MTC - Buck, PA July 2001 Coverage

Buck Motorsports Park is typically used for some Mud Drags and, primarily, Truck and Tractor Pulling, but there comes two Saturdays in each summer where there are Monster Trucks and Tuff Trucks. July 28 happened to be one of them, as four Monster Trucks would be in attendance. The trucks in attendance were:

Buck Motorsports Park is in the middle of the Pennsylvania Amish Country, surrounded by Amish farms and crops. It isn't uncommon to see a little boy or girl turn the road on a horse drawn cart as the Monster Trucks are starting up, a very odd sight to see, how two worlds coexist with one another.

The Monster Trucks today would start off with side-by-side drag racing. This was literally a drag race, as there were no obstacles due to the Buck not being too wide. The first round saw Rick Disharoon in BackDraft defeat Mike Vaters in Black Stallion 2000, and Dan Patrick in Samson defeat Geno Kanal in Monster Patrol, making it a Chevy vs. Dodge Final Round. Dan Patrick in Samson got the hole-shot, and that was all he needed as he shot off the line ahead of Rick Disharoon in BackDraft to later claim the win.

Next up for the Monster Trucks was something different from the usual racing over the cars, as all Monster Trucks would have two shots at timed runs over two sets of cars, and the faster time of each truck's two runs would be kept, and the fastest time left would win. The track assembled was straight line, with two sets of cars. The first set of cars was four cars long with no ramp up to the side only a few feet off the starting line, kind of like a Thunder National style jump. After that there was a long drag to another row of four cars, and this row had specially made steel frame ramps with wooden surface leading up to the cars, and these ramps produced some great air.

Mike was the first out, and with uncrushed cars that is usually a disadvantage. But Mike is an expert when it comes to Thunder National style races, and Mike was able to lay a great time down in the mid 6 second range, setting the pace for all to follow.

Rick Disharoon is still fairly new to the sport of Monster Truck Racing, and never had any real experience on a Thunder Nationals style track, and this showed as Rick launched BackDraft over the first set of cars, but when he came down, Rick Disharoon in BackDraft slammed the front end into the ground, totally breaking apart one of the right front nitrogen shocks. Rick was slowed down inbetween the cars, and only was able to limp across the final row of cars, clocking a very long low 10 second run.

Dan Patrick stayed fairly low over the first row of cars in Samson, and kept a steady acceleration all the way to the second set of cars, and just skied Samson out over the jump. When Dan Patrick landed in Samson, the rear end kicked up and out, and damage to the rear end had been done. Dan was able to clock a similar time to Mike Vaters, in the mid 6 second range.

Geno Kanal was fairly new to the sport, but he looked like an expert handling the first row of cars with ease. Coming off the first row of cars, Monster Patrol was kicked a little bit to the side, making Geno get back onto the right line. Geno also skied it out over the final jump, landing successfully, scoring a low 6 second run.

After the first four Time Trial Runs, two trucks had been taken out of the Time Trials due to some damage from their first run. Rick Disharoon in BackDraft was busy seeing if he could repair the shock, and Dan Patrick was fixing some damage in the rear end of Samson.

Mike Vaters was a little bit more used to the track, and was able to clock a faster time the second run, clocking in with a very low 6 second run.

Geno Kanal had also gotten the course felt out in Monster Patrol, and it definitely showed. Geno was able to keep the truck straight after the first row of cars, but that wasn't it. Geno Kanal got practically a perfect bounce off the first row or cars, with the truck settling almost perfectly as well. Geno was able to put it over the last jump for some air and the fastest time of the night, clocking a mid 5 second run!

Mike Vaters came out first and didn't hold anything back whatsoever. Sometimes he would creep up to the cars and iron-wall them to get a good wheelstand, and sometimes he would just launch over them and get 15 feet of air under the tires. Mike even caught a bit of a crooked rebound wheelie after a fairly odd landing, much to the excitement of the crowd. Mike did another iron-wall, and after he got off the cars, he stopped and started revving the motor, put Black Stallion 2000 in reverse and lined up with the cars. Mike pulled forward, tightened his belts, slammed into reverse and got tons of momentum going into the cars! Mike got so much speed in reverse he was able to clear the end of the sixth car and then about another 20 feet. After that Mike Vaters did some more jumps, and for his last one stuck it to the cars and climbed out to a standing ovation. Everyone, including Mike, was stoked after a run like that!

After breaking a shock early in the show during his first Time Trial Run, Rick Disharoon worked feverishly to fix the damaged nitrogen shock, but with no luck. Rick really wanted to come out and get something going, so he decided to take a risk and run BackDraft in Freestyle with both shocks on all corners except the right front. The risk paid off as Rick was able to pull off some great air in wheelstands and catch some good distance on some jumps, even bouncing the front end up a bit for a small rebound wheelie. Overall, a great run from Rick for the condition of BackDraft.

Dan Patrick came out in his beautiful Samson Chevy and started off his Freestyle easy, just getting a feel for the cars. His next two jumps were good, getting a bit more air and distance. Later on into the run, Dan was clearing the row and getting some good air. All in all, a very good and solid run from Dan.

Geno Kanal tried for a power wheelie right out of the gate, but the dirt was too lose down by the pits. Geno came to the cars and had a nice iron-wall and got crossed up a bit. He turned it around and hit the cars again, and got a great wheelstand, digging the rear tires into the middle of the row of cars. Geno was able to put on a good Freestyle as well, and to finish it off he went down to the end of the track and did a Monster Patrol Wing Walk, much to the delight of the crowd.

After Geno Kanal Freestyled, all four Monster Trucks came out onto the track and parked and the drivers stood on the tires. The crowd was used to determine who the Freestyle winner was. When it came to Mike Vaters, the Buck erupted with cheers, and Mike Vaters was declared the Freestyle Competition Winner, after putting on a great run.

With that, my first trip to The Buck drew to a close. There, you are on top of the action! The show is great, and the events are action packed. There is never a down time, even when it comes to setting up the course (back and fourth) for Monster Trucks and Tuff Trucks. I loved The Buck, and will hopefully make it back one day.