Taz

Background Information

Owner(s)

Warner Bros. (name)
FELD Motorsports (truck)
Anderson Boys Racing (chassis, 2008-2010)

Driver(s)

Charlie Pauken
(2005)
Adam Anderson
(2005-2010)

Fill-in drivers

Lee O'Donnell
(Jan-Mar. 2007)
Bobby Zee
(Toronto 2008)
Aaron Basl
(Baltimore 2008)
Chad Tingler
(WF X freestyle; Englishtown 2010 show 3)
Frank Krmel
(Cardiff 2010)
Alex Blackwell
(West Lebanon, Mexico City 2010)

Debut

July 11th, 2005

Retirement

November 21st, 2010

Truck Overview

Body Style(s)

2005 custom Tasmanian devil

Chassis

PEI (2006-2007)
Cohen (2008-2010)

Engine

540ci merlin

Transmission

Coan 2-speed

Tires

66" Goodyear
66" Marcher

Miscellaneous

Theme Song(s)

"Twist" by KoЯn

Sponsor(s)

Warner Bros.

Taz (also known as Tasmanian Devil and often stylized as taz) was a custom 2005 "cartoon concept" monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports and licensed by Warner Bros., based on the Looney Tunes animated character of the same name. Debuting in mid-2005, Taz is best known for being the first major driving identity of Adam Anderson, son of Grave Digger creator and former driver Dennis Anderson. Adam quickly rose through the ranks of Monster Jam, making Taz one of the most successful trucks of its time and giving it a high prominence in televised events. Taz made five World Finals appearances; Adam won the freestyle championship in 2008, becoming the youngest world champion in Monster Jam history. Taz was retired in late 2010 and converted into Tasmanian Devil, driven by Nicole Johnson.

History[]

Background[]

On January 10th, 2005, Warner Bros. Consumer Products announced their partnership with Clear Channel Entertainment (Monster Jam's owners at the time) and their intention to create a monster truck based on the Tasmanian Devil, a character from the Looney Tunes animated franchise, as well as the DC Comics superheroes Batman and Superman.^[1] The Superman truck had already debuted just two days before, while Batman and Taz were planned to debut later in the year; Batman would end up being delayed to next year, while Taz's body was completed by early July.

2005[]

Taz made its debut in West Lebanon on July 11th, 2005, driven by Charlie Pauken on Jason Childress' Bulldozer/High Roller chassis. Pauken continues to drive the truck in the Summer Heat series. Taz makes its first television appearance in Montreal, the 2006 season opener, in October, losing the freestyle tiebreaker to Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction. Adam Anderson becomes the truck's primary driver, beginning in Minneapolis.

2006[]

Adam would drive Taz for its first full season, winning freestyle in Minneapolis and in Detroit, running the 106.7 The Drive body at the latter. The two would make their first appearances in the World Finals and European Tour,^[2] winning racing at all three events in Arnhem.

2007[]

Adam would temporarily leave Taz to drive Grave Digger, filling in for his father who’d gotten injured in Minneapolis last year; Lee O'Donnell would take his place in Taz, winning racing in Orlando. Lee would run 106.7 The Fox, another radio sponsor body, on Taz’s chassis in Detroit. Adam returned to Taz in March, competing in the World Finals and European Tour.^[3]

2008[]

Adam received a new chassis as its original one is converted into Donkey Kong. Bobby Zee campaigns a second Taz at Toronto on the Team Suzuki/Demolition Man chassis. Aaron Basl would also temporarily drive Taz in Baltimore after his regular truck, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, suffered from mechanical problems; Andy Slifko almost took his place.^[4] At World Finals IX, Adam won his first world championship in freestyle, successfully clearing a triple bus stack and receiving a score of 37. This made him the youngest champion in World Finals history, at only 22 years old.

2009[]

Adam would win the freestyle competition in Tampa. However, at World Finals X, Adam would crash inside Thunder Alley in round two of racing, landing sideways on a jersey barrier and striking a tree.^[5] Adam would be sent to a local hospital; Chad Tingler would fill in for him in freestyle, only to also get injured while attempting to clear the triple stack. Both drivers would recover and Adam continued to drive Taz for the rest of the year.^[6]

2010[]

This would be Taz's final year of competition. Adam would perform very well at Jacksonville, making it to the final round of racing (only to be beaten by Carl Van Horn in Excaliber) and winning freestyle over Cam McQueen in Nitro Circus by one point; he'd also perform a save off of a bus, earning the Save of the Year award at the end of the season.^[7] At World Finals XI, Adam would crash in round two of racing yet again,^[8] and would receive a score of 4 in freestyle after crashing in one hit.^[9] Taz was to compete in Cincinnati along with Adam's father Dennis and his younger brother Ryan, who was competing in Spider-Man, which would have been the first time the three competed against each other on SPEED. However, just before the truck was to roll out for intros, the truck suffered a broken cam shaft which was unfixable unless they tore the whole truck down and was unable to compete in both racing and freestyle. In the European Tour, Adam would make his final appearance in Taz in Arnhem, while Frank Krmel filled in for him in Cardiff. Alex Blackwell would drive Taz in West Lebanon, as well as at its final show in Mexico City in November, where he won racing.

2011[]

Adam would begin running the Grave Digger the Legend body on the Taz chassis. Meanwhile, Taz’s body is recolored to a maroon red and renamed Tasmanian Devil, driven by Nicole Johnson.

2015[]

As part of the 2016 Season Kickoff, a video uploaded to Monster Jam's YouTube channel announced Adam joining the Grave Digger team. In the video, Adam acted out a scene where he was deciding what to wear, pulling out a Taz driver's shirt before dismissing it and tossing it away.

Events competed[]

2005
Date	Event	Driver	Notes
July 11-13th	West Lebanon, NY	Charlie Pauken	Competition debut
July 30-31st	Stafford Springs, CT		Won Freestyle, Shows 2 and 3
October 29th	Montreal, QB		Televised debut
December 3rd	Minneapolis, MN	Adam Anderson	Adam's stadium and televised debut

2006
Date	Event	Driver	Notes
January 6-7th	Des Moines, IA	Adam Anderson
January 14-15th	San Antonio, TX
January 20-21st	Memphis, TN
January 28th	Indianapolis, IN
February 3-4th	Hartford, CT
February 10-12th	Pittsburgh, PA
February 18th	Minneapolis, MN		Won Freestyle
March 25th	Las Vegas, NV (World Finals VII)
June 3rd	Syracuse, NY
September 8-10th	Oberhausen, Germany		Won: Wheelies, Show 3 Racing, Shows 1 and 3 Donuts, Show 1 Freestyle, Show 2
September 22-24th	Zurich, Switzerland		Won Freestyle, Show 4
September 30-October 1st	Arnhem, Netherlands		Won Racing, all 3 shows
October 6-8th	Antwerp, Belgium		Won: Racing, Show 2 Donuts, Shows 1, 3 and 4
October 13-15th	Helsinki, Finland		Won: Wheelies, Show 4 Racing, Shows 1, 2 and 4
October 28-29th	Lisbon, Portugal		Won: Racing, Show 3 Donuts, Show 3
November 10-12th	Stockholm, Sweden		Won: Wheelies, Show 4 Racing, Show 1

2007
Date	Event	Driver	Notes
January 5-6th	Birmingham, AL	Lee O'Donnell
January 13-14th	San Antonio, TX
January 27th	Orlando, FL		Won Racing
February 3rd	Houston, TX
February 9-11th	Philadelphia, PA
February 17th	Minneapolis, MN
February 24th	Jacksonville, FL
March 3rd	El Paso, TX	Adam Anderson
March 24th	Las Vegas, NV (World Finals VIII)
May 11-13th	Virginia Beach, VA (Monsters on the Beach)
June 9th	Gothenburg, Sweden
September 29-30th	Arnhem, Netherlands		Won Racing, Show 3
October 27th	Cardiff, Wales

2008
Date	Event	Driver	Notes
January 5th	Houston, TX	Adam Anderson
January 11-13th	San Antonio, TX
January 19th	San Diego, CA
January 19-20th	Toronto, ON	Bobby Z
January 25-27th	Sacramento, CA	Adam Anderson
February 1-2nd	Rockford, IL		Won: Wheelies, both shows Racing, Show 1 Donuts, Show 2 Freestyle, Show 2
February 8-9th	Biloxi, MS		Won: Wheelies, Shows 1 and 2 Racing, Show 2 Freestyle, all 3 shows
February 16-17th	Rosemont, IL		Won Freestyle, Show 1
February 23rd	Baltimore, MD	Aaron Basl	Competed in the Saturday 7:30pm show only
February 23rd	Jacksonville, FL	Adam Anderson
February 29-March 1st	Providence, RI		Won: Racing, Show 2 Freestyle, Shows 2 and 4
March 7-8th	Pensacola, FL		Won: Donuts, Show 2 Freestyle, both shows
March 29th	Las Vegas, NV (World Finals IX)		Won Freestyle Championship
May 9-11th	Virginia Beach, VA (Monsters on the Beach)
May 31st	Syracuse, NY
June 7th	Cardiff, Wales
June 14-15th	Gothenburg, Sweden
June 21st	Brøndby, Denmark
June 29th	Brussels, Belgium		Won Racing
July 18-20th	Hagerstown, MD		Won Freestyle, Show 2
July 26th	Houston, TX (Monsters on Mainstreet)
September 28-29th	Arnhem, Netherlands
October 24-25th	Louisville, KY		Won: Wheelies, Show 1 Freestyle, Show 2
November 1-2nd	Helsinki, Finland		Won Freestyle, Show 1
November 7-9th	Stockholm, Sweden

2009
Date	Event	Driver	Notes
January 3rd	Houston, TX	Adam Anderson
January 10-11th	San Antonio, TX
January 17th	Minneapolis, MN
January 24th	Anaheim, CA
January 31st	New Orleans, LA
February 6-8th	Uniondale, NY		Won: Wheelies, Show 2 Racing, Show 4 Donuts, Shows 2 and 4 Freestyle, Shows 2 and 4
February 13-15th	Hampton, VA		Won: Wheelies, Show 3 Racing, Shows 2 and 4 Freestyle, Shows 3 and 4
February 21st	Tampa, FL		Won Freestyle
February 28th	Jacksonville, FL
March 6-7th	Saginaw, MI		Won: Wheelies, Show 1 Freestyle, Shows 2 and 3
March 14-15th	Bridgeport, CT
March 28th	Las Vegas, NV (World Finals X)		Racing only
March 28th	Las Vegas, NV (World Finals X)	Chad Tingler	Freestyle fill-in
May 8-10th	Virginia Beach, VA (Monsters on the Beach)	Adam Anderson
May 30th	Englishtown, NJ (Night of Thrills)
July 13-15th	West Lebanon, NY
July 24-25th	Mobile, AL		Won: Wheelies, Show 2 Freestyle, Show 2
July 31-August 1st	Corpus Christi, TX		Won: Wheelies, Show 2 Donuts, both shows
October 23-24th	Louisville, KY		Won: Wheelies, Show 2 Donuts, both shows
December 5th	Minneapolis, MN

2010
Date	Event	Driver	Notes
January 9th	Atlanta, GA	Adam Anderson
January 16th	Detroit, MI		Won Racing
January 22-23rd	Columbia, SC		Won: Wheelies, Shows 1 and 3 Racing, Show 1 Donuts, Shows 1 and 2 Freestyle, Shows 2 and 3
January 30th	New Orleans, LA		Won Freestyle
February 5-6th	Fargo, ND		Won Freestyle, all 3 shows
February 12-14th	Rosemont, IL
February 19-21st	Worcester, MA		Won Racing, Shows 3 and 4
February 27th	Jacksonville, FL		Won Freestyle
March 6-7th	Winnipeg, MB		Won: Wheelies, Show 3 Racing, Show 1 Freestyle, Shows 2 and 3
March 27th	Las Vegas, NV (World Finals XI)
April 23-25th	Naples, FL		Won: Wheelies, Shows 1 and 2 Racing, Shows 2 and 3 Freestyle, Show 1
April 30-May 2nd	Ocala, FL		Won: Wheelies, Shows 1 and 4 Freestyle, Show 2
May 22-23rd	Copenhagen, Denmark
May 29th	Gothenburg, Sweden
June 12th	Philadelphia, PA
June 19th	Englishtown, NJ (Summer Motorsports Spectacular)	Chad Tingler
July 10th	Cincinnati, OH	Did not compete due to a broken cam shaft
July 19-21st	West Lebanon, NY	Alex Blackwell
September 18th	Englishtown, NJ (Summer Motorsports Spectacular)	Adam Anderson
September 18-19th	Manchester, England		Won: Wheelies, Shows 1 and 3 Racing, Show 3 Freestyle, Shows 1 and 2
September 25-26th	Arnhem, Netherlands		Won Freestyle, Show 1
October 9th	Cardiff, Wales	Frank Krmel
November 20-21st	Mexico City, Mexico	Alex Blackwell	Final event; Won Racing, Show 2

World Finals appearances[]

Year	Driver	Results
2006	Adam Anderson	Qualifying: 18th (18.61)	Racing: defeated in Round 3 by Bounty Hunter	Freestyle: 8th (22)
2007		Qualifying: 9th (16.62)	Racing: defeated in Round 1 by Air Force Afterburner	Freestyle: 8th (26)
2008		Qualifying: 22nd (DNF)	Racing: defeated in Round 2 by Batman	Freestyle: 1st (37)
2009	Adam Anderson (racing)	Qualifying: 3rd (16.56)	Racing: defeated in Round 2 by Captain's Curse (DNF)	Freestyle: 8th (25)
2009	Chad Tingler (freestyle)	Qualifying: 3rd (16.56)	Racing: defeated in Round 2 by Captain's Curse (DNF)	Freestyle: 8th (25)
2010	Adam Anderson	Qualifying: 3rd (16.00)	Racing: defeated Gunslinger in Round 2¹	Freestyle: 22nd (4)

Notes[]

¹Crossed the line first, however flipped over and couldn’t return.

Trivia[]

Much like Batman and Superman, Taz was designed by Fraser Campbell in 2003, with its Hot Wheels toy coming out the following year.^[10] While the overall design of the toy was essentially the same as the actual truck's, the former has a softer shape and more pronounced snout, while the latter is slimmer and more detailed.
On TV broadcasts, Taz's body was referred to as a "2005 Cartoon Concept".^[11]
In 2009, an Australian version of Taz, owned by KC's Fireworks, made its debut on the former MotorStorm chassis. Its design was similar to the United States version, but with more saturated colors and a rounder shape. It would be retired after 2012, though its body was remolded to be used as Tassie Devil and Tom Cat.
Contrary to popular belief, the red Tasmanian Devil truck was also licensed by Warner Bros. and themed after the relatively obscure DC Comics character.^[12] Despite this, the Looney Tunes character was still used to represent Tasmanian Devil in the 2012 souvenir yearbook.^[13]
During the Cincinatti and Philadelphia broadcasts, the truck was referred to by its full name "Tasmanian Devil" due to those events being televised after the truck's retirement.
Tasmanian Devil would be replaced by Scooby-Doo!, based on another Warner Bros. cartoon character, in 2013.
In December of 2018, the Taz body mold was reused for El Oso Loco, owned by Harper Motorsports. In 2023, it was reused again for Wadded Up Motorsports's Outfoxed.