Michael Vaters II (also known as Mikey Vaters or Mike Vaters Jr.) (Born January 26th, 1988) is a monster truck driver out of Hagerstown, Maryland. He is the driver of Overkill Evolution, and the son of Black Stallion owner and driver Michael Vaters and former Boogey Van driver Pam Vahle. He is also the 2014 Young Guns Shootout champion, and the 2015 World Finals freestyle champion.
Career[]
Mikey followed in his father's footsteps by driving monster trucks like Iron Warrior and Iron Outlaw in 2012.
In 2014, Mikey debuted his new truck: Overkill Evolution as a partnership between his father and Marty Garza. That year, Vaters would win the Young Guns Shootout and competed in the World Finals.
In 2015, Mikey would one-up that by winning the Monster Jam World Finals 16 freestyle championship.
In 2019, Mikey drove Pirate's Curse on Storm Damage in Cardiff.
In 2020, Mikey had lots of bad luck during his stadium tour. He finished 9th on the tour after it was ended early due to the pandemic. This would be the last year Vaters Motorsports competed in Monster Jam.
From 2021-2023, Vaters would compete at select shows.
In 2024, he celebrates 10 years of driving Overkill Evolution with a special tailgate. In Butler, Indiana, he drove Higher Education.
In 2025, he would return to Monster Jam, driving The Amazing Spider-Man on the international tour, while still driving Overkill Evolution for independent shows. He would also appear on Inside Monster Jam. Mike mentioned that there was a possibility of him returning to Monster Jam full time.
World Finals appearances[]
- 2014 - Overkill Evolution (YGS) (wins the YGS)
- 2015 - Overkill Evolution (won freestyle)
- 2016 - Overkill Evolution
- 2017 - Overkill Evolution
- 2018 - Overkill Evolution
Trivia[]
- Since the fall of 2018, Mikey has run a YouTube channel, centering on, during and behind the scenes at events. It is named V2 Vids although it has been inactive for 2 years now.
- He has driven Smile More & his truck Overkill Evolution on Roman Atwood's YouTube channel.
Gallery[]
