Archive for May, 2009
Jam Packed in Windsor
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The brand new WFCU Centre was sparkling new when the Monster Spectacular crew arrived on Friday in Windsor Ontario. Facility management told the crew that the concrete floor, “has not seen 20 days of air”. It’s either been brand new or had ice on the floor for the OHL Hockey team Windsor Spitfires. Once we were done with the facility, it looked like a war zone!
You can see beautiful downtown Detroit from the WFCU Centre, and to Chris Bergeron and Jim Koehler, the greater Detroit area is home. Bergeron did not disappoint close to home, picking up 1 of the wheelie contest wins and both freestyle victories. Joe Miller was a man on a mission in racing, taking down team mate Darren Migues in Bounty Hunter in the finals at both shows. Migues didn’t leave without a little hardware, grabbing the wheelie contest win on Sunday afternoon.
Billy Vugnt, Ray Post, and Dan Newt tore it up with an awesome freestyle motocross session, while Team Windsor defeated Team Kelowna in the first ever “Lawnmower Wars”. That’s right, Lawnmower Racing with team vs. team excitement! The crowd loved it, as on Sunday the crowd was also informed that the Windsor Spitfires defeated Kelowna 4-1 to win the Memorial Cup in the Junior Hockey League!
Click here to check out some great artistic style photos from the event
The tour rolls on, and I have reached a small milestone personally, 10,000 miles traveled…and counting!
FLYIN BRYAN’S MILES TRAVELED SO FAR: 11,029 (or 17,646 KM)
Miles, KM, and Miles!
Posted by Mister Destruction | Filed under Live Blog
Sold out Cornwall Friday Night (Janice really helped us out on that one) then hit the road non stop – Next Mission – Moncton Coliseum
What a trip
I road with this French guy – Molloy – one of Chris’s friends who’s girlfriend lives in Moncton.
Here is our clip :
Just Another Wild Weekend!
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2 Shows, 2 Different Provinces, over the course of 3 days!
Cornwall Ontario, brand new market for Monster Spectacular and the place was slap SOLD OUT for the excitement of the Monster Spectacular tour. And the Cornwall Civic Center got a fantastic show! Black Stallion, Iron Warrior, and Godzilla all tore it up in competition, with Black Stallion winning wheelie contest and freestyle, while Trey Meyers in Iron Warrior stomped Godzilla in the racing finals.
Pro Street Bike Stunts wowed the crowd once again, and “Benoit” got the crowd on its feet with his “Wheelie Quad”. Team Canada defeated Team USA in Outlaw Quad racing, while 4 Mini Legends came out to do some fender banging racing around the arena floor. We wrapped it all up with Mike Vaters spitting flames all around the arena in his Kamikaze Jet Quad.
Click Here to check out the photos from our good friends at Productions Yaz!
Then it was off to the Maritime for a Sunday show in New Brunswick. That’s right, 1 day to do a 683 mile (or 1,092 KM) trek across Quebec and into New Brunswick! Check out the review from Doug de Nance and the highlight video from Marc Doucette right below this post.
The miles keep on rolling for yours truly. This afternoon I get the “distinct honor” to ride with Steve Hearly and Godzilla from the offices here in Drummondville to Windsor Ontario for a Saturday Night and Sunday Afternoon meltdown at the all new WFCU Centre!
FLYIN BRYAN’S MILES TRAVELED SO FAR: 9,955 miles (or 15,928 KM)
A Tale of Two Titles
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By Doug de Nance
One day. Two teams. Two titles. One winner. That sums up the Monster Spectacular story on a Victoria Day Holiday Long Weekend in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Just in case you don’t want to read the whole story, the one winner was actually whole bunch of winners – the fans that packed the arena on this exclusive one day stand.
The two teams were the Black Stallion posse and Bounty Hunter’s 2 Extreme team. Mike Vaters, the man who holds the reigns of Black Stallion, the Ford F-150 monster truck with the fearsome black steed custom painted on the side was there to win. You could see it in his quiet concentration, you could feel it in the tense glances across the pits, and you could watch it in how he tweaked his team’s trucks over and over again. As the defending Monster Spectacular Champion, perhaps it was because Mike Vaters had the most to lose. And the man who could take it was in the same building.
Last year Moncton witnessed a tribute to the 25 years Mike Vaters has entertained monster truck fans all around the world. The 6 time Monster Spectacular champion was humbled by the awesome display of appreciation and knew he had to perform beyond expectations. But there was another driver in the house that night who loved to compete. What better time to pull out all the stops that the night where Vaters would have to be better than ever. Jimmy Creten all but stole Vaters thunder that night by laying down an astounding freestyle in Bounty Hunter – including Vaters’ signature move, the “reverser”.
Vaters has a long memory. He knew he had one chance on this Sunday afternoon to show the people of Moncton that the 26th year of Black Stallion would be even bigger and better. The second the first competition began, Vaters was ready to go big. Slamming the pedal down on the floorboards, he sent Black Stallion straight up in the Monster Truck Wheelie Contest. Not once, but twice, he “pogo’ed” the 10,000 pound truck on its wheelie bar, landing in the 12 o’clock position on the fourth car on each of the five car stacks. But Creten was not going to make it easy and took Bounty Hunter to a cheer off that saw Vaters claim his first victory in the two title challenge.
Monster Truck Racing was the second title up for grabs and Vaters wanted them both. But now Creten had monstrous motivation. The leader of 2 Extreme was seen in quiet but animated conversation with his young protégé, Joe Miller, the driver of Iron Outlaw. Creten was pumping up Miller as the young driver had to face Black Stallion in the race that would lead to the finals. Creten is a brilliant strategist, having made Trey Meyers wait on pins and needles in Iron Warrior while Creten voiced concern to the track officials over the color of the start flag. While he had a point that a yellow flag would be easier to see, it seemed that part of his tactics was to have the adrenaline get the best of Meyers as he was forced to wait on the start line. Whatever the plan was, it worked for Creten as Bounty Hunter defeated Iron Warrior to go to the finals and Miller beat Black Stallion.
What a Racing final match up had been created. There was no doubt that the 2 Extreme team would be triumphant, as both team trucks were on the start line for the title of Racing Champion of the day. But now the tension began to build in a different direction. Both trucks are virtually identical, as Creten had so eloquently noted in an earlier interview – saying that both team captains provided the same quality of equipment for their teammates. Now it was to be a story of driver skill and desire. Miller is a trained sniper with a hair trigger finger and lightening fast reflexes. He seemed to have the edge for the quick start required to win a straight ahead monster truck drag race. But Creten had the desire, the desire to win his own title to match Vaters. And he did just that, as the video replay showed on the big screen that he had a good half tire width jump in the start over Miller the second the flag dropped.
Freestyle saw all the drivers going for the win due to the unique format of Monster Spectacular Freestyle competition. The scores are never revealed so that every driver will perform like the Monster Spectacular Championship is on the line at every show. This show was no exception as the trucks roared and flew and spun all over the arena. Again Creten hit a reverser, but Vaters not only hit a reverser, but almost hit the score clock as he cleared both cars stack and the van stack with sky wheelie. Vaters even hit a stack on an angle that threw Black Stallion into a “bicycle” up on the two wheels on the passenger side. Vaters showed his veteran skill as he easily drove out of it in the tight confines of the hockey arena, turning a corner before settling the truck on all four tires.
An indication of how intense the action was in freestyle was the necessity to caution tape the trucks off during the VIP post show pit party because they were so hot from the hard driving of their freestyle performances. It’s that kind of heat that always makes the fans the biggest winners at any Monster Spectacular show.
The fans were also treated to the heat generated by multiple other brands of motorsports entertainment, including Kamikaze, the jet ATV owned by Mike Vaters; the Hub City Stunters street bike freestyle team; an astounding BMX session featuring freestyle tricks performed on mountain bikes and the grinding full contact action of XQR – Extreme Quad Racing where the Moncton team defeated the Central Ontario team in a grudge match.
Want to be a winner? Then be at the Monster Spectacular show that is planned for your area. Look right now at the schedule on www.monsterspectacular.com, then get you tickets and be ready to win big with Monster Spectacular.
Moncton Highlight Video
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The hits just keep on coming! Feel the excitement from Moncton through the eyes of “The Deuce”!
Quebec City Highlight Video
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Another fantastic video compilation courtesy of master videographer “The Deuce”
Joe Limo Miller Strikes Back
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1st Gunner Joe Limo Miller Strikes Back in Moncton!
What do you get…
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“…when you cross a Wisconsin Redneck and a Quebec Redneck?”
-Frehley
