Megalodon is a custom 3D shark monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports. The truck has been driven by multiple drivers over the course of its career, with its current drivers including: Ashley Sanford, Mikayla Tulachka, Angelina Nock, Kevin Crocker & Blake Granger & Charlie Pauken for international shows.
Since the truck's fairly recent debut in 2017, Megalodon has become a major staple and fan favorite in Monster Jam since its introduction, having competed in seven Monster Jam World Finals events (Even winning the racing championship at the 2025 event with Todd LeDuc) and also having been campaigned by various teams on various chassis. The truck has also won two Triple Threat Series championships with Justin Sipes in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
History[]
Background[]
Megalodon was first announced in 2016 as one of two new trucks, alongside Earth Shaker (then known as Dump Truck) for the 2017 Monster Jam season.
2017[]
The truck entered competition the following year with Justin Sipes and Alex Blackwell as the drivers. Sipes would compete on Triple Threat Series Central, while Blackwell would compete in Arena Championship Series 6. Sipes would win his series, resulting in him receiving an automatic invite to Monster Jam World Finals XVIII. However, due to failing a breathalyzer test, Sipes would be unable to compete in the World Finals, resulting in Blackwell driving the truck in his place, who finished 2nd in his tour behind Gary Porter in Carolina Crusher.
2018[]
Blackwell competed on Stadium Championship Series 1, while Sipes competed on Triple Threat Series East. Meanwhile, two more trucks would be added to the team, driven by Trent Montgomery on the Razin Kane chassis, and Travis Groth on the Trouble Maker chassis with both drivers competing in the Triple Threat Series Central and West, respectively. Buddy Tompkins was originally planned to drive RKMT's Megalodon but later announced he would be retiring (although he would still run the name at an event the following year while it was under 2Xtreme Racing). Meanwhile, Kristen Hope would drive RKMT's Megalodon in Rosemont, Illinois.
In March, Sipes would again win his series, resulting in him being automatically invited to compete at Monster Jam World Finals XIX. Meanwhile, Blackwell finished 4th, Mongomery finished 6th and Groth finished 7th on their respected tours.
In June, Sipes and the truck would later made their first stadium appearance at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, and would later compete in that year’s Australian tour.
In August, the truck was temporarily renamed to The Meg to promote the upcoming movie of the same name. The truck was going to compete that weekend as The Meg in Los Angeles, but for unknown reasons, it went back to the standard Megalodon body.
In December, Chad Tingler drove the truck in Santiago, Chile, La Plata, Argentina, and São Paulo, Brazil.
2019[]
Justin competed in Stadium Championship Series 1, while RKMT would move their Megalodon to the FTI Torque chassis, with Jack Brown competing on Triple Threat Series East. Two more trucks would be added to the team: The first would be driven by Austin Minton on the Jekyll & Hyde chassis, and the second, Megalodon Fire, would be campaigned by Cory Rummell on the Rage chassis. Both drivers would compete in the Triple Threat Series West and Stadium Championship Series 3, respectively. Meanwhile, Alex Blackwell would drive the truck in international events.
Sipes would be invited to compete in the main field of Monster Jam World Finals XX, while Rummell would be invited to compete in the high jump competition.
Later that year, Minton would suffer an injury and would later temporarily drive for Vaters Motorsports while sharing driving duties with rookie driver David Olfert.
In October, Rummell and Megalodon Fire would compete in the inaugural All-Star Challenge in Las Vegas, Nevada. Prior to said event, however, Justin Sipes would drive Megalodon Fire on his chassis for the in Glendale, and would win racing over Ryan Anderson in Son-uva Digger.
2020[]
Cory would campaign the standard Megalodon on Stadium Championship Series Green, while Sipes returned to the Triple Threat Series to compete in the Central tour. Meanwhile, Brown and Minton would compete on Triple Threat Series East and West, respectively, while Alex Blackwell was planned to have driven Megalodon for international events once again.
From January to February, a fifth Megalodon would be briefly campaigned by Devin Jones on the Barbarian chassis for select arena shows.
After the entire Monster Jam season prematurely ended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Megalodon would be left without a full-time driver, as Sipes and Blackwell would be furloughed by FELD Entertainment due to budget cuts as a result of the pandemic. Sipes would leave monster trucks due to him refusing to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
In August, Adam Anderson would temporarily take over the driving duties for the time being, and both truck and driver would set a new record for most trucks jumped.
In October, Anderson would drive Megalodon for Monster Jam’s return event in Arlington, Texas.
2021[]
Adam and the truck competed in the lone Stadium Championship Series while Cory Rummell ran his normal Rage truck instead of Megalodon.
After Anderson would return to driving Grave Digger in the summer, Tristan England would take over the driving duties for the time being, before returning to his original truck, Earth Shaker, the following year.
2022[]
Cory returned to driving the truck on his Rage chassis and competed on Stadium Championship Series Yellow, while former Alien Invasion driver Bernard Lyght would join the team to compete on Arena Championship Series West. During the series, Cory would be very notable for his racing success, but also for making numerous final round appearances, yet not winning any of them.
In March, Randy Brown drove Bernard's truck in Vancouver, British Columbia.[1]
Meanwhile, Bernard finished 6th and Cory would finish in 5th place with Cory receiving an invite to compete at Monster Jam World Finals XXI.
In June, Tristan England returned to driving the truck in London, England as Peter Nyman was driving Earth Shaker.[2] Tristan did other international events in the truck for the rest of the year.
In December, Ashley Sanford makes her debut in Spokane, Washington.[3]
2023[]
The Megalodon team would rapidly expand from 3 trucks to 6. Todd LeDuc joined the team, while Mikayla Tulachka began running the truck on the Just Get Er Done Original chassis. Meanwhile, Charlie Pauken began driving the truck at select international shows.
The truck competed on all six tours (being the only truck other than Grave Digger to do so).
- Todd competed on the Stadium Red Tour, finishing 6th.
- Cory competed on the Stadium Blue Tour, finishing 4th.
- Mikayla competed on Arena Championship Series Central, finishing 8th.
- Bernard competed on Arena Championship Series East, finishing 5th.
- Ashley competed on Arena Championship Series West, finishing 6th.
In March, Brandon Arthur drives the truck for Ashley Sanford in Tucson, Arizona.[4]
Todd LeDuc would later go on record to say that his truck doesn't like Megalodon on it and would rather have a Blue Thunder, Metal Mulisha or Monster Energy body on it instead, likely criticizing the truck for its limited vision.
In July, Todd and Cory would receive invites to compete at Monster Jam World Finals XXII, making it the first to feature 2 Megalodons. During the World Finals, the former's Megalodon received a Nitro Neon counterpart, being Megalodon Neon. In freestyle, he would complete a very high backflip as he was going for a double backflip but backed out of the throttle during the attempt. He would later state that the hard landing from the backflip hurt his back, causing constant back pain.
In August, similar to in 2018, the truck was briefly renamed to Meg 2: The Trench to coincide with the movie's release. Also like the first movie, the truck did not compete as The Meg for the weekend of the release of that movie either. On August 30th, while travelling to an event in San Jose, California, the trailer with Ashley Sanford's truck, along with Loghan Ashline's Scooby-Doo! caught fire and were destroyed,[5] resulting in Devin Winfield to drive Megalodon for Ashley on the Kamikaze chassis for the weekend's events.
On October 28th, Angelina Nock made her debut in the truck in San Juan, Puerto Rico[6], and would replace Bernard Lyght, who would move to compete in The Amazing Spider-Man the following year.
2024[]
The truck would again compete on all 5 tours in the United States with one competing internationally:
- Todd competed on Stadium Championship Series East, finishing 3rd.
- Cory competed on Stadium Championship Series West, finishing 6th.
- Mikayla competed on Arena Championship Series Central, finishing 7th.
- Angelina competed on Arena Championship Series East, finishing 6th.
- Ashley competed on Arena Championship Series West, finishing 5th.
Meanwhile, Charlie Pauken continued to drive the truck for international events, until Blake Granger began driving Charlie's truck when Matt Cody drove Grave Digger for Brandon Vinson due to his sudden retirement in March.
In January, Ashley would win both Sunday donut competitions on her birthday in Tacoma, Washington.[1][7] One week later, Angelina scored her first win in one of the donut competitions in Baltimore, Maryland. [8]
In February, Loghan Ashline drives the truck for Ashley in Denver, Colorado.[9] Meanwhile, Dustin Brown made a one-off return to drive the truck for Bernard in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for the first show.[10]
In March, Bernard Lyght made a one-off return to drive the truck in Tucson, Arizona for Ashley.[11]
In April, Blake would win the wheelie and donut competitions in Hamburg, Germany before the entire event was cancelled due to poor air ventilation in the venue. One week later, Ashley scored her first career racing win at show 2 in Albany, New York.[12]
In May, Todd and Cory were invited to compete at Monster Jam World Finals XXlll in Los Angeles, California, with Cory driving Megalodon Fire for the event. Meanwhile, Ashley competed in the Last Chance Qualifying event at the World Finals.
In August, Brandan Tulachka drove the truck in Duluth and Savannah, Georgia as a fill-in due to Mikalya returning to nursing school at the end of August with Alex Bardin would drive Brandan's truck. Mikayla returned to driving afterwards.
Later in the year, Kevin Crocker was posted on the Monster Jam website as a driver of the truck for next year but was quickly taken down due to controversy over a driver leaving the team.
In September, Charlie used differently cut tires for the Ramped Up series in Glasgow, Scotland, which would prove effective as he would win 3 out of 4 racing competitions.[13]
In November, Khalil' La'Marr makes his debut in Nampa, Idaho,[14] but has not competed since then.
2025[]
Kevin Crocker was readded to the website and returned to Team Scream Racing to replace Cory Rummell, who took a break from full-time competition (although the latter would return briefly to substitute for Alex Bardin in Team Throttle Monster's Earth Shaker due to him suffering an injury).
- Kevin competed on Stadium Championship Series East, finishing 12th.
- Todd competed on Stadium Championship Series West, finishing 6th.
- Mikayla competed on Arena Championship Series East, finishing 6th.
- Angelina competed on the Arena Championship Series Central, finishing 8th.
- Ashley competed on Arena Championship Series West, finishing 6th.
Meanwhile, Charlie Pauken returned to driving Grave Digger on the international tour, leading to Blake Granger to drive the truck.
In January, Todd scored a skills victory on his birthday in St. Louis, Missouri. The next day, Kevin nearly landed a consecutive backflip in freestyle in Anaheim, California.
In February, Mikayla scored her first racing win at in Providence, Rhode Island.
After rumors that this will be Todd's last season, it was confirmed that he will retire as he has been suffering from back pain, likely caused by the backflip at World Finals XXII, along with his contract with FELD expiring.
In April, Chelsea VanCleave filled in for Ashley in Columbus, Ohio due to the latter's mother being in the hospital. That same weekend, Todd debuted a new Stars and Stripes design in Seattle, where he would also do a consecutive backflip in freestyle. Todd would use the new design until the World Finals.
In May, Chelsea drove the truck again in Lexington, Kentucky, this time filling-in for Angelina.
In July, Todd would make his final Monster Jam appearance at Monster Jam World Finals XXIV, while Ashley was invited to compete in the Last Chance Qualifying event. While Ashley failed to qualify, Todd would go on to claim the racing championship, making him a 2-time racing champion and a 3-time World Finals champion overall. This would also mark the first ever World Finals championship for Megalodon.
Later in the year, Alex Bardin will drive the truck for Freestyle Mania events, and Charlie Pauken will return to the team to compete on the Australian tour.
Drivers[]
Current drivers[]
- Ashley Sanford (Since 2022)
- Mikayla Tulachka (Since 2023)
- Charlie Pauken (2023-2024; since 2025)
- Angelina Nock (Since 2023)
- Blake Granger (Since 2024)
- Kevin Crocker (Since 2025)
Former drivers[]
- Alex Blackwell (2017-2019)
- Justin Sipes (2017-2020)
- Travis Groth (Jan-Mar. 2018)
- Trent Montgomery (Jan-Mar. 2018)
- Austin Minton (2019-2020)
- Jack Brown (2019-2020)
- Cory Rummell (2019-2020, 2022-2024)
- Buddy Tompkins (2018 planned; 2019)
- David Olfert (2019)
- Devin Jones (Jan-Feb. 2020)
- Adam Anderson (2020-2021)
- Bernard Lyght (2022-2023, Tucson 2024)
- Todd LeDuc (2023-2025)
Fill-in drivers[]
- Kristen Hope (Rosemont 2018)
- Chad Tingler (Santiago, La Plata, São Paulo 2018)
- Randy Brown (Vancouver 2022)
- Dustin Brown (Pittsburgh 2023, show 1)
- Brandon Arthur (Tucson 2023)
- Devin Winfield (San Jose 2023)
- Loghan Ashline (Denver 2024)
- Brandan Tulachka (Duluth, Savannah 2024)
- Khalil La'Marr (Nampa 2024)
- Chelsea VanCleave (Columbus, Lexington 2025)
Designs/liveries[]
| Design | Description | Picture |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | Released in 2019 by Spin Master as part of the Fire and Ice line. Made into a real-life truck and driven by Cory Rummell for the 2019 season and at Monster Jam World Finals XXIII. |   |
| Gold | Playable truck in Monster Jam Steel Titans, featured exclusively in Target pre-orders. |   |
| Zombie | Released in 2020 by Spin Master as part of the Zombie Invasion line.
The truck is also playable in Monster Jam Showdown. |
  |
| Galaxy | Released in 2021 by Spin Master as part of the Gears and Galaxies line.
The truck is also playable in Monster Jam Showdown. |
  |
| Surf | Released in 2022 by Spin Master as part of the Earth and Surf line. |   |
| Neon | Released in 2023 by Spin Master as part of the Nitro Neon line.
A real-life version competed at World Finals XXII and the Superstar Challenge. |
  |
| Stars & Stripes | Debuted on April 5th, 2025, and driven by Todd LeDuc until Monster Jam World Finals XXIV. |   |
| Brown/Milestone | Playable truck in Monster Jam Showdown. |   |
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Trucks ran as Megalodon[]
- Rage (Cory Rummell/Kevin Crocker)
- Trouble Maker (Travis Groth)
- Razin Kane (Trent Montgomery/Kristen Hope)
- Jekyll & Hyde (Austin Minton/Buddy Tompkins/David Olfert)
- FTI Torque (Jack Brown)
- Barbarian (Devin Jones)
- Just Get Er Done Original (Mikayla Tulachka)
- Kamikaze (Devin Winfield)
- Rockwell R.E.D (Alex Bardin)
World Finals appearances[]
| Year | Driver(s) | Results | |||
| 2017 | Alex Blackwell | Qualifying: 13th (16.574) | Racing: defeated in round 3 by Gas Monkey Garage | Freestyle: 23rd (6.799) | |
| 2018 | Justin Sipes | Qualifying: 13th (16.584) | Racing: defeated in round 2 by Son-uva Digger | Freestyle: 5th (8.530) | |
| 2019 | Justin Sipes | Qualifying: 8th (13.329) | Racing: defeated in round 2 by Zombie Fire | Freestyle: 7th (8.436) | |
| Cory Rummell | High Jump: 5th (43.996 ft.) | ||||
| 2022 | Cory Rummell | Qualifying: 18th (32.332) | Racing: defeated in round 3 by Grave Digger | High Jump: 4th (35.511 ft.) | Freestyle: 22nd (0.000) |
| 2023 | Todd LeDuc | Qualifying: 11th (20.358) | Racing: defeated in round 2 by Earth Shaker | Freestyle: 3rd (8.258) | |
| Cory Rummell | Qualifying: 5th (20.169) | Racing: defeated in the semi-finals by Bakugan Dragonoid | Freestyle: 12th (7.048) | ||
| 2024 | Ashley Sanford | Last Chance Qualifying: defeated in round 2 by Monster Mutt | |||
| Todd LeDuc | Qualifying: 2nd (18.542) | Racing: defeated in round 2 by Jurassic Attack | Freestyle: 18th (5.959) | ||
| Cory Rummell | Qualifying: N/A | Racing: defeated in round 1 by Monster Mutt Dalmatian | High Jump: 6th (27.095 ft.) | Freestyle: 19th (5.887) | |
| 2025 | Ashley Sanford | Last Chance Qualifying: TBD | |||
| Todd LeDuc | Qualifying: TBD | Racing: TBD | Freestyle: TBD | ||
Video game appearances[]
- Monster Jam: Crush It! (Nintendo Switch version)
- Monster Jam Steel Titans
- Monster Jam Steel Titans 2
- Roblox: Car Dealership Tycoon
- Monster Jam Showdown
Trivia[]
- Megalodon's prototype name was "Shark" when it was first announced, which was quite literal.
- The original render used for Megalodon featured blue beadlocks and the display in Monster Jam: Thunder Alley features them as well. Other photos for ads & when the truck is displayed on the jumbotron at shows always features the blue beadlocks, even though most of the trucks don't use them. However, they had never been used in competition until 2023, with Mikayla Tulachka's version using them. As of 2025, Tulachka's Megalodon is still the only one to run blue beadlocks.
- Megalodon & Alex Blackwell were the first truck & driver to be fan-judged on judgeszone.com, which was first introduced at World Finals XVIII.
- During an event in Hampton, Virginia in 2017, the transmission in Blackwell's truck blew during the racing portion of the event. The crew was able to change the transmission in only 11 minutes so he could return for the wheelie competition.
- The Megalodon Fire and Monster Mutt touring duo for 2019 was nicknamed "Team MeglaMutt".
- The body used for Megalodon features a foam surface with fiberglass as a base.
- The theme song used for Megalodon is a metal cover of the main theme from the movie Jaws, by YouTuber 331Erock.
- When LED light eyes first debuted in 2022, they were originally exclusively featured in Lyght's truck until late February of that year, when Rummell's truck began sporting the blue LED's. Now all of the versions have the blue eyes.
- The bodies for Megalodon are the ones that are produced more than any other by Starr Creations.
- Despite Megalodon Fire's retirement after 2019, Cory Rummell used his Megalodon Fire helmet until his retirement in 2024.
- Monster Jam's YouTube banner photo featured Megalodon & Monster Mutt Dalmatian racing at the World Finals for a long time. It was finally changed in 2024 for World Finals XXII in Los Angeles.
- Megalodon, as the name would suggest, is themed after the prehistoric shark that went extinct many years ago.
- The body style for Megalodon would later be used for Shark Bite (2022), Shark Attack (2023), and Robo Shark (2025).
Gallery[]
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Merchandise[]
.jpg "2017 CR08-Megalodon (2).jpg (405 KB)")
.jpg "2021 SE GG Max-D-Megalodon (7).jpg (488 KB)")
.jpg "2022 MC Megalodon (2).jpg (463 KB)")
References[]
- ↑ Vancouver, BC | PNE | Mar. 18-20, 2022 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ London, UK | London Stadium | June 18, 2022 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Spokane, WA | Spokane Arena | Dec. 9-11, 2022 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Tucson, AZ |Tucson Arena | Mar. 31-Apr. 2, 2023 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ https://youtu.be/3NlN4VXeuO0
- ↑ San Juan, PR | Coliseo de Puerto Rico | Oct. 28-29, 2023 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Tacoma, WA | Tacoma Dome | JAN. 13-14, 2024 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Baltimore, MD |CFG Bank Arena | Jan. 19-21, 2024 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Denver, CO | Ball Arena | Feb. 9-11, 2024 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Pittsburgh, PA |PPG Paints Arena | Feb. 10-12, 2023 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Tucson, AZ | Tucson Arena | Mar. 22-24, 2024 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Albany, NY | MVP Arena | Apr. 13-14, 2024 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Glasgow, SCT | OVO Hydro | Sept. 20-22, 2024 | Monster Jam®
- ↑ Nampa, ID | Ford Idaho Center | Nov. 1-3, 2024 | Monster Jam®