The Black Pearl, otherwise known simply as Black Pearl, is a Chevrolet Silverado-styled monster truck owned by Jamey Garner of Over Bored Motorsports out of Fortville, Indiana. It is the third truck of the team's stable and was created and driven by Cole Venard out of Murdo, South Dakota. Since its debut in 2018, The Black Pearl has become one of the most successful independently-owned trucks on the circuit and has competed in multiple monster truck leagues, most notably Monster Jam.
History[]
2018[]
The Black Pearl was first revealed to the public in 2017, with former Grave Digger driver Cole Venard being the driver. The truck would enter its first full year of competition the following year, competing in Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 2. During the series, Venard and The Black Pearl would be successful, having many highlight moments, winning the racing competition in Anaheim, and finishing fifth in the standings. Venard and the truck would later be invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XIX. During round 2 of racing against Tyler Menninga, the truck would notably suffer a violent crash when the truck would hit the jersey barrier, break the tie rod and crash into the wall, causing minor damage to the stadium. He would later finish 24th in freestyle.
2019[]
In 2019, The Black Pearl would debut an updated paint scheme. Venard and the truck would compete in Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 3. During the series, they would win multiple championships, including four freestyle championships in San Diego, Anaheim, Houston and Atlanta. They would also win two racing championships in Houston and Miami, as well as an overall event championship in Knoxville. This ultimately led to The Black Pearl finishing fourth in the series standings. Despite this, Cole and the truck would controversially not receive an invite to Monster Jam World Finals XX due to shortened main field.
Meanwhile, for the summer, The Black Pearl would receive an updated body style, being a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado Z71, and competed with Loose Cannon Racing on the original Bad Company chassis. Cole and the truck would later be invited to compete at the inaugural team-based Monster Jam All-Star Challenge in October via Captain's Choice, being drafted to Team Ice. Despite Team ice dominating the event, Cole wouldn't win a competition, as well as finish last in freestyle. The truck would notably receive a new chassis for the event, before returning to competition on its original chassis and body style in time for the final Monster Jam stadium event of the season in Minneapolis. That same year, the truck would start performing a move called "Walk the Plank" where the truck would perform a backflip, then ride a wheelie across the length of the stadium.
2020-21[]
In 2020, Black Pearl competed in Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series Red. Venard and the truck would experience a high amount of success throughout the series, winning freestyle championships in Houston, Minneapolis and Indianapolis, where they would also win the skills challenge and the overall event championship, being the first overall for the truck. They finished in the runner-up position in the standings, behind Todd LeDuc in Monster Energy after the season infamously was postponed and later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Black Pearl competed in select events for the remainder of the season. NBC Motorsports would notably rank Cole's winning Houston freestyle as the #1 freestyle of the 2020 season.
Later in 2021, Cole and Black Pearl would be one of the select few competitors to compete on Monster Jam's only Stadium Championship Series while recovering from said pandemic. During the series, Venard and the truck would win two racing championships in the third and fourth events in Houston, respectively, and would also win the overall event championship in the second show in Orlando. They would ultimately finish ninth in the series standings.
2022[]
In 2022, Black Pearl competes in Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series Red. During the series, Venard and the truck would achieve multiple wins, including three racing wins in San Antonio, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City, as well as three freestyle wins in Minneapolis, Seattle, and Indianapolis. They would also win the overall event championship in Detroit on Saturday. The truck would finish fourth in the standings, and would be invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XXI,
Monster Jam World Finals XXI[]
Cole would lose in round 3 of racing, and would finish in seventh in freestyle after finishing his run with a now iconic rollover-save. After the event, he would later compete in Nashville and win the freestyle competition, once again pulling off an impressive save. The truck also begins running a Pit Viper sponsorship.
2023[]
In 2023, the truck competes on Stadium Championship Series Red, while its teammate Over Bored runs an El Toro Loco body. The truck would win racing at the season opener in Oakland, the Saturday Minneapolis show, as well as an overall event win at the third Houston show. In Jacksonville, the truck debuts a Chevrolet K10 body style. Following this, the truck would end up having various mechanical issues throughout the later half of the first quarter, most infamously missing the entirety of the East Rutherford show. Resultantly, Cole finished eighth in the point standings. He would nevertheless receive an invite to Monster Jam World Finals XXII main field.
Monster Jam World Finals XXII (2023)[]
The Black Pearl at WF XXII running on the Over Bored chassis. Notice the orange beadlocks due to running as El Toro Loco all season.
Despite the rough season, he would nevertheless receive an invite to the Monster Jam World Finals XXII main field. This event would be famous for the Black Pearl due to being a very successful, but unusual event for the team. Prior to the main event, Cole's Eddie Majka chassis would begin suffering from major electrical issues causing the truck to not operate and start properly. As a result, he would end up completely missing out during the practice sessions for racing. Due to the issues continuing, the team would decide to swap chassis with Jamey Garner's Over Bored ran "El Toro Loco" chassis, who wasn't competing in the event at all. Later in qualifying, seemingly due to missing practice and unfamiliarity with the track, Cole would end up rolling over and crashing during his first qualifying round after turning into the final turn too aggressively. However, he would later be able to complete his first pass during the second qualifying round, putting in a decent time to finish 14th in qualifying.
Despite the messy occurrences prior to the main event, Saturday would be a turn-around for the team. In racing, Cole would eliminate Colt Stephens in ThunderROARus in round 1, but then in round 2 in very close finish, famously eliminate Ryan Anderson in Son-uva Digger, who was the runner-up to the racing title the previous year. Cole would then end up losing in a Round 3 exit to eventual champion Tristan England. Later in freestyle, going eighth to last, Cole Venard would famously put in a consistent run with fast-pace and high momentum, which would famously put him in the lead at the moment, taking it from Todd LeDuc. However, he would end up finishing in the runner-up spot, being beaten only by Colt Stephens, who he had ironically beaten in round 1 of racing earlier that night.
2024[]
In 2024, Cole would compete on Stadium Championship Series East, where the truck would begin running decorative LED light strips on the truck's flag poles. This would end up being a rather tough season for Cole Venard. The year would start off decently for Cole, where despite not winning, he would be consistent and have high finishing results. However, he would begin attempting reverse backflips during freestyle, and during the Saturday Minneapolis show in mid-February, Cole would attempt said move and under-rotate, landing hard on the roof. Cole would break his wrist, and have to take time off to recover, resulting in Mike Pagliarulo filling in for all shows following up until Syracuse in early-April where Cole would make his return. During Cole's time off, Deidra Garner serves as the second fill-in for Cole in Hartford, making her the truck's first female driver.
After Cole's return, he would end up not being able to gather any wins before the end of the season, going winless for the entire year and would finish seventh in the standings. Surprisingly, Cole would be invited to the Monster Jam World Finals XXlll main field in Los Angeles. For the event, truck would run a special Cadillac Escalade body sponsored by the Strut Cares company. During the event, the truck would infamously suffer issues with the EFI system, resulting in the truck missing out in the entire racing championship bracket. However, he would be able to return for the freestyle championship, where he would perform decently and finish a respectable eight place. Cole would later win the Outreach award at the World Finals for his organization "Limbs Like Me" founded early that year. Chad Tingler drives the truck in Cincinnati post-Q1, notably winning one of the sky wheelie competitions, being the truck's only win of the year. The truck also is released by Spin Master with an unusual 1941 Willy's body style.
2025[]
In 2025, Cole competes on Stadium Championship Series West. The truck notably sees an updated makeover, now featuring purple accents, as well as returning to the original 2013 Chevrolet Silverado body style. During the season, Cole's season would be an improvement, despite various mechanical breakages throughout the year. He would get two racing wins during the Saturday Miami show and the Sunday Minneapolis show. He would also get two freestyle wins during the Sunday St. Louis show and the Saturday Anaheim show for the series' second weekend there in February. Cole would end up finishing in eighth place. He would, however, not receive a main field invite to Monster Jam World Finals XXIV, being put in the LCQ competition. Fittingly, he would end up being placed in the main field after taking one of the final spots by being one of the winners of the competition.
World Finals appearances[]
| World Finals | Year | Driver(s) | Appearance | Results |
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| Monster Jam World Finals XIX | 2018 | Cole Venard |
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| Monster Jam World Finals XXI | 2022 | Cole Venard |
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| Monster Jam World Finals XXII | 2023 | Cole Venard |
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| Monster Jam World Finals XXIII | 2024 | Cole Venard |
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| Monster Jam World Finals XXIV | 2025 | Cole Venard |
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All-Star Challenge appearances[]
- 2019- Cole Venard (Team Ice)
Video game appearances[]
- Monster Jam Showdown (DLC)
Trivia[]
- The inspiration for the Black Pearl was due to Cole Venard famously having a prosthetic left leg. Resultantly, he along with friends, would often comically compare him to a pirate, which would later serve as the concept.
- In 2024, Cole Venard would start a non-profit organization called "Limbs Like Me" for people in need of prosthetics limbs and/or any insurance involving said limbs.
- Captain's Curse would also somewhat serve as inspiration for the truck where, as revealed during an episode of Inside Monster Jam with Cole Venard, he and another child with a prosthetic leg would take a photo in front of the truck at every World Finals at the time due to them both having prosthetic legs.
- The truck notably shares its name with the ship from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, although they have no relation to it. This resulted in the truck being written as The Black Pearl Monster Truck during its initial debut.
- For the World Finals XIX pit party, The Black Pearl would be displayed on the Over Bored chassis, due to the truck's main chassis being used for competition.
- A common trope for the Black Pearl to comically do is occasionally display drivers faces on the truck's tailgate.
- During select 2022 shows, the tailgate featured a grayscaled photo of Adam Anderson's face.
- At Monster Jam World Finals XXII in 2023, the tailgate featured an edited photograph of Todd LeDuc's face on a mermaid. This tailgate was also featured on the truck in the Monster Jam Showdown video game the following year in 2024.
- During the later half of the 2025 Q1, the tailgate featured an edited photograph of Bryce Kenny and Ryan Anderson faces as Lloyd and Harry behind their Mutt Cutts car from the 1994 movie Dumb and Dumber.
- A Spin Master 1:64 scale diecast of The Black Pearl was originally planned to be released in 2019 as part of the double packs alongside Max-D. The release was postponed to the following year, as the truck was released individually under the "Arena Favorites" line.
- The chassis that was used for the All-Star Challenge would eventually run as Over Bored for the final Monster Jam stadium show in Minneapolis before eventually being debuting as the new Wild Side for 2020.
- When Black Pearl appeared in the 2024 video game Monster Jam Showdown as DLC, the truck would feature a custom livery, being a white "Gears" variant of the truck meant to be a part of the 2021 Gears And Galaxies series.
Gallery[]
Main gallery[]
Merchandise gallery[]
.jpg "2020 AF Black Pearl (2).jpg (441 KB)")
