MOVING MACKVADER
Ever wondered how the world's meanest Mack gets to the track?
Mike Morgan is nothing short of a superstar in the Bandit Series. His race truck, widely known as Mackvader, has explored everything from victory lane to the outside of Highland Rim Speedway following a nasty crash which saw the #88 Mack CH fly through the fence at the Tennessee circuit.
By day, Mike works as a technician at a dealership and by night, he tinkers with a beast that can take it up to the best circle track race trucks in America. We threw some questions at Mike and learned how Mackvader travels between sold out short tracks on the Bandit Series roster.
How did you get into motorsport, Mike?
MM: “I come from a leadfoot family of racers. I have always been in and around racing and I met my wife drag racing if that gives you any idea how this family works.”
Truck racing was on and off in America until the Bandit Series rose to prominence. When did you start building Mackvader?
MM: “Four and a half years ago you know they said they were going to reintroduce truck racing to the United States and I wanted in, so I started building a truck right away. We been here ever since with two championships in the first race series.”
Mackvader is probably the most popular race truck in the Bandit Series, but can you tell us about the truck and trailer that you use to transport it to the race track?
MM: “The truck that I haul Mackvader to the race track with is a Freightliner FL70. It’s a hotshot truck set up and we pull a gooseneck trailer. I think we are the only one with that small of a hauler setup. Mostly everybody else uses Class 8 trucks and trailers to pull their race trucks with."
Roughly how many miles do you travel per season? What is your favourite track to travel to in the Freightliner FL70?
MM: “We probably travel about 15,000 miles a year. My favourite race track at this point is Salem Speedway as it has the most degrees of banking and is probably one of the fastest tracks we’ve been to in the Bandit Series.”
Do most of the Bandit Series drivers come from truck driving backgrounds?
MM: “The racers come from different backgrounds. I am a Mack technician and work at a truck dealership. A lot of other teams are drivers. Everybody’s background is a little bit different but we’re all in the trucking industry for the most part."
Do you see the Bandit Series continuing to grow its fanbase? And what would you say to people wondering whether to tune in to the next live stream?
MM: “Our fanbase is always growing and I’m always meeting new fans and friends along the way. Because I turn a wrench for a living at the truck dealership, I meet new fans every single day of the week. It’s going to continue to grow, there’s no doubt.
There’s a lot of entertainment and close racing on short tracks. We get three wide and sometimes almost four wide in places where you know cars race and it’s not natural for that to happen. We do make it happen though and it’s pretty exciting to watch.”
Make sure you follow Mike Morgan’s travels on his Twitter page and Powershift Performance on Facebook. If you are interested in learning more about the Bandit Series, you can do so on their Facebook and Instagram accounts as well as the series' website.