Maximum Destruction (Max-D)

Maximum Destruction is a truck owned by Tom Meents. It was originally Goldberg before it became Team Meents and finally, Maximum Destruction.

History
In 2001 Tom Meents ran his final year behind the wheel of Goldberg, and the final appearance for the truck would be in the video game Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction. It can be speculated that the name for the truck was inspired if not directly taken from the video game as it came out less than two years before the truck's debut.

Originally, Tom planned for the truck to start competing for the 2002 season. However, after the September 11th attacks, the truck's debut was postponed until the 2003 season instead, out of respect (since the Goldberg deal expired after 2001, Tom kept the original design, minus Goldberg's face on the back replaced with Tom's, and rennamed it Team Meents, running that truck for the 2002 season instead).

In 2003, Tom Meents introduced Maximum Destruction (A second Maximum Destruction monster truck was driven by Neil Elliott) as his new name taking over 2002's Team Meents machine. However, it won neither the racing, nor freestyle championship that year.

In 2004, he tied with Madusa and El Toro Loco for the win in freestyle. For the encore, Tom Meents and Neil Elliot brought out both Maximum Destruction monster trucks to entertain the crowd.

In 2005, Neil Elliot took a one year break from racing and Phil Foster replaced him. Maximum Destruction enjoyed a lot of success. Tom dedicated his World Finals run to his friend Deric Tredholm from Make-a-Wish who had passed away. For the encore, fans enjoyed a freestyle show put on by rivals Tom Meents and Dennis Anderson at the same time. That same year, he jumped over an old house before completely smashing it to pieces.

In 2006, he had drive shaft problems and was seeded last in qualifying. He didn't win racing, but did something amazing for freestyle. He jumped clear over a second truck being driven by Neil Elliot, perched high atop the volcano obstacle, easily winning him the freestyle championship, and confirming once again his title as "King of Air".

In 2007, he did not win at the World Finals; but, halfway around the world, at the show in Gothenburg, Sweden, he performed the first monster truck backflip and tied Grave Digger for the win. Travis Pastrana tried to recreate the move for his MTV show Nitro Circus, but landed flat on his roof, much to Tom's amusement.

In 2008, at the World Finals, he got the pole position and made it to the final round, but broke down and couldn't make the call. He didn't win freestyle either, but brought out another Maximum Destruction truck for an amazing encore.

In 2009, he won the racing championship. For the encore, he successfully completed a backflip before rolling over for the American audience.

In 2010, he made it to the final round of Racing, but lost to Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger, which was also the first time they raced against each other in a World Finals championship race.

In 2011, Tom ran a brand new chassis from the start of the season. He wound up having a large crash during a freestyle in Arlington, Texas. The whole front end was torn off, the motor blew, and both front shocks were ruined. Tom won Racing at World Finals 12 that year, taking out long-time rival Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter.

In 2012, Tom won Racing again at World Finals XIII, taking out Damon Bradshaw in Monster Energy. Later that year, he unsuccessfully tried to complete the first double backflip during the Path of Destruction finale in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

In 2013, the team celebrated its tenth anniversary with brand new body styles for all 3 drivers. Neil Elliott and Kreg Christensen recieved spiked bodies covered in chrome, while Tom recieved a body covered in orange LEDs. Tom won Freestyle at World Finals 14, and completed the first successful double backflip at the encore, while Neil Elliott, Kreg Christensen and Chuck Werner did their own backflips.

In 2014, Christensen left the Max-D team to drive independently in Australia. His replacement was announced to be Morgan Kane. The Max D truck got shut off in the Semi-Finals at World Finals XV, which he then won in the redo of the race, but lost in the Finals due to spinning in the turn to Grave Digger the Legend being driven by Adam Anderson.

In 2015, Morgan Kane begins driving Max-D for the #MoreMonsterJam Tour and Neil Elliot begins competing on the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. Elliot and Kane would both win the respective tours, with Meents getting an invitation to World Finals 16. This is the first time three Max-D's are invited to the World Finals. For World Finals 16, Neil Elliot would drive a red Max-D and Morgan Kane would drive a golden Max-D. Later that year in East Rutherford, New Jersey on the 2015 Path of Destruction Tour, Tom completed the first Front Flip in the air with a monster truck, and got in the Guinness Book of World Records for landing it; he did another flip on the ground after landing on the rear tires. Tom also got another world record at Gillette stadium for the first ever double back flip and it landed clean.

For the 2016 Season Morgan Kane switched from Max D over to Team Grave Digger while Colton Eichelberger (Tom's stepson) switched over to Max D and will join his brother and Tom's other stepson Jared Eichelberger as driving Max D trucks for the two More Monster Jam tours