WA monster truck is a specialized truck with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs), they have evolved into purpose-built vehicles with tube-frame chassis and fiberglass bodies rather than metal. A competition monster truck is typically 12 feet (3.7 m) tall, and equipped with 66-inch (1.7 m) off-road tires.
W2Xtreme Racing is a monster truck team consisting of the trucks Bounty Hunter, Scarlet Bandit and Iron Outlaw, all of which compete primarily on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit. The team is owned by Jimmy Creten, and includes Creten, his wife Dawn Creten, Trent Montgomery, and Todd Morey as drivers. Each truck features an old west theme with a character based on the truck's name. All three vehicles have competed in the Monster Jam World Finals, and Bounty Hunter was the 2005 World Finals Freestyle Champion and the 2019 World Finals Racing Champion. Jimmy Creten and Trent Montgomery currently drive the two Bounty Hunter trucks, Dawn Creten drives the Scarlet Bandit truck, and Todd Morey drives Iron Outlaw.
WThe Avenger monster truck, piloted by Columbus, Michigan native Jim Koehler, was created in 1997 The original monster truck sported a forest green Chevrolet S10 body style and a teal chassis and rims. With the exception of World Finals 14, the Avenger truck has always sorted at least three flaming skulls and flowing flames running from the wheel wells. As time passed, the S10 body was replaced by a 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air body with bright green headlights, which is the same body style that is run today by "Mr. Excitement."
WBatman was a monster truck that competed on the USHRA circuit, where it is the 2007 and 2008 Monster Jam World Racing Champion. The truck is officially licensed by DC Comics and has a replica of the Batmobile as the body. It is driven by John Seasock and debuted with Jason Childress driving in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006. It has also competed in six Monster Jam World Finals, and won racing in both the 2007 and 2008 events. The body was designed at Downs Manufacturing in Lawton, Michigan by Jamie Downs and his team of designers, Terry Payne of Arlington,TX, and Doug Forbes of Three Rivers, MI. In 2013, Batman received a new look with half-sized fins and a new bat logo. In 2014, two time racing world champion John Seasock returned to the driver's seat of Batman.
WBigfoot is a monster truck. The original Bigfoot began as a 1974 Ford F-250 pickup that was modified by its owner Bob Chandler beginning in 1975. By 1979, the modifications were so extensive, the truck came to be regarded as the first monster truck. Other trucks with the name "Bigfoot" have been introduced in the years since, and it remains a well-known monster truck moniker in the United States.
WBlack Stallion is a monster truck that races on the USHRA circuit and for other promoters. Black Stallion started out as a stock 1982 Ford F350 back in 1982, owned and modified by Michael Vaters. The first modification was a homemade 12" lift kit, since such kits were unavailable at the time. Mike then later added two sunroofs, an Alpine stereo system, a Ford 460 Engine, Rockwell 5 ton toploaders, Clark 20 ton planetaries, 66" terra tires, a 9" television and later on, a 1988 Ford F series front end. Between 1990 and 1991, Mike realized the future of monster trucks, which was racing. To be competitive, Mike replaced the leaf springs with airbags, the old heavy split ring rims with lightweight one piece rims, fiberglass body pieces, cutting the tires, gutting the interior out, 4 linking the truck and putting in a bigger engine. The modifications proved to be beneficial to Mike, with close races with First Blood, and competing in some Pendaliner Special Events racing events. After a violent rollover in Bloomsburg Pennsylvania in 1991, Mike decided to put King shocks on the truck, which he later added coil springs in 1992. Along with the coil springs, Mike also removed the airbags. Mike is credited as the first owner to use bypass shocks. Also for 1992, Mike changed the front clip to a 1992 Ford F-series front end. Mike rarely ran this truck after he built the popular Boogey Van in 1993, driven by his then wife, Pam Vaters. Due to this, the truck was nicknamed Rodney, after the comedian, Rodney Dangerfield. Mike then built a truck for the 1996 season for research and development, named Black Stallion 2000, since his crew members joked about Mike not building a new truck for himself until the new millennium. This chassis is still running strong to this day. For his 20th anniversary, Mike decided to repaint Black stallion, with the front of the truck yellow, going into black with a horse face painted on. The truck currently has the same paint scheme. The drivers for 2016 are Michael Vaters & Matt Cody. Vaters will compete in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. Cody will travel to Birmingham, Toronto, Newark, Charleston, Columbia, Worcester, Wheeling & Baton Rouge.
WBlue Thunder is a monster truck that races in the USHRA Monster Jam series. It was originally sponsored by the truck division of Ford Motor Company and Live Nation. The truck has several similarities with the monster truck Bigfoot. Some fans saw Blue Thunder as a replacement for Bigfoot in the Monster Jam series. The truck has been moderately successful and won several major events during its existence. However, it has not yet won a championship. Blue Thunder was used by Ford Motor Company for promotional purposes along with competition. The truck is currently driven by Matt Cody. The truck did not compete in 2012 when Todd LeDuc moved to Metal Mulisha after driving Blue Thunder in 2011. With Ford dropping its sponsorship in 2012, the truck was redesigned and brought back in 2013 with veteran driver Dan Evans; former owner/driver of the Destroyer monster truck.
WBulldozer was a monster truck designed by Guy Wood. It featured one of the first 3-D body shells, with horns sticking out of the roof. The truck debuted in 1997 as a promotional truck for Smoke Craft jerky in the USA Motorsports series. The truck has been driven by Bobby Zoelner, Steve Reynolds, Rob Knell, former Taurus driver Eldon DePew, and current Maximum Destruction superstar Tom Meents, as well as Chuck Werner and Alex Blackwell. The truck El Toro Loco was created as a spin-off of the Bulldozer design.
WCaptain's Curse was a monster truck created by Monster Jam and FELD Motorsports, and competed in the Monster Jam series from 2007 through 2016.
WCyborg is a monster truck currently racing in the USHRA Monster Jam series. It is owned and driven by Jack Koberna. It is notable in that it is the only two-wheeled drive vehicle on the circuit, and features an independent front suspension, as the front wheels are the two which are not powered. Although this provides recognition, the two-wheel drive presents a serious competitive disadvantage, as the truck cannot climb over obstacles as easily as other trucks. However, the front suspension has received large amounts of attention from other teams. Although Jack runs Cyborg most of the time, he does have a four-wheeled drive monster truck that is called Tuff-E-Nuff that runs on occasion. Jack Koberna was inducted into the International Monster Truck Hall of Fame in 2018.
WEl Toro Loco is a monster truck currently racing in the Monster Jam series. The truck was created in 2001 as a variant of the 3-D molded body of the Bulldozer design, but as El Toro Loco has increased in popularity, it has become the primary truck for the body style. The truck is commonly known for "snorting" smoke out of its nose, which is toggled by a button inside the truck.
WFirestarter is a 1/3 scale exhibition monster truck conceived and completed in 2008 by Firestarter Racing of Essex County, Ontario.
WGrave Digger is a monster truck racing team in the Feld Entertainment Monster Jam series founded by original driver Dennis Anderson. Considered one of the most famous and recognized monster trucks of all time, Grave Digger serves as the flagship team of the Monster Jam series, with seven active Grave Digger trucks being driven by different drivers to allow a truck to appear at every Monster Jam event.
WMaximum Destruction, also known as Max-D, is a monster truck team owned by Tom Meents that runs as part of the Monster Jam circuit.
WMetal Mulisha is an American lifestyle clothing brand that was created in 1997 by Larry Linkogle and Brian Deegan. Metal Mulisha Inc. products are sold at various retail stores and company owned stores. It also offers Metal Mulisha energy drinks under the same brand in a joint venture with Rockstar. The company currently employs about 450 people. The Metal Mulisha Monster Jam Monster truck debuted in 2012 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.
WMohawk Warrior is a monster truck currently racing in the Monster Jam professional monster truck racing series. It is currently driven by Bryce Kenny, and was originally driven by George Balhan, former An Escalade driver, who debuted in 2010 during the Monster Jam World Finals XI Encore in the Obsession Chassis. It features one of the first trucks a decoration on the roof, which is a Giant Mohawk. The truck is also a successor to An Escalade. It also has an NGK Spark Plugs flag at the back of the truck, and was replaced by the Great Clips flags in 2017. It is sponsored by Great Clips since Bryce Kenny became the new driver of Mohawk Warrior after Balhan retired from Monster Jam.
WThe Monster Jam World Finals is an annual monster truck event that is the championship event of the Monster Jam series, consisting of racing and freestyle competitions, with the winner of each considered the World Champion in that competition for the past year. It is the highest-profile monster truck event with the greatest media attention. From 2000 to 2018, the event was held in late March at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. Starting in 2019, the plan was to rotate venues each year, but instead, it was decided the World Finals would be held at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida going forward.
WMonster Mutt is a monster truck from West Chicago, Illinois, competing in the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) Monster Jam series since 2003. Originally styled after a 1950 Mercury, and later a custom body, the truck has a canine motif, complete with big ears, tail and tongue. It is painted in two tones of brown, with a dog mouth drawn in the front. The truck has three spin offs, two of which are currently competing. It is currently driven by Tanner Root.
WPredator Racing, Inc. is a monster truck team consisting of the trucks Predator, Prowler, Pouncer and Lone Eagle all of which currently compete primarily on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit. The team is owned by Allen Pezo, and includes Pezo, Larry Jaruzel, Lenny Kuilder and Dale Mitchell as drivers. The trucks are famous for their "cat" designs, with the trucks modeled after a panther, tiger, and leopard, respectively. The team also occasionally runs a conventional Dodge Ram by the name of Lone Eagle.
WRaminator, Rammunition and Hotsy Raminator are monster trucks that race on the Monster Jam, Family Events, and Monster National tours. They are primarily driven by Mark Hall and Mat Dishman. The team is sponsored by Ram Trucks. Until recently, the team was, along with Team Bigfoot, one of the most high profile teams to not run in Monster Jam, although since 2017, they have competed in several Monster Jam tours.
WJohn Michael Seasock is a retired professional monster truck driver. He competed on the USHRA circuit with his Batman truck, where it was the 2007 and 2008 Monster Jam World Racing Champion. He last drove Grinder sponsored by Advance Auto Parts.