Bulldozer was a custom-bodied monster truck, currently trademarked by Harper Motorsports and previously owned by FELD Motorsports. Notable for being one of the first 3D-bodied trucks in the 1990's, Bulldozer's long list of drivers included Guy Wood, Tom Meents, Chuck Werner, and more. El Toro Loco, a Spanish-themed spinoff of Bulldozer, was introduced in 2001. The two would compete alongside each other until Bulldozer was retired in late 2009.
History[]
1997/1998[]
Bulldozer was created as a sponsorship truck by Oberto/Smoke Craft Jerky with USA Motorsports. Guy Wood and the Hall Brothers would run it for two seasons.
1999[]
Tom Meents drives his own version of the truck on his Monster Patrol chassis (formerly Taurus 4) after Monster Jam bought USA Motorsports the previous year. A documented rivalry against Dennis Anderson and Meents then builds up after he defeated Anderson in Orlando on the debut of his Bulldozer. Bobby Zee drove the truck on Extreme Overkill.
2000[]
Meents moved to Goldberg and Rob Knell takes over as driver for Bulldozer. During this time, the truck is run on and off as nWo, with Knell acting as the mystery driver for the truck. It is invited to compete at World Finals I as nWo, but afterwards returns for the rest of the 2001 season as Bulldozer. Paul Stender drives the truck on his American Cowboy chassis. Guy Wood runs Bulldozer on his chassis at World Finals I.
2001[]
A brand new chassis debuts for Bulldozer, with Eldon DePew and Steve Reynolds taking over as the new drivers for the truck. The truck's most famous moment would come in Pontiac where Eldon Depew would take a huge leap from an obstacle and nosedive hard. Later, Eldon DePew is invited to compete at World Finals II with Bulldozer. Guy Wood's old chassis is sold to Vic Butler. Tom Meents drove the truck in Durham, New Hampshire.
2002[]
The 2001 chassis for Bulldozer is converted into High Roller under Neil Elliott for the 2002 season, as well as Hot Wheels at World Finals III. Monster Jam's Bulldozer competed under Kevin Gronewold in the former nWo and El Toro Loco chassis, while Guy Wood was running his Bulldozer at the same time on his new chassis, doing so at World Finals III. Elliott pilots Bulldozer for the Thunder on the Beach event.
2003[]
Rob Knell returns to the circuit with the old Bulldozer chassis, as El Toro Loco had gained a new chassis the year earlier. In late 2003, Phil Foster drove the Bulldozer body on the 2001 chassis (the then High Roller chassis) for the November Minneapolis event.
2004[]
Rob Knell runs the 2004 season with the same Bulldozer truck, although the truck did run an El Toro Loco body on the truck after World Finals V. At a show in Red Bluff, Rob Knell would be critically injured when the truck, running an El Toro Loco body at the time, caught fire during qualifying.
2005[]
Rob Knells' Bulldozer is run as a second Hot Wheels for 2005, as Jason Childress began driving Bulldozer on the former rear-engine High Roller chassis, touring with Inferno. Bulldozer is run on the 2001 chassis again for the Red Bluff show of 2005. At the end of the season, Jason moves to Batman for the 2006 season and his Bulldozer chassis is converted into Taz.
2006[]
Bulldozer is temporary shelved for the season as its chassis is instead used to run Bob & Tom. It appears at only two shows throughout the whole year, Fayetteville and Sunrise on the Summer Heat tour with Chuck Werner driving.
2007[]
A rear engine chassis Bulldozer is run by Alex Blackwell as the primary truck over the season. A Meents chassis Bulldozer is briefly used at the start of the season, driven by Neil Elliott in Council Bluffs and Chuck Werner in Anaheim, both as temporary inclusions for these shows. During the season trips to Arizona, Rick Swanson drives Bulldozer in Tucson to fill-in for Alex, who in turn, was also filling-in during the Prescott Valley show in Grave Digger after Rod Schmidt was unable to make the event after being snowed in at his home in Iowa.
2008[]
Alex moves to Captain's Curse and the rear engine Bulldozer is converted into Donkey Kong and Chuck becomes the sole driver. Chuck Werner would also be moved to the former Hot Wheels chassis, which was in turn was the 2001 chassis. Kevin Lewis would drive Bulldozer occasionally as a fill-in driver and Paul Cohen would drive the truck one time in Toronto, winning a freestyle.
2009[]
Chuck drives Bulldozer for its last full season. Kevin drives the truck for its last televised event in Glendale. The truck runs its final show at Stanislaus County Fair in Turlock, California.
2010[]
Bulldozer is converted into another El Toro Loco, and the Bulldozer name is eventually retired. Despite that, the truck would appear in Monster Jam: Path of Destruction, diecasts up until 2015, and the yearbook continued to feature the truck long after its retirement.
2021[]
Bulldozer gets a Spin Master release as part of an El Toro Loco evolution toy set licensed by Monster Jam.
2022[]
Mike Harper is discovered to have trademarked the Bulldozer name, hinting at a possible return of the truck, although no date is set in stone.
List of Bulldozers[]
- Bulldozer (Dabney) - Run in 2000 on Extreme Overkill.
- Bulldozer (Hall) - One of the 2 first versions of Bulldozer.
- Bulldozer (Meents) - Run by Tom Meents in 1999. Also run by the team for Monster Jam from 2000-2006, and from 2007-2009.
- Bulldozer (FELD) - Run by various drivers on a PEI chassis from 2005-2008.
- Bulldozer (Stender) - Run from 2000-2002 on American Cowboy.
- Bulldozer (Wood) - Run from 1997-2004 on Tropical Thunder (Wood). Arguably the most recognized and prominent version.
World Finals appearances[]
| Year | Driver | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Tom Meents | Defeated in Round 2 by Grave Digger | ||
| 2000 | Guy Wood | Qualifying: n/a | Racing: defeated in Round 1 by Predator | Freestyle: 8th (26) |
| 2001 | Eldon DePew | Qualifying: 10th (17.87) | Racing: defeated in Round 2 by Goldberg | Freestyle: 9th (28) |
| 2002 | Guy Wood | Qualifying: 6th (17.75) | Racing: defeated in Round 2 by Grave Digger | Freestyle: 15th (8) |
| 2004 | Qualifying: 9th (18.09) | Racing: defeated in Round 1 by Monster Mutt | Freestyle: 10th (20) | |
Video game appearances[]
- Monster Truck Madness 2
- Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction
- Monster 4X4: Masters of Metal
- Monster Jam (video game)
- Monster Jam: Urban Assault
- Monster Jam: Path of Destruction
Trivia[]
- Bulldozer is 1 of the 3 trucks owned by FELD that was sold to them, rather than being created by them (Grave Digger and Son-uva Digger).
- Bulldozer and El Toro Loco co-existed for eight years, contrary to the popular belief that the latter succeeded the former.
- The original Guy Wood Bulldozer chassis still runs today, as Tom Cat. His second chassis was rebuilt as Tropical Thunder, and then became Enforcer.
- Multiple Bulldozer chassis' from the past have also been run as El Toro Loco such as the one driven by Chuck Werner which would continue running until 2014.
- Bulldozer's debut had it blowing smoke from the nose. This feature would carry over when Meents began driving it for Monster Jam, and why he used it once on Goldberg.
- Tom Meents drove Bulldozer at the 2001 Thunder Nationals championship event, despite not having competed in Thunder Nationals events that year with the said truck.
- Bulldozer's body style from 1999-2001 was labeled as a "99 Chevy".
Gallery[]
Main gallery[]
Merchandise/miscellaneous[]
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