broker - 23
Iron Warrior - 16
Black Stallion - 28
Full Boar - 30
Grave Digger - 30
* Grave Digger won by a cheer off.

Freestyle:
The Broker - 20
Iron Warrior - 16
Full Boar - 22
Black Stallion - DNS
Grave Digger - 29

Saturday -
Round 1:
Black Stallion def Full Boar
Grave Digger def Iron Warrior

Finals:
Black Stallion def Grave Digger

Wheelie:
The Broker - 22
Full Boar - 21
Iron Warrior - 24
Black Stallion - 29
Grave Digger - 30

Doughnut:
The Broker - 21
Iron Warrior - 21
Black Stallion - 29
Full Boar - 29
Grave Digger - 30

Freestyle:
The Broker - DNF
Iron Warrior - DNF
Full Boar - 21
Black Stallion - 26
Grave Digger - 27


Sunday -
Michael Vaters had a plan for the final day of Thunder Nationals competition at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester...and it came in the form of an overnight package of parts from his motor builder.  The Stallion team had yet to defeat Grave Digger in Monster Racing at this Thunder Nationals event and wanted to put one in the win column on the final day, so the crew arrived early Sunday morning and worked to install the new parts.

Sunday's show began with the Monster Wheelie contest.  It was the closest Wheelie contest of the weekend, with strong efforts put in by Trey Myers in Iron Warrior and by Lou Antonazzi, driving The Broker in place of Jim Leahy.  Ed Eckert also posted an excellent score in Full Boar, leaving Black Stallion and Digger to complete their runs.

Stallion dragged his tailgate on the crush cars on his wheelie, impressing the judges enough to earn a score of 29.  Digger responded by getting completely vertical on the cars to earn a perfect score of 30 and win the competition.  Unfortunately for the Digger camp, the truck broke a rear axle during the wheelie, and the Digger crew went into major trash mode to attempt repairs.

The competition continued with the Monster Donut contest.  With Digger on the sidelines fixing his axle, and both Broker and Iron Warrior having driveshaft problems on their runs, it came down to Full Boar and Black Stallion to decide the winner.  Full Boar performed his best donut of the weekend, a wild clcylone that had all four wheels leaning off-camber and smoke billowing skyward from his engine.  Full Boar's donut ended with a small fire in the engine compartment that was quickly doused by USHRA officials.  The run earned a perfect 30 score, and then it was Black Stallion's turn.  Stallion nailed a high-speed cyclone donut in the center of the arena floor, hanging his steering wheel out the window in his hand.  This run also scored a perfect 30, leaving the fans to vote for a winner.  They chose the donut "flambe" from Full Boar as the best of the contest.

Monster Freestyle was next on the agenda, but Full Boar was not able to compete after grenading his motor during the donut contest.  Iron Warrior made a valiant effort, but continuing driveshaft problems cut his run short of the full 60 second time.  The Broker put together a solid run, mixing solid air with a couple of mini donuts to earn a 23 from the judges.  While Digger's crew continued to work on their truck, Black Stallion came out with a run filled with big air to earn a 26 from the judges, enough for a victory...but doing some damage to the truck in the process.

With Monster Racing coming up, all the truck teams went into overdrive to affect repairs.  Ed Eckert joined in to help each team, along with his crew members.  It didn't matter to Ed that he was out of the action, and once again, despite the competitive nature of the drivers and teams, they went the extra mile to help each other and make sure the fans got the top quality show that they deserved.

Monster Racing began with a round one pairing of Black Stallion and Iron Warrior.  Warrior only had time to repair one of its two drive shafts, and put forth a noble effort in this first round event, but Stallion's challenge was too much, and Black Stallion earned a berth in the finals.  

The second round of Monster Racing saw Digger return, bringing the crowd to its feet.  Digger's crew had gotten the axle problem solved, and Carl Van Horn put it to the test in a close contest with the Broker, with Digger coming out on top.

The stage had been set for the Monster Racing Final, with Stallion and Digger squaring off.  The new parts the Stallion team had installed would be tested to the max.  After staging and testing each truck's RII equipment, the drivers re-fired and the crowd stood and held its breath.  Flash...green lights on...both trucks slammed into the crush cars at the same time, and Digger flew high, while Stallion's truck stayed lower to the crush cars.  As had happened the night before, the low flight pattern of Stallion proved to be the winning one, as he squeaked out the win over Digger.

It had been an intensely competitive weekend between Stallion and Digger, but this final race of the weekend featured a twist.  Traditionally, the Monster Racing winner at a Thunder Nationals will perform a celebratory freestyle.  However, Vaters and Black Stallion, in a tremendous display of sportsmanship, pulled off to the pit area and left the floor clear for Grave Digger to perform a freestyle.  "It's great to win, but we know the fans want to see Digger do its best to tear stuff up," said Vaters after the freestyle was concluded.  Van Horn thanked Vaters for his sportsmanlike gesture and saluted the fans to close the show.

While Michael Vaters was having a solid day, his son, Freestyle Motocross rider Mike Vaters Jr., faced disappointment on Sunday.  A hard landing on his final jump on Saturday night left him with a hand injury, and after consulting with officials, he had to sit out Sunday's action.  Vaters Jr. didn't let his inability to ride keep him off the floor, as he joined the announcers to provide commentary on the FMX portion of the show.  In the FMX contest, Gary Robertson of Erie, PA continued to show fine form, knocking out a stellar Kiss of Death on his final trick to earn the championship over Dustin Swan and Paul Smith.

A day full of amazing stories and amazing performances...all of which left another packed house with plenty of great memories...and left them looking forward to next year's show!

MONSTER WHEELIE CONTEST RESULTS:

Broker-24

Full Boar-27

Iron Warrior-22

Black Stallion-29

Grave Digger-30

MONSTER DONUT CONTEST RESULTS:

Broker-21

Full Boar-30

Iron Warrior-22

Black Stallion-30

Grave Digger-DNS

MONSTER FREESTYLE CONTEST RESULTS:

Broker-23

Full Boar-DNS

Iron Warrior-15

Black Stallion-26

Grave Digger-DNS

MONSTER RACING RESULTS:

ROUND ONE - Black Stallion def. Iron Warrior.

ROUND TWO - Grave Digger def.  Broker.

FINAL - Black Stallion def. Grave Digger.