Scott Hartsock (May 12th, 1962-July 15th, 2021) was a monster truck owner and driver out of Bushnell, Florida. He was the owner and driver of Gunslinger (as well as its Monster Jam counterpart Slinger). He also owned Cowboy, which served as a teammate to Gunslinger from 2006-2009. For more info, click here: https://web.archive.org/web/20111202065516/http://www.monsterjam.com/Bios/Drivers/Scott_Hartsock/
Career[]
Before getting into monster trucks, Hartsock was a gunsmith which would be the inspiration for his truck, which he would debut in 1992.
In 1998, Scott drove Grave Digger in the second Nashville show as a fill-in for Robert Parker, who couldn’t show up to the venue for unknown reasons.
In 2000, Scott was invited to the inaugural Monster Jam World Finals and would make it to the championship race before losing to Tom Meents.
At World Finals III, Scott would famously get huge air off the center jump, which resulted in a broken shock, causing the truck to lean to the right. This would be his last World Finals freestyle until 2010, because he would blow the engine in racing at his next 2 World Finals appearances.
In 2003, Scott would famously end Tom Meents’ World Finals winning streak at World Finals IV, defeating him in round 2 after he overturned the final turn. Unfortunately, Scott would blow a motor in round 3 and couldn’t make it out for freestyle.
In 2004, Scott’s team expanded with Steve Reynolds and his nephew Glen Logan, both driving his version of Obsession.
In New Orleans 2005, while racing Brutus, Chris collided into Gunslinger after pulling a power wheelie at the start. Gunslinger flipped & popped a tire. Scott was very angry, but he understood what happened. Scott was invited to compete at World Finals VI however like World Finals IV, he blew a motor in racing and couldn’t make it for freestyle.
In 2006, Scott created Cowboy after building a new chassis for his Gunslinger truck.
In 2007, Scott debuted a new Gunslinger paint scheme.
In 2009, Scott would win the racing competition in Tampa defeating Dennis Anderson who ironically defeated him in round 2, but came back as a fast loser.
In 2010, Scott debuted yet another new paint scheme, and would be invited to compete at World Finals XI after a five year absence. He drove Mopar Magic in Paducah as a fill-in for Morgan Kane and Carl Van Horn who was driving Stone Crusher. His truck would be playable in Monster Jam: Path of Destruction, which came out that November.
In 2016, Scott would debut Slinger due to FELD removing references to guns in Monster Jam. This was and still is controversial due to his truck being an independent. Regardless, Scott would still run Gunslinger in independent shows.
In late 2018, a new chassis was built.
In 2019, Scott won the Full Throttle Monster Trucks championship.
In 2021, Scott would compete in what would be his final Monster Jam event in Biloxi. There, he would win racing on Sunday night.
Death and legacy[]
On July 15th, 2021, Scott and another passenger (James Creel) were travelling to a Monster Truckz show in Jackson, Mississippi when a train collided into their semi-truck in Byram around 5:30pm. Both men were killed. Investigators would learn that Scott was not given a warning that a train was coming.
In 2022, John Gordon's truck Bad Company would run a special tailgate in his honor. John's other truck, Fast Metal, would also run a special tailgate until the truck's retirement in July 2022. The new teammate truck, Blown Money, would also use a special tailgate at its only show in New Orleans. On February 5th, Over Bored and Black Pearl would run special tailgates and flags at Tampa in his honor. That same year, the truck & hauler were sold.
In 2023, Scott's third chassis was sold to Chris Keyes, who converted it into Catty Wampus.
In 2024, John Gordon would run a special Scott Hartsock flag on his truck for the Tampa shows. John and many other drivers continue to run special tailgates/flags in his honor to this day.
World Finals appearances[]
- 1999 - Gunslinger
- 2000 - Gunslinger
- 2001 - Gunslinger (racing only)
- 2002 - Gunslinger
- 2003 - Gunslinger (racing only, blown motor)
- 2005 - Gunslinger (racing only, blown motor)
- 2010 - Gunslinger
Accomplishments[]
- 2003 Monster Jam Extreme Air of the Year award
- 2005 Monster Jam Crash Madness of the Year award
Gallery[]
