Monster Patrol is a 1990 Chevrolet Silverado monster truck that was created and driven by Paul Shafer from 1993-2012. Monster Patrol was the flagship truck of Paul Shafer Motorsports until the team stopped running in 2013. On January 27th, 2022, the truck along with every PSM owned truck was sold to James Trantina III of Triple B Motorsports, who debuted his version of Monster Patrol on July 2nd of that year.
History[]
1993[]
Paul Shafer would switch from driving mud racers to monster trucks. He bought the Taurus 4 chassis and would transform it to Monster Patrol. The name was based off of Tom Martin and Shafer's mud racer, Mud Patrol, which Shafer won a points championship in. After the truck's debut, a legal dispute ensued between Martin and Shafer over who owned the Mud Patrol name, Shafer would win the lawsuit.
That same year, Shake Me driver, Tom Meents, would start driving Monster Patrol on occasion for Shafer, taking over the original chassis full-time by late 1994. Meents primarily drove Monster Patrol in Monster Jam and USA Motorsports, while Shafer would mostly run in the PENDA Points Series and independent shows. A wing (which is now an iconic part of the truck) was added to apply extra downforce to prevent it from nosediving due to the truck being front-engined.
In October, Shafer would win the "USHRA Monster Wars World Finals" by defeating Fred Shafer (no relation) in Bear Foot, who was crowned the USHRA Monster Wars champion earlier that night.
1994[]
Shafer would switch from the Taurus 4 chassis to a rear engine chassis that was built by him and his head fabricator Bob that had a similar design to a front-engine Willman; he debuted this second Monster Patrol while in the PENDA Points Series. Meents would take over the front-engine Taurus 4 chassis as a result of this.
Claremore, Oklahoma Incident[]
On July 24th, 1994, at an event in Claremore, Oklahoma, Meents would lose control of Monster Patrol after the throttle got stuck after a landing off a set of cars. The truck, unable to stop, would crash through a set of hay bales and fencing, before rolling into the pit area, where crew members were standing. The crash left 5 people injured and 1 person dead, who was 39-year-old Mike Hickerson, who was one of Tom's best friends at the time. Meents was never charged for the accident.
1995[]
Meents would win the inaugural Thunder on the Beach event in Wildwood, New Jersey.
1996[]
Shafer would buy another front-engine chassis which was formerly the Taurus 5 chassis. Shafer would transform the truck into a third Monster Patrol. Many drivers would pilot this particular chassis, such as Brent Warstler, Brian Welch, Rod Schmidt, and Bill Haslett. The third Monster Patrol would also run as Super Truck 20 that year.
1997[]
Shafer was injured from a hard landing in St. Louis. Meents would win the 1997 U.S. Truck Fest Championship in Monster Patrol for making the racing finals all three days.
1998[]
Shafer would purchase a brand new PEI Chassis that would become the fourth official Monster Patrol in 2000. This chassis would be Shafer’s main truck until his retirement. The chassis would also run as Universal Monsters Frankenstein for four years.
1999[]
Tom Meents would leave Shafer's team to drive Bulldozer on the Taurus 4 chassis, which he ended up purchasing from Shafer. Rod Schmidt replaced Brian Welch in Monster Patrol 3, before being replaced by Brent Warstler in the summer. Todd Frolik's Dodge Bear Foot (Bear Foot 12) was converted into another Monster Patrol which was repainted purple and orange to match the orange accents on Todd's truck. Brian Barthel began running his own version of the truck on his Little Tiger chassis, adopting the same purple and orange color scheme, except he would run a wing while Frolik did not. Guy Wood drove the third Monster Patrol in Mesa Park that Summer on at least one occasion. Jeff Hoy began running a Monster Patrol tuff truck in the Fall.
2000[]
Brian Townsend and Dave Harkey would drive the second Monster Patrol. That truck would also run as Tonka and Carolina Crusher. The purple and orange Dodge Monster Patrol (Bear Foot 12) would be taken over by Richard Patterson. The third Monster Patrol would briefly run as Carolina Crusher as well. Kirk Dabney debuted his own version of Monster Patrol, which ran a blue and white paint scheme to match his Extreme Overkill truck. Harkey returned to Bigfoot 4x4 by the end of the year. Frolik returned to the team briefly after his short tenure with Grave Digger, however left the team again shortly thereafter.
2001[]
The second Monster Patrol would be turned into Carolina Crusher after Gary Porter left the team to drive Grave Digger, before being turned into The Mummy in 2003. 2Xtreme Racing began running their version of Monster Patrol on what was Ground Pounder, with Gene Kinal driving. Scott Pontbriand began driving a black and green Dodge Monster Patrol on Bear Foot 12, but left in the summer to drive Grave Digger. He would be replaced by Larry Swim. A ride truck also debuted after being converted from Maximum Override.
2002[]
Jesse Bass began driving Monster Patrol 3 and won the freestyle event in Houston and the racing event in Philadelphia for Monster Jam. Bob Robbins ran a one-off version on Aftershock sometime in the 2000's, although it is unknown when. Bear Foot 12 runs as The Mummy during the Winter season before becoming Monster Patrol again during the Spring and then The Scorpion King later in the year.
2003[]
Dave Harwood took over driving the third Monster Patrol, which would run its last season as the truck would run as both Monster Patrol and The Scorpion King before later going into storage the following year to be turned into Jesse James West Coast Cadaver. Shafer converted his PEI Monster Patrol into Frankenstein which ran until 2007.
2004[]
Shafer ran his final Monster Jam event in Rosemont, driving Universal Monsters Frankenstein.
2005[]
Dave Ryan drove the truck that was sold back to Paul Shafer the previous year, which was 2Xtreme’s version. The truck made appearances on the Monsters of Destruction tour. The Boogey Van chassis was modified and converted into another Monster Patrol, which was driven by Rodney Tweedy. Rex Smith began running the name on El Bandito. 2Xtreme’s version was sold to KC’s Fireworks in Australia and became Monster Patrol USA and later Batman before being scrapped in 2012. Shafer hosted the “PSM World Finals” on November 20th in Deland, FL.
2006[]
The original Monster Patrol chassis (Taurus 4) ran its final event in Sunrise as Bulldozer under Chuck Werner, before being scrapped.
2007[]
Monster Patrol’s final appearance in Monster Jam would be at that year’s show in Miami, which was driven by Doug Charles.
2008[]
Monster Patrol would debut a new paint scheme, and a new Dodge Ram body. The Monster Patrol that was formerly Boogey Van was sold to the late Mark Gilbert, who drove it as such until his death in 2022. Nitro Promotions began running their version of the truck on what was Executioner, driven by Michael Roy until 2013.
2009[]
David Brown and Wayne Tigue took over Dabney’s Monster Patrol. Shafer would compete in the South Pacific World Finals, driving Mark Gilbert’s truck that he sold to him a year prior.
2010[]
Monster Patrol appeared on an episode of “America’s Worst Driver”. Shafer would again compete in the South Pacific World Finals.
2012[]
This would be the last year of competition for Shafer's Monster Patrol as the truck would be put in storage until 2022.
2013[]
Steve Quercio would be the first to debut a new version of Monster Patrol since Shafer’s retirement. John Furbee drove the truck until it was converted into Reaper’s Revenge.
2014[]
Michael Phelps would debut his version of Monster Patrol, along with a ride truck. This would be the only competing Monster Patrol in the United States. Phelps’ Monster Patrol was even on display at every Monster Jam World Finals pit party from 2014-2017.
2022[]
On January 27th, the Monster Patrol name and all of Paul Shafer Motorsports would be sold to James Trantina of Triple B Motorsports, with the Monster Patrol name being a long-time favorite of James'. On top of owning the name, Trantina also owns Paul Shafer's former Monster Patrol truck, being a Dodge Ram on Monster Patrol 4, and with airbrushed flames. It is unlikely that he will restore this truck to a competitive state, as it is currently reserved for displays only. On February 25th, Kasey Kromschroeder was announced as the official driver of the new Monster Patrol race truck, which would feature a black and pink paint scheme. On July 2nd, the new truck debuted in Marietta, Ohio, on what was Jail Bird.
2023[]
On April 22nd, a new 30th anniversary design debuted at the Toughest Monster Truck Tour event in Grand Forks, North Dakota on the Boss Gator chassis. In June, Boss Gator returned with its former chassis and Austin Tweedy began competing with the Monster Patrol 30th anniversary truck on the Holeshot chassis. Buddy Tompkins drives the truck in Canfield, Ohio. Kasey left the team that same year to focus on her fabrication business.
2024[]
Austin’s truck becomes the main Monster Patrol truck running on the team; however, he would leave the team in early February after his brother Logan also left the team, citing poor management. Since then, Ashton Torgerson and Tommy Varilone would take over driving duties of a new Monster Patrol, running on the former Holeshot chassis, along with multiple one-off drivers from the team. Byron Cadigan drives the truck in Proctorville and Cincinnati, Ohio & Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Matt Cummings drove the truck in York, Pennsylvania, becoming the 100th recorded driver of Monster Patrol in its 31-year history. Travis Schweizer drives the truck in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota.
In August, Matthew McCormack would purchase the late Mark Gilbert's Monster Patrol and would redebut the truck at Lismore Speedway as a partnership with him and Trantina to keep the name running in Australia.
Official Chassis List[]
Note: this list is incomplete.
These are all the official Monster Patrol trucks, as run by the teams who have owned the name.
| Chassis | Span | Driver(s) | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monster Patrol 1 | 1993 | 1999 | Paul Shafer (1993-1994, 1998) | Formerly Taurus 4, Shafer purchased the chassis from Jack Willman. Sold to Meents in 1999, who sold it to PACE Motorsports in 2000, scrapped in 2006. |
| Tom Meents (1993-1999) | ||||
| Monster Patrol 2 | 1994 | 2000 | Paul Shafer (1994-1999) | The chassis was built by both Shafer and his fabricator Bob, making it one of two custom-built chassis from Paul Shafer Motorsports. The chassis was converted into Carolina Crusher in 2001. The truck was sold to Ron Duncombe in 2006, then later Wally Turner, and now owned by Lloyd Behunin. |
| Dave Harkey (2000) | ||||
| Brian Townsend (2000) | ||||
| Monster Patrol 3 | 1996 | 2003 | Brent Warstler (1999-2000) | Formerly Taurus 5, the chassis was later converted into Jesse James West Coast Cadaver. |
| Guy Wood (Mid-1999) | ||||
| Bill Haslett (1996) | ||||
| Brian Welch | ||||
| Rod Schmidt (1999) | ||||
| Jesse Bass (2002) | ||||
| Larry Swim (2001) | ||||
| Monster Patrol 4 | 1998 | 2012 | Paul Shafer (1998-2012) | PEI chassis ordered by Shafer in 1998, and served as his main truck until his full retirement in 2012. |
| Jeremy Brady | ||||
| Monster Patrol 5 | 1999 | 2002 | Todd Frolik | Formerly Bear Foot 12. This was the debut of the purple and orange paint scheme. The chassis became The Scorpion King in 2002. |
| Richard Patterson (2000) | ||||
| Monster Patrol 6 | 2000 | 2010 | Kirk Dabney | Formerly Extreme Overkill and Bulldozer, sold to Paul Shafer in 1999 and turned into Monster Patrol the following year. It was arguably the most successful Monster Patrol of the 2000's, running until 2010 when it was sold to become Phoenix, but has since been sold again and is currently a bare chassis. |
| David Brown | ||||
| Wayne Tigue | ||||
| Monster Patrol 7 | 2006 | 2008 | Doug Charles | Formerly Boogey Van, the chassis was sold to Shafer following Pam's divorce from Michael Vaters. Its cage was modified in 2005 to become Captain USA and then Monster Patrol before being sold to Mark Gilbert in 2008. |
| Rodney Tweedy | ||||
| Monster Patrol 8 | 2022 | Present | Kasey Kromschroeder (2022-2023) | Formerly Jail Bird. The truck debuted with a black and pink paint scheme, which was then changed to black and green in 2024. This is the most recent official rendition of Monster Patrol. |
| Tommy Varilone & various others. (2024) | ||||
| Monster Patrol 9 | Apr. 2023 | Jun. 2023 | Austin Tweedy | Run on the Boss Gator chassis, the truck briefly ran the 30th anniversary body. |
| Monster Patrol 10 | 2023 | 2024 | Austin Tweedy (2023-2024)
Tommy Varilone (2024) |
Formerly Holeshot, this was the main 30th Anniversary Monster Patrol before going back a regular livery in 2024. The truck would become Lone Wolf later that year. |
Drivers[]
- Tommy Varilone (since 2024)
Former drivers[]
- Paul Shafer (1993-2012)
- Tom Meents (1993-1999)
- Bill Haslett (1996)
- Brian Welch (1997-1998)
- Todd Frolik (1998-1999, 2000)
- Rod Schmidt (1999)
- Brent Warstler (1999-2000)
- Guy Wood (Summer 1999)
- Dave Harkey (2000)
- Brian Townsend (2000)
- Richard Patterson (2000)
- Scott Pontbriand (2001)
- Larry Swim (2001-2002)
- Jesse Bass (2002)
- Dave Harwood (2003-2004)
- Dave Ryan (2005)
- Rodney Tweedy (2005-2007)
- Doug Charles (2007)
- Jeremy Brady (2010-2012)
- Marvin Anderson (2001)
- Kasey Kromschroeder (2022-2023)
- Austin Tweedy (2023-2024)
Recent fill-in drivers[]
- Buddy Tompkins (Canfield 2023)
- Ashton Torgerson (2024 fill-in)
- Byron Cadigan (Proctorville, Cincinnati & Manitowoc 2024)
- Matt Cummings (York 2024)
- Travis Schweizer (Sauk Rapids 2024)
Video game appearances[]
World Finals appearances[]
| Year | Driver | Results | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | Paul Shafer | Qualifying: 2nd (3.89) | Racing: defeated Bear Foot in the finals |
| 1994 | defeated in Round 1 by Taurus | ||
| 1999 | defeated in Round 1 by Grave Digger | ||
Alternate versions of Monster Patrol[]
Currently, Monster Patrol is not only the truck with the highest number of different drivers, but the highest number of different variations across multiple teams. As is the case with other Shafer-owned truck names, other truck owners have used the name under license from Shafer. Brian Barthel ran a version on his Little Tiger chassis for a short time in late 1999-2000, adopting the purple and orange color scheme. From 2000-2005, 2xtreme Racing ran their own Monster Patrol on a former Bounty Hunter/Dragon Slayer chassis, piloted by Gene Kinal. Kirk Dabney would campaign his Monster Patrol from 2000 to 2010 with an Extreme Overkill inspired purple paint, and later a black and green flame and checkerboard style paint job. Michael Phelps has campaigned a Monster Patrol since 2013 with a more traditional paint job but a modern Chevy body. Mark Gilbert owned and drove a Monster Patrol once a year in Australia until his passing.
- Monster Patrol (Barthel): Owned by Brian Barthel, and run in 1999-2000.
- Monster Patrol (2Xtreme): Owned by Team 2Xtreme from 2000-2004, driven by Gene Kinal. Was sold to Paul Shafer and then sold to Australia in 2005.
- Monster Patrol (Dabney): Run by Kirk Dabney from 2000-2010. Was among the only Ford Monster Patrols run.
- Monster Patrol (Furbee): Run by Steve Quercio in 2013 on the former Monster Mayhem chassis.
- Monster Patrol (Gilbert): Run by Gillbert Racing out of Australia, on the former Boogey Van chassis.
- Monster Patrol (Gorilla): Run by Rex Smith, and later became Don King's 2006 Bear Foot.
- Monster Patrol (Phelps): Run by Michael Phelps from 2014-2022, later renamed to Maze Runner, due to the deal with Triple B Motorsports to run the name falling through.
- Monster Patrol (Ride): Was a ride truck, run on Maximum Override.
- Monster Patrol (Robbins): Run by Bob Robbins Jr. on Aftershock for a fairgrounds event.
- Monster Patrol (Roy): Run by Nitro Promotions on the original Executioner chassis.
- Monster Patrol (Shafer's Ride): The former ride truck run in Australia by KC's Fireworks and Paul Shafer.
- Monster Patrol The Ride: Ride truck run by Michael Phelps from 2014-2022.
Gallery[]
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.jpg "Monster Patrol (Tweedy).jpg (70 KB)")
Merchandise[]
.jpg "M064-03-19 Monster Patrol-Bride of Frankenstein (2).jpg (445 KB)")
.jpg "M064-03-22 Monster Patrol-Black Lagoon (2).jpg (455 KB)")
.jpg "M064-03-34 Monster Patrol-Raptor Rage (2).jpg (430 KB)")
Videos[]
