Cole Venard

Cole Venard (born June 24th, 1986) is a monster truck driver out of Murdo, South Dakota. He is best known as the driver of The Black Pearl, as well as being a former Grave Digger driver and the crew chief for Adam Anderson prior to driving.

He is known to have a prosthetic left leg, making him the first and only monster truck driver with a prosthetic limb, with him becoming a very popular and inspirational driver to many fans. he would even start a non-profit organization called Limbs Like Me, for those in need of prosthetic help. He's also known for his signature backflip-to-wheelie move, which he calls the "Walk the Plank" backflip.

History[]

Pre-driving[]

Cole Venard would would join Monster Jam after Team Grave Digger was hiring in 2007. After being hired, he would be picked up and join Alex Blackwell and Chad Tingler on their way to that year's Tacoma weekend. He would later go on to become the crew chief for Adam Anderson who was driving Taz. Said pair-up would go on to become one of the most recognized driver/crew chief relationships of the late 2000's and early 2010s.

In 2010, Cole was involved in a devastating dirt bike accident where, as stated on the Inside Monster Jam podcast, he would hit another dirt bike, and the bike's fork would crush the bones in his left foot. He would eventually choose to amputate his left leg as opposed to doing many risky surgeries. He was notably building the Grave Digger the Legend chassis at the time. However, following the accident, he would take a few months away from the sport to heal and also learn to use a prosthetic leg.

Starting from Monster Jam World Finals XII in 2011, Cole returned to crew with Adam, now in the finished Grave Digger the Legend. Following his return, he and Adam would go on to win back-to-back racing championships in 2013 and 2014, as well as win Technician of the Year award in 2013.

2015-2017[]

In 2015, Cole would get his first opportunity at driving a monster truck to fill in for Adam Anderson who was injured at the time. He made his driving debut in Adam's Grave Digger the Legend in Orlando, and later in Ocala, Florida for the "Team Grave Digger vs Team Bad Boys" competition.

In 2016, Cole would make his full-time debut, where he started driving Grave Digger #31 for the AMSOIL Arena Series East tour where he would go on to win the championship title in his rookie season, being one of few drivers to have done so. He would receive an automatic invite to Monster Jam World Finals XVII. He would struggle in qualifying and racing, however, in freestyle, he would go first in the line-up and put on a great performance and score a 30.5, staying in the lead for the first half of the competition, before being surpassed by Grave Digger creator, Dennis Anderson, and would finish in fourth place.

In 2017, Cole would drive Grave Digger #31 for the rebranded Monster Jam Triple Threat Series, driving on the west tour. Here, he would end up winning his second straight series championship in a row. He also served as an announcer for television episodes of Monster Jam for select Fox Sports 1 Stadium Championship Series West shows.

Cole would again receive an automatic invite to Monster Jam World Finals XVIII, but he, alongside the central Triple Threat Series champion Justin Sipes, would withdraw from the main field, where Randy Brown would take Venard's main field spot. Following the event, on April 3rd, 2017, Cole revealed that he withdrew from the World Finals due to the birth of his daughter. Furthermore, he also announced that he would move on from monster truck driving to raise his new daughter.

2018-2021[]

In 2018, Cole would decide to make his return to the sport driving his all new Black Pearl truck as the teammate to Jamey Garner's Over Bored on Monster Jam's Stadium Championship Series 2, making his full-time stadium debut. His highlights would be winning racing in Anaheim and have a crazy freestyle in Orlando. He would finish fifth in the series and would later receive an invite to Monster Jam World Finals XIX. Cole would also briefly drive Stone Crusher for a few select events.

In 2019, Cole competed on Stadium Championship Series 3, where he would get four freestyle wins and two racing wins, finishing fourth in the standings. However, he controversially did not get a World Finals invite that year due to main field spots shortening. However, he would be invited compete at the 2019 All-Star Challenge on Team Ice via Captain's Choice, where his team dominated the event by winning every competition. However, Cole wouldn't win any of the competitions and also finish last place in freestyle. 2019 would also be the year where Cole started doing the "Walk the Plank" backflip.

In 2020, Cole competed on Stadium Championship Series Red, which was setting up to be one of Cole's most successful seasons, initially winning three freestyles, as well as a skills win during Indianapolis's second show. At said show, Cole would earn the truck its first ever overall event championship. He would finish an impressive runner-up position on the series to Todd LeDuc in Monster Energy after the 2020 season was infamously postponed and later cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. NBC Motorsports would notably rank Cole's winning Houston freestyle as the #1 freestyle of the 2020 season.

In 2021, Cole ran on the season's only points tour, where he would ninth in the points standings after a struggling start to the season. Despite this, he would win two back-to-back racing wins in Houston shows 3-4, and the overall in show 2 of Orlando.

2022-present[]

In 2022, Cole competed on Stadium Series Red again. It would be one of Cole's most successful seasons, where he would finish fourth in the standings after taking many racing and freestyle wins throughout the tour. He would also notably have a small and comical rivalry with Bryce Kenny to get fourth place after the top 3 in the standings were clinched, calling "fourth the new first." He would get an invite to World Finals XXI, where he would famously roll-over and then save the truck at the end, and would finish seventh in freestyle. After the event, he would later compete in Nashville and win the freestyle competition, once again pulling off an impressive save.

In 2023, Cole competes on Stadium Tour Red again, picking up several wins. He would also debut a new K10 body on his truck in Jacksonville. He would finish seventh in the final standings after suffering various mechanical issues through the later half of Q1. Most infamously during intros for the East Rutherford show, the truck would suffer engine issues and miss the whole show. He would later be invited to World Finals XXII, where he would make it to round 3 of racing, and later finish an incredible second place finish to the freestyle world championship.

In 2024, Cole drives The Black Pearl on Stadium Championship Series East and finishes seventh. During the first month, Cole would start attempting reverse backflips. However, in Minneapolis, he would attempt another one, but break his wrist after landing on the roof, causing him to miss half of Q1 until Syracuse, with Michael Pagliarulo filling in for him for the time. Cole did not win at any shows during the year. He would be invited to World Finals XXlll in Los Angeles, and debuted a special Cadillac Escalade design at the event sponsored by Strut Cares. Cole later won the Outreach award for his organization, Limbs Like Me.

In 2025, Cole competes on Stadium Championship Series West and finishes eighth. Black Pearl goes back to a modern Chevrolet Silverado body with purple beadlock rims. Despite dealing with various mechanical issues, he would win two racing championships at Miami and Minneapolis, and two freestyles at St. Louis and Anaheim. At World Finals XXIV, he would only be invited to LCQ, but win a spot in the main field alongside Matt Cody (due to Sparkle Smash driver Jamie Sullivan dropping out of the World Finals on the day of the LCQ after gaining an infection from being bitten on the face by a dog). Jerry Beck drives The Black Pearl in Dayton in November for unknown reasons.

In 2026, he will once again compete on the west stadium tour.

World Finals appearances[]

2016 - Grave Digger #31
2018 - The Black Pearl
2022 - The Black Pearl (Main field)
2023 - The Black Pearl (Main field)
2024 - The Black Pearl (Main field)
2025 - The Black Pearl (LCQ & main field)

All-Star Challenge appearances[]

2019- The Black Pearl (Team Ice)

Accomplishments[]

2013 Technician of the Year.
2016 More Monster Jam East Tour champion.
2017 Triple Threat West Tour champion.
2020 Stadium Series Red runner-up.
2022 Freestyle of the Year award (for Indianapolis 2022)
2023 Monster Jam World Finals XXII freestyle runner-up.
2024 Outreach award winner.

Trivia[]

Cole is the only Monster Jam driver, as well as the only monster truck driver to have a prosthetic limb.
The Black Pearl truck was inspired from his prosthetic leg, himself and others often comparing himself to a pirate. Cole having a prosthetic leg makes him the perfect fit for a pirate themed truck.
Cole Venard has since become very close to the Anderson's after joining Monster Jam, often being referred to as an "honorary Anderson." He particular has become close with Adam Anderson, after having crewed for him in the late 2000's and early 2010s, with two often being seen around and joking with each other.
For the television episode of the Tampa 2014 show, Cole would get an opportunity to be a guest interviewer for Fox Sports 1, doing interviews for certain drivers during the pre-show.
Cole was the first driver to win racing on 2022's Stadium Series Red in San Antonio and would later be the last racing winner of the series in Salt Lake City.
Since World Finals XXI and the new shortened style of championship coverage, Cole Venard and Tyler Menninga are the only two drivers who have been featured on every freestyle episode of the World Finals as a full run, rather than in the highlights segments, as of World Finals XXIV.
At the World Finals XXI awards ceremony, Cole would win the freestyle of the year award for his freestyle in Indianapolis. During his speech, Cole would notoriously not be sober, delivering a clearly drunken and tipsy speech, most famously shouting the phrase "dammit, do it!" when referring to his journey to get where he is now. Despite the nature of it all, the speech would gain a cult following with fans, with the "dammit, do it" phrase becoming commonly associated with Cole and The Black Pearl.
As revealed on Inside Monster Jam, at the pit party in Minneapolis 2024, fans were asking him questions about the trucks and the safety. Cole ironically jinxed himself by saying he never got hurt in the truck, as he would break his arm at the same event.
Cole is the first driver to win the LCQ after he was previously a World Finals main field competitor for many events.