Lupe Soza (born July 31, 1965) is a former driver out of Banquette, Texas who was known for driving Warrior, El Toro Loco, Grinder and El Diablo. He currently owns and operates the Texan ride truck. Lupe was known for his very technical and wild freestyles, making one of the most popular drivers at the time, and even winning a world championship with El Toro Loco. Also, being of Spanish descent, he was synonymous with Hispanic themed trucks, and being popular on the international tour, notably in Hispanic countries.
History[]
Lupe began his career in the industry in 1983. Lupe built a lifted 1977 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 truck with his father called Warrior, and while showcasing the truck at a car show in Corpus Christi, Texas, he would meet Jeff Dane. Jeff and Lupe talked about how the truck could be turned into a full-scale monster truck. Lupe brought Warrior back to the same event a year later in 1984 with lifted axles and then over a three year period of part-time work, Lupe transformed the truck into a monster truck.
In 1988, Lupe was invited to the Astrodome for a TNT Motorsports event, officially beginning his driving career there.
Lupe ran Warrior part-time with his father over the next few years due to also needing to attend college in the meantime. In 1993, Lupe debuted a new chassis and body style for Warrior, this being a rear-engine 1932 Ford. This version ran for two years before being retired in 1995.
From 1994 until 2000, Lupe was absent from the industry, working as a teacher and coach at an elementary school. He would still watch monster trucks on television and keep in touch with fellow members of the industry in the meantime, until eventually he phoned up Clear Channel Entertainment with a request to return. USHRA officials, who had worked with Lupe during his first tenure, pitched the idea of El Toro Loco to Lupe, thinking he would be a great fit for the truck. After some months of testing, Lupe returned to the industry by debuting El Toro Loco in January 2001.
Lupe winning his title in 2004.
After untelevised appearances throughout 2001 and 2002, Lupe made his television debut at World Finals IV in 2003. This event saw a massive breakthrough for Lupe, as he shocked the field by finishing in second place for freestyle, losing by only one point to Jim Koehler in Avenger, who had also shocked the field by winning. Having had a star making performance in front a large audience, Lupe began a climb through the ranks of Monster Jam, making sure fans kept an eye on him heading into 2004. At the following year's World Finals V, Lupe went the extra mile and succeeded by winning the world freestyle title, though not without company, as he finished in an infamous three-way tie alongside Madusa and Tom Meents. From here, there was no doubt that Lupe was now one of Monster Jam's top drivers.
From 2005 to 2009, Lupe continued to drive El Toro Loco, getting multiple television appearances over the years. He performed well in both competitions, but excelled more in freestyle, with his performances in the big stadiums even resulting in victories from time to time. These were accompanied by Lupe competing at every World Finals event year after year. In December 2009, a new opportunity arose for Lupe with the debut of Advance Auto Parts Grinder. The company handpicked Lupe to drive their brand new truck, with Lupe accepting and he began his career in Grinder for the 2010 season.
Since Lupe was sponsored by a big company, he would gain more confidence while driving. After joining the team, his driving style would become more wild and risk-taking, which resulted in many wins, higher scores, and him pulling very unique moves and saves. He would become popular with a move dubbed the "tailwhip", where he would turn the truck's wheels while driving up a ramp. As well as driving Grinder in North America, he would still drive El Toro Loco on European Tours due to Grinder having the Advance Auto Parts sponsorship, which did not allow it to run overseas.
In 2014, after Grinder was discontinued with the Advance Auto parts sponsor ending, he would return to driving El Toro Loco full-time, which he would continue to do for two years. However, in 2015, Lupe would get the opportunity to fill-in and drive Max-D in Arlington and Foxborough. Lupe drove the burned Zombie for the World Finals XVl encore. He would also drive Boy Scouts of America for an encore in Arlington on his El Toro Loco chassis. In Salinas, he drove the yellow El Toro Loco for the North of the Border vs. Team South of the Border contest.
In 2016, he moved to El Diablo, which he would drive for only that one year. At World Finals 17, he drove Soldier Fortune Black Ops for the military encore. He would retire from driving at the end of the year alongside the truck. Shortly after his retirement, he would purchase the Texan ride truck and continues to operate it to this day.
Trivia[]
- Lupe also speaks Spanish as a result of his Hispanic heritage. At events held in Hispanic countries, such as Spain and Mexico, as well as certain shows in Texas, like El Paso and San Antonio, Fernando Rubio would always interview Lupe in said language, with Lupe responding fluently.
- Adam Anderson got his start in monster trucks by crewing for Lupe.
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120508202717/http://www.monsterjam.com/Bios/Drivers/Lupe_Soza
World Finals appearances[]
- 2003 - El Toro Loco
- 2004 - El Toro Loco (won freestyle)
- 2005 - El Toro Loco
- 2006 - El Toro Loco
- 2007 - El Toro Loco
- 2008 - El Toro Loco
- 2009 - El Toro Loco
- 2010 - Advance Auto Parts Grinder
- 2011 - Advance Auto Parts Grinder (freestyle only)
- 2012 - Advance Auto Parts Grinder (freestyle only)
- 2013 - Advance Auto Parts Grinder (freestyle only)
- 2015 - Zombie (Burned) (encore only)
- 2016 - Soldier Fortune Black Ops (encore only)
Accomplishments[]
- 2004 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion
- 2010 Monster Jam Humanitarian of the Year award
- 2011 Monster Jam Save of the Year award
- 2012 Monster Jam Wow Factor of the Year award
Gallery[]
