Michael "Mike" Harper (Born March 11th, 1979) is a monster truck owner, driver and promoter out of Decatur, Texas. He is the driver of Outlaw and the promotor of Monster Truck Wars, although Harper originally started driving when he lived in Georgia.
Career[]
Mike Harper's monster truck career started with a short tenure working for Monster Jam, training at the North Carolina facility and performing in Blue Thunder.
From 2001-2007, Harper would drive for Paul Shafer Motorsports and competed primarily in the Carolina Crusher from 2001-2007 and even won the CFP championship in 2004 and also was featured with a famous motorcycle builder Jesse James. Afterwards, Harper stepped away from the sport for a few years.
In 2011, Harper debuted Outlaw, a throwback to the old Jersey Outlaw truck and is well known for his wild, Tom Meents style of driving. He also ran a Bounty Hunter body on his chassis.
In 2013, Harper started competing in Monster Jam again.
In 2014, Harper drove Outlaw in his second televised appearance in Arlington, where Harper showed what he was all about in freestyle, despite a crash in racing. Harper was the first guy out to do freestyle and delivered big time. In his freestyle, Harper got some big air, did some great moves, even taking on the Tower of Power obstacle and did some great donuts while he flattened both rear tires on his truck. Harper scored a 25 and stayed in the Hot Seat for the next 10 trucks, before he got knocked out of 1st place by El Toro Loco. Out of the 20-truck lineup, Harper finished in a three-way tie for 5th in the freestyle competition. He also drove The Commander, a temporary name for Outlaw.
In 2015, Harper acquired the Thunder Chicken name and debuted it at the World Finals 16 pit party. Harper retired again in 2015, although it's unknown why. Fans wanted him to compete in the Monster Jam World Finals, but he never did.
In 2018, Harper bought RB Moler's Mountaineer.
In 2022, Harper began purchasing the rights to the names of former trucks with intent of bringing them back. These include Bulldozer, Radical Rescue and Shark Attack. Later, he buys Split Personality, the race truck and the ride truck. He also bought the Black Gold truck. He has also owned the Chris Buescher truck, which was a temporary name for Thunder Chicken. He would buy Turbulence and Reptoid. Harper purchased the rights to “Monster Truck Wars”, and promoted over 70 events per year. On April 16th, Harper hosted TNT Motorsports: Unfinished Business.
In 2023, Harper along with and 2Xtreme Racing purchased Extreme King Sling together. He would also buy the Wild Hair name.
In 2024, he debuts a new truck called T-Rex that will be driven by Aaron Basl & Devin Jones.
Controversy[]
Budd controversy[]
In 2023, Harper received major controversy over hiring Brandon Budd (who was arrested in February 2023 for pedophilic related charges) to drive his trucks in multiple shows under various aliases. This was found out after fans noticed "Dave Woodcock" (who was advertised to drive Outlaw) driving differently. At the beginning of the next show, fans caught a glimpse of the Outlaw driver who wasn't Dave Woodcock, but Brandon Budd. Later in July, he would admit to hiring Brandon Budd and would even defend him in the comment section of an Instagram rant post that he made on Devin Winfield. This resulted in him being blasted by commenters, resulting in him eventually removing the post. Despite the unanimous backlash, Budd would continue to compete for Harper. In November, Budd was convicted on two charges and was sentenced to a total of nineteen months in jail in February 2024. Harper has been adamant about giving people second chances, and was not afraid to take on the Budd situation
Trivia[]
- Harper's nickname ''Chicken'', was created by his friend Jimmy Creten, as his small stature and facial structure was joked to resemble a chicken. Due to his interest in the nostalgia of the sport, this is what led him to acquire the Thunder Chicken name, though he had planned to use it sooner.
Gallery[]
