Home Town Throwdown for Toxic and Illuminator

The Montgomery County Agricultural Fair is rich in monster truck racing history to those local to Gaithersburg, Maryland. Many star drivers and teams have graced the motorsports performance area in the over 2 decades that these 12,000 pound machines have been coming to MoCo, but one interesting fact about monster trucks in MoCo that not many know is that Jay Snyder, founder/owner of Warped Motor Sports, was the first person to ever bring a monster truck to the fairgrounds. Back in 2000, Jay bought his first monster, The Undertaker, to the fair to run over a row of junk vehicles. The crowd went nuts, and the rest is history. To say returning to the fair every year to compete is truly a homecoming would be an understatement.

This past August was no exception as the excitement of returning to the team’s hometown venue was at an all-time high. What makes the Gaithersburg event unique is that it offers fans an opportunity to see monster truck action during the week of the fair – Tuesday and Wednesday to be specific. Who wouldn’t love to watch some monster truck racing after work?

This year saw team lead Cory Snyder take the controls of the Toxic monster truck while Daniel Donnelly filled in behind the wheel of the Illuminator monster truck. With team owner Jay Snyder along with many family and friends behind the scenes ready to turn wrenches, the action was nothing short of spectacular.

Newcomer Daniel Donnelly would set the tone at both events, kicking off the best trick and freestyle competitions. A stellar performance in freestyle at the first event driving Illuminator would land him a 2nd place finish while a very close 2nd place finish in the racing bracket the following night would round out what was a solid showcasing for the world’s first LED illuminated monster truck.

It would be home state hero Cory Snyder driving the green and black destruction machine Toxic that would place Warped Motor Sports in the winner’s circle in big fashion. Not only would Snyder take home the best trick competition win at night one and the freestyle win at night two, but he would clean sweep the week in overall event championships. His consistency, even despite a broken outer axle shaft on night two, would net him the big victories. To this day, many still talk about what was a fine display of “angry driving” in freestyle on night two – multiple wow moments, fiery hot brakes, sky wheelies, donuts, cross-threading obstacles, and everything else you can imagine in a great freestyle run.

Many thanks to Renegade Monster Truck Tour for hosting another year of monster truck action at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in the team’s hometown of Gaithersburg, MD. It goes without saying, but many thanks as always to friends, family, and fans for continuing to support Warped Motor Sports as we close out our 25th year and head towards another exciting year of action in 2026.

Be sure to follow us on our socials for the latest on Team Warped and don’t forget to visit our online merch stand to stock up on your favorite Toxic and Illuminator apparel and memorabilia!