Robert David Knell (February 19th, 1960-January 17th, 2024) was a monster truck driver out of Paxton, Illinois. He is most notable for being the “mystery driver” of nWo in 2000. Rob always drove under Team Meents, almost always using the former Taurus 4 chassis.
Career[]
Rob Knell first entered the monster truck industry as a crew member, going back to the early days of Tom Meents' time in Monster Patrol, on the Summer Heat tours. From here, Rob served as Tom's crew chief and head mechanic.
In 2000, Tom moved over to Goldberg and placed Rob in his former truck, Bulldozer, with him making his driving debut in Atlanta. Rob drove Bulldozer through the 2000 season and would also portray the "mystery driver" of nWo, scoring a racing victory in New Orleans over Jim Koehler in Avenger. He would get his first and only World Finals invitation that year as the nWo driver, finishing in joint third with, ironically, Tom Meents and Goldberg in freestyle. At the end of the season, an article on USHRA.com officially revealed him as the driver of the nWo, although his face had been shown on television multiple times and he was even accidentally called by name by announcer Dan Moriarty. Spokesman Chad Fortune would not allow the announcers & pit reporters to find out who the driver was.
Following the 2000 season, nWo was discontinued and Rob went back to driving Bulldozer for the rest of the year. He would briefly retire from driving as his truck was turned into El Toro Loco in 2001.
In 2002, Rob drove High Roller in Virginia Beach.
In 2003, Rob made his return to driving, once again behind the wheel of Bulldozer. He drove High Roller again in Tampa as a fill-in for Phil Foster.
In 2004, Rob would continue to drive Bulldozer, touring alongside Neil Elliott, until the spring when Bulldozer was changed back to El Toro Loco. He would also drive Hot Wheels for a few shows throughout the year.
2004 Red Bluff incident/retirement[]
In October 2004, at the West Coast Monster Truck Nationals in Red Bluff, California, Rob Knell was critically injured during a qualifying pass, driving El Toro Loco. During the pass, the converter in his truck caused the transmission to explode, sending debris into fuel lines, and causing a massive explosion. The truck was completely engulfed in a raging fire as Rob tried to get out for minutes. The fire was eventually extinguished, and Rob was rescued from the truck, yet had to be airlifted to the hospital. He was in critical condition, suffering 2nd degree burns over his body, a broken elbow and several broken fingers.
Despite the injury, Rob would make a full recovery and return to driving in Minneapolis in February 2005 behind the wheel of Hot Wheels, later driving the truck for the remainder of the year. Rob would drive Hot Wheels throughout January 2006, but would retire at the end of the month, with his final appearance being in Orlando.
Death[]
On January 17th, 2024, Rob passed away. He was 63 years old.
World Finals appearances[]
| Year | Truck | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | nWo | Qualifying: N/A | Racing: defeated in Round 1 by Sting | Freestyle: 3rd (37) |
Trivia[]
- Rob was nicknamed "Cousin Rob" due to him being the cousin of Tom Meents.
- Rob served in the U.S. Army for three years prior to being a monster truck driver.
- Rob himself would give an interview once as the mystery driver of nWo on TV as opposed to the truck's spokesman (Chad Fortune) doing interviews for him.
- In the 2001 Yearbook, Rob was listed as a co-driver of Goldberg along with Tom Meents. However, there is no documentation of whether he ever drove the truck.
Gallery[]
