Brutus is a 2004 custom Chevrolet S-10 dog concept monster truck owned by Team Scream Racing out of Columbus, Michigan. The truck was originally created in 2001 and was best known for being driven by Chris Bergeron, who drove the truck until his retirement towards the end of the 2013 season. Since then, Brutus has been driven by various drivers, including Brad Allen, Chris Koehler and Kraig Champion. The truck has also made six Monster Jam World Finals appearances and has also competed under various identities in Monster Jam, including Monster Mutt Rottweiler, Monster Mutt and El Toro Loco.
History[]
2001[]
Brutus debuted with Chris Bergeron behind the wheel at a Truxpo event in Kansas City. At the time of its debut, the truck originally used a Chevrolet S-10 body style, and was based around Marcus Junius Brutus, the Roman assassin.
2002[]
At the first show in Pontiac, the wheel came off as the truck pulled out of its parking stall. This is the only known time this has happened.
2003[]
The truck continued to compete with the original design, until later on in the year when it would debut the iconic custom dog body style.
2004[]
The truck would make an exhibition run at World Finals V.
2005[]
Steve Koehler drove the truck in Indianapolis. Bergeron and Brutus would be invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals VI. During said event, they would be eliminated in round 2 of racing by Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter and finished 14th in freestyle.
2006[]
The truck would be invited to compete at World Finals VII, only to not only be eliminated in round 1 by Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction, but also score last in freestyle.
2007[]
Bergeron and Brutus would be invited to compete in the World Finals yet again. Bergeron would defeat teammate Jim Koehler in Avenger in round 1, only to be eliminated again by Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction in round 2. The truck would also place 19th in freestyle. Meanwhile, the truck would make its first video game appearance in Monster Jam.
2008[]
Brutus would receive a new Racesource chassis in September, and the previous chassis would be converted into its first sister truck, Spike Unleashed.
2009[]
Bergeron and Brutus would be invited to compete at World Finals X. During said event, Bergeron would lay down his best performance out of all his World Finals performances, making it to the third round of racing only to be eliminated yet again by Tom Meents. Despite this, he finished third in freestyle with a 29, being the first truck out in freestyle.
2010[]
Brutus would not compete in the World Finals, but would be featured as part of the event's encore performances, running as Wrecking Crew. He would do a bunch of really fast cyclone donuts. The truck would also be featured in the Monster Jam Path of Destruction video game. In that same year, Bergeron and Brutus won racing at the Back to School Monster Truck Bash in Charlotte.
2011[]
Bergeron and Brutus would again return to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XII. For the occasion, a brand-new paint scheme was unveiled, featuring a slightly darker tone of brown on the fur, an orange collar, bloodshot eyes, and excessive saliva drooling from the mouth. Unfortunately, both truck and driver would be eliminated in racing after crashing in the first round against Damon Bradshaw in U.S. Air Force Afterburner, and finished 18th in freestyle after a violent wreck after attempting to go through the backflip ramp, unaware it was meant for so.
2012[]
Bergeron and Brutus were invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XIII. Despite being eliminated in the first round by Marc McDonald in El Toro Loco, they would lay down a consistent freestyle and finish ninth in freestyle. This would also mark their final World Finals appearance altogether.
2013[]
This year would mark Bergeron’s final year driving Brutus, before his retirement towards the end of the season. Afterwards, the truck would be shelved, as the chassis would be converted into its second sister truck, Mega Bite, with Brad Allen driving. Allen would drive Brutus in select shows throughout the 2014-15 seasons.
2016[]
Brutus returned to full-time competition with Allen driving. Both truck and driver would compete in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series and would even win the donut competition in the series’ Anaheim show.
2017[]
Brutus competed on FS1 Championship Series East. It would run several different identities throughout the series, such as The Rod Ryan Show in Houston and Joey Strong in Detroit. Mike Thompson drives the truck in Fisherville and Quarryville.
2018[]
Brutus would compete in Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 1 as Monster Mutt Rottweiler, competing alongside teammate Avenger. Allen and the truck would be invited to compete in the Double Down Showdown at Monster Jam World Finals XIX.
2019[]
Brutus competed as El Toro Loco for Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 1. Following the first quarter, Brian VanKirk would drive the truck for select independent shows, serving as the teammate to Cory Rummell’s Avenger.
2020[]
The truck returned to running as Monster Mutt Rottweiler, competing in Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series Red. After the series abruptly ended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brutus competed in select shows for the remainder of the season. Allen would continue to drive until his departure from Team Scream sometime later (He would later join TK Motorsports to drive Nitro Menace in the 2022 Monster Jam Arena Championship Series West). Rookie driver Kraig Champion later took over the driving duties. Meanwhile, due to the truck's original chassis being used by Chris Koehler to compete as Axe, the truck would transfer to Axe's previous chassis.
2021[]
Champion would drive the truck in select Monster Jam events throughout the season, most notably in San Antonio and Grand Rapids.
2022[]
Brutus ran as El Toro Loco on Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series Yellow, with Champion driving. Although not getting any wins and not finishing very high, Champion was notable for a big surprise during the season, putting on a lot of successful skills and freestyle runs and improving well. His most famous moment would come in San Diego, where he would unexpectedly attempt a front flip during skills and would be unsuccessful, but would pull of a double barrel roll save in the process and would not be able to freestyle in the aftermath of it due to damage. This later gave him the Crash Madness of the Year award at the World Finals. He would finish in tenth place in the points standings. Jim Koehler would also use the chassis during the high jump competition at the World Finals. Kraig would be originally scheduled to compete in Brutus in Kansas City in June, but would be removed from the lineup for unknown reasons. Joe Foley drives the truck at the Lucas Oil dirt speedway.
2023[]
The truck receives a new chassis and is run as Monster Mutt, driven by Chris Koehler on Stadium Series Blue. The truck made its Monster Jam return in New Orleans. Jon Koehler made his debut in Goodells, Michigan. In Lindsay, Ontario, Joe Foley wins skills & freestyle. The truck ran as The Rod Ryan Show in Houston. The truck ran as Monster Mutt on Team Neon for Monster Jam's Superstar Challenge in Anaheim.
2024[]
The truck continues to run as Monster Mutt on Stadium Series West, though it uses a Northern Nightmare body in Detroit, which marked the body's return. Chris wins his first ever overall event as well as freestyle at show 2 in El Paso. He would finish 7th in the final standings. Chris is invited to compete at the Last Chance Qualifying event at the World Finals. The truck would win freestyle in Nashville. The truck will run as The Rod Ryan Show in Houston in October again.
In 2025, the truck will run as Monster Mutt on the East stadium tour.
Past/temporary drivers[]
- Chris Bergeron (2001-2013)
- Steve Koehler (Indianapolis 2005)
- Brad Allen (2014-2021)
- Mike Thompson (Fisherville and Quarryville 2017)
- Brian VanKirk (2018)
- Kraig Champion (2021-2022)
- Joe Foley (2022, Lindsay, Ontario 2023)
World Finals appearances[]
| Year | Driver | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Chris Bergeron | Display and exhibition only | ||
| 2005 | Chris Bergeron | Qualifying: 20th (dnq) | Racing: defeated in round 2 by Bounty Hunter | Freestyle: 14th (20) |
| 2006 | Chris Bergeron | Qualifying: 16th (18.50) | Racing: defeated in round 1 by Maximum Destruction | Freestyle: 23rd (10) |
| 2007 | Chris Bergeron | Qualifying: 13th (16.91) | Racing: defeated in round 2 by Maximum Destruction | Freestyle: 19th (12) |
| 2009 | Chris Bergeron | Qualifying: 13th (17.25) | Racing: defeated in round 3 by Maximum Destruction | Freestyle: 3rd (29) |
| 2011 | Chris Bergeron | Qualifying: 21st (21.50) | Racing: defeated in round 1 by Air Force Afterburner (DNF) | Freestyle: 18th (13) |
| 2012 | Chris Bergeron | Qualifying: 17th (17.059) | Racing: defeated in round 1 by El Toro Loco | Freestyle: 9th (26) |
| 2016 | N/A | Display only | ||
| 2017 | N/A | Display only | ||
| 2019 | N/A | Display only | ||
Video game appearances[]
Trivia[]
- The idea for Brutus' custom dog body style was created after several fans commented “I have a dog named Brutus.”
- Brutus' custom dog body style was designed by Jason Becker of Master of Faster Graphics.
- Although not competing at Monster Jam World Finals IX in 2008, Chris Bergeron would be present at the event as the live pit reporter, notably being featured on the racing DVD of the event.
- As stated above, Brutus suffered a hard wreck in 2011 at World Finals XII after hitting the backflip ramp and made only half a rotation before landing hard on its roof. Bergeron would later reveal that he was not actually attempting a backflip, but instead hit the ramp thinking he could drive though it, similar to the ones used during the 2000's. This is also seen, as Bergeron is seen braking his truck while mid-air.
- The theme song has also been used for its teammate Mega Bite.
Gallery[]
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