Thomas William Meents (nicknamed "The Professor") (Born July 10th, 1967) is a former monster truck driver out of Paxton, Illinois, primarily known as the driver of Maximum Destruction and former driver of Bulldozer, Monster Patrol, Goldberg and Team Meents (Max-D's predecessor trucks) Prior to those, he drove Monster Patrol and Bulldozer. Tom is the winningest driver in World Finals history with 14 world championships and is considered one of the greatest drivers in monster truck history. He is the stepfather of Colton and Jared Eichelberger. He is also the founder of Monster Jam University which gave him the nickname "The Professor". Tom retired in 2024 after 32 years of driving.
Career[]
Tom started driving a mud truck called ''Shake Me'' during the 1990 Camel Mud & Monster Series, and USA Motorsports Coors Motor Spectacular Super Series. This gave him great exposure to the monster truck industry.
In 1993, Tom Meents made his monster truck debut driving Monster Patrol for Paul Shafer. Paul hired him to drive the first Monster Patrol as he built a second chassis, they would also share driving duties of the Mud Patrol, with either Tom driving Paul's truck, or putting a Mud Patrol body on Toms Shake Me mud truck. The proximity of Paxton, Illinois to Portage being a helping factor in the early development of the team, this allowed Tom to work at Paul's Auto Yard when they weren't working on the trucks or touring, while allowing also for Tom spend some time at home.
He first debuted at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut. In one of his early events, he had an unfortunate incident rolling the truck over after losing control and fatally striking someone, who actually happened to be a friend of his who was in the pit area at the time. Despite the incident, it never deterred him from improving his driving ability. In 1995, he won the Thunder On the Beach in Wildwood, New Jersey. He would continue to drive the truck for many years, where he began to become well known in the industry before 1999, where he left Paul Shafer and was hired by Monster Jam to start driving Bulldozer. In Orlando that year, he would famously beat Dennis Anderson in the finals, which is commonly seen in to be one of the major ignitions towards their future rivalry.
In 1999, Meents drove Grave Digger 12 in Englishtown, New Jersey. It is seen as ironic as at that time Monster Jam was building a mock rivalry between Tom and Dennis, when in reality, they both worked for the company and technically, he was driving a company truck.
In 2000, Meents was made the head of his own team, and drove Goldberg, a truck named for pro wrestler Bill Goldberg as part of a cross-promotional sponsorship with World Championship Wrestling. The body style was a Futuristic SUV. It debuted in the Georgia Dome and won nearly every televised event. At the World Finals, Tom was the first driver to win a race, buy defeating Charlie Pauken in WCW Nitro Machine. It won the inaugural world racing championship, beating second rival Gunslinger, but lost the freestyle competition to Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger.
In 2001, Tom continued to drive his Goldberg, while Eldon DePew drove a second Goldberg truck. Tom started competing in the Special Events series. At the World Finals, Tom hit a barrel, breaking a water main and forcing officials to move the starting line. However, Tom repeated as racing champion by defeating Lyle Hancock in Blue Thunder, he also won freestyle. After the show, he brought out the second Goldberg for the encore. In Englishtown, New Jersey, Tom drives Grave Digger again.
In 2002, the PACE Motorsports/WCW relationship ended. Tom Meents was going to change the name of the truck to Maximum Destruction but didn't do this until 2003 due to his hesitation of going straight from Goldberg to Maximum Destruction and out of respect for the September 11th attack, so he created Team Meents. There were two Team Meents vehicles, one driven by Tom Meents, the other by Eldon DePew. 2002 was also the year High Roller was added to the team. Driving Team Meents, Tom Meents won the racing championship over Bounty Hunter and the freestyle championship.
In 2003, his truck, Team Meents, became Maximum Destruction, and a second one was driven by Neil Elliott. At World Finals 4, Meents lost against Scott Hartsock in round 2 after a mistake in the turn, marking Tom's first ever racing loss at the World Finals.
In 2004, Tom ran a different design with electricity bolts instead of flames. In Jacksonville after a bad pogo off the bus, the rear end was separated form the truck. He tied with Madusa and El Toro Loco for the world freestyle title with a score of 31.
In 2005, Neil took a one year break from racing and Phil Foster replaced him. Tom Meents dedicated his World Finals run to his friend Deric Tredholm from the Make-a-Wish Foundation, who had passed away.
At the 2006 World Finals, Meents had drive shaft problems and was seeded last in qualifying. He didn't win racing, but did something amazing for freestyle. The climax was when he jumped over another Maximum Destruction, driven by Neil Elliott, which was perched on top of the fountain obstacle, easily winning him the freestyle championship, and confirming once again his title as "King of Air".
In 2007, although he won neither racing, nor freestyle in Las Vegas; he did snap the rear axle in half after a big jump. Halfway around the world, at the show in Gothenburg, Sweden, he performed the first monster truck backflip and tied Grave Digger for the win. Travis Pastrana of Nitro Circus tried to duplicate the feat unsuccessfully on his show.
In 2008 at the World Finals, Tom Meents was the fastest qualifier and made it to the final round, but broke, so Bounty Hunter took his place in the final race against John Seasock in Batman. However, he brought out another Maximum Destruction for the encore, which had almost the same crash as his freestyle.
In 2009, he won the World Finals racing championship for the fourth time after Alex Blackwell in Captain's Curse infamously flipped into the stands, giving him a total of eight world championships, a feat no one else has come close to. Weeks prior to World Finals, Meents made attempts to complete the first ever monster truck backflip. As part of the encore, he performed the monster truck backflip for the American audience. He would do one & a half rotations before landing upside down.
In 2010, Meents went into the championship race against Grave Digger, but lost. This marked Meents' first lost in the championship race. Later in the year, he won the first stadium freestyle in Philadelphia.
In 2011, Meents separated the front axle from the truck & stood it straight up & down in a freestyle victory in Arlington. He won racing for the fifth time (9th overall), against Bounty Hunter at World Finals 12. He won the first stadium freestyle in Baltimore.
In 2012, Meents won racing for the sixth time (10th overall), against Damon Bradshaw in Monster Energy. At the first ever MetLife Stadium show in East Rutherford, New Jersey, he debuted the FDNY truck, performing a duel freestyle along side Frank Krmel and Inferno. Krmel would pull off, allowing Meents to continue solo, Meents would eventually roll the truck. After the conclusion of freestyle, Meents would bring out his stunt truck for the first time and attempt a double backflip, which was unsuccessful.
In 2013, Meents celebrated Maximum Destruction's 10th anniversary, sporting a brand-new glow design body on his truck. For the World Finals, he ran a chrome body painted by Spectra Chrome which cost $22,000 at the time. He won his 5th freestyle championship (11th overall). In the encore, Meents attempted the double backflip again, and would land it for the first time ever, although he landed on the side and bounced back on all fours. He attempted it again in East Rutherford, but was unsuccessful.
In 2014, Meents debuted Doom's Day for an encore in Houston. He was the first secret driver for the truck. At World Finals 15, he lost in the final round to Adam Anderson in Grave Digger the Legend after controversially winning a re-race against Lee O'Donnell after he was accidentally shut off. He finished 3rd in freestyle. That year, Meents created Monster Jam University, a place for new drivers to go and prepare to become future Monster Jam drivers.
In 2015, Meents attempted the first Monster Jam front flip in history at the MetLife Stadium show held in East Rutherford, New Jersey on June 13. While being an amazing feat, it was determined that he would be unable to obtain a Guinness World Record for it since, "he bounced over rotation so that his front tires did not hit the ground, as required by the Guinness World Record guidelines." On June 20th, Meents made his 4th attempt at a double backflip in Foxborough, and he would land it but broke the front axle in the process.
In 2016, Meents drove in the FS1 Championship Series, where he finished in third.
In 2017, Meents got a new chassis and was set to run the FS1 East Series. Unfortunately during the tour's third show, his truck had suspension problems, which resulted in him sustaining a back injury that required surgery and was out until June, resulting in his absence from Monster Jam World Finals 18. Coincidentally, Dennis Anderson was also out due to an injury sustained earlier in Tampa Florida, making it his first time out of the World Finals since World Finals 4. As a result, World Finals 18 was the first World Finals without either Tom Meents or Dennis Anderson.
In 2018, Meents was invited to the Monster Jam World Finals 19 for his 18th appearance in the World Finals, following the previous year, where he did not compete due to his injury. It was also Max-D's 15th anniversary. Tom debuted a black Max-D for the World Finals encore with the rest of his team also performing stunts.
In 2019, Meents won the Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 1 driving Max-D Fire, getting him an invite to Monster Jam World Finals 20. He also claimed his 12th world championship title, this time being the inaugural Great Clips 2-wheel skills challenge.
In 2020, Meents competed in Stadium Series Yellow driving Max-D Fire once again, where he finished third, due to the events getting cancelled because of COVID-19 since March 14, 2020, until October 24-25 of the same year. He managed to sweep the overall event championships of both days in Arlington, winning racing on Saturday. At the Breaking World Records event in August, Tom set a World Record for the longest nose wheelie at 209 ft.
In 2021, Meents competed in the Stadium Championship Series driving Max-D Fire once again. Tom won the first three overall event titles at Houston. On February 7 at Houston, Tom's streak of winning the overall event championship 5 times in a row since Monster Jam's return at Arlington came to an end by Bakugan Dragonoid driver Ryan Anderson. Tom finished 4th in the series with a total of 395 points. Max-D Fire was retired.
In 2022, Meents competed on Stadium tour Red and won championship, getting an automatic birth to the World Finals. He was the fastest qualifier, but fell short of the racing title following a third round exit. Only beaten in the high jump by Ryan Anderson, he swept up the 2-wheel skills challenge for the second time as well as the freestyle championship to become a 14-time Monster Jam world champion. This was the first time Tom won the freestyle title since 2013, nine years apart. Tom was one of 3 drivers to compete in all for competitions at World Finals 21. The others were Ryan Anderson & Todd Leduc.
In 2023, Meents celebrates 20 years of Max-D & competes on Stadium Tour Red. He would not compete at the first stop in Oakland, after blowing the engine during intros. At Minneapolis show 2, he won racing for the first time since Kansas City in June of 2021. After winning, he gave an emotional tribute to his dad Bill, who passed away on February 16th, 2023. Tom would finish 3rd on the tour. He would later be invited to World Finals 22. Tom would win the stadium two wheel skills award. On August 31st 2023, Monster Jam would upload a video where Meents would announce his retirement from competition following the 2024 season. He would mention that he would run his favorite and fan favorite bodies throughout the season. He also mentioned that he would become the stunt coordinator, as well as a full time Monster Jam University professor. He competed for Team Nitro in the Superstar Challenge in Anaheim. He would drive ThunderROARus for a stunt at that show & attempt a forward momentum backflip over two trucks. He would fail the stunt.
In 2024, Meents briefly competed on Stadium Championship Series East, which was set to be his final competitive season in Monster Jam. On January 17, his cousin Rob Knell sadly passed away. Tom would pick up a freestyle win at the first San Antonio show and later at the first Houston show. He would also pick up a 2-wheel skills win at the second Houston show and a freestyle win at the first St. Louis show and first Indianapolis show, where he ran the black Max-D body for the first time in competition. At the second Indianapolis show, he would win pick up another 2-wheel skills win. In freestyle, he would launch the truck and land on a ramp which would kick the truck’s rear forward, flipping him and giving him a rough landing on the roof. He would be injured by the wreck, which would result in him being unable to compete for the remainder of the season. This would be his last show. He later revealed that he dislocated his neck. Due to this, his son Colton Eichelberger would return to drive Max-D. On February 13, it would be revealed that Colton would be taking Tom’s place for the rest of the season. However, Blake Granger would take over from Orlando to Hartford, then Coty Saucier drove for the rest of the series starting in Syracuse & ending in Philadelphia. Tom Meents would not be invited to the World Finals in 2024. This would be the second World Finals without him or Dennis Anderson. It was rumored he will do a goodbye lap at the World Finals, but it never happened. He served as a judge at the event along with Bernard Lyght, Rosalee Ramer and the Diesel Brothers. Jamey Garner, along with help from his former crew chief, Mark Cole & Tom's daughter, Hannah, they surprised him with his old mud racing car, Shake Me. His bio remains on the Monster Jam website.
World Finals appearances[]
- 1999 - Bulldozer
- 2000 - Goldberg (won racing)
- 2001 - Goldberg (won racing & freestyle)
- 2002 - Team Meents (won racing & freestyle)
- 2003 - Maximum Destruction
- 2004 - Maximum Destruction (won freestyle)
- 2005 - Maximum Destruction
- 2006 - Maximum Destruction (won freestyle)
- 2007 - Maximum Destruction
- 2008 - Maximum Destruction
- 2009 - Maximum Destruction (won racing)
- 2010 - Maximum Destruction
- 2011 - Maximum Destruction (won racing)
- 2012 - Maximum Destruction (won racing)
- 2013 - Max-D (won freestyle)
- 2014 - Max-D
- 2015 - Max-D
- 2016 - Max-D
- 2018 - Max-D
- 2019 - Max-D (fire) (main field, high jump & skills) (won 2-wheel skills)
- 2022 - Max-D (main field, high jump & skills) (won freestyle, 2-wheel skills)
- 2023 - Max-D XX (main field & skills challenge)
All Star/Superstar Challenge appearances[]
- 2019 - Max-D Fire (Team Fire) (Team Fire captain)
- 2023 - Max-D (Team Nitro)
Awards[]
- 2000 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion
- 2001 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion
- 2001 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion
- 2002 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion
- 2002 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion
- 2004 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion
- 2006 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion
- 2007 Save of the Year
- 2008 WOW Factor of the Year
- 2009 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion
- 2009 WOW Factor of the Year
- 2009 Donut of the Year
- 2010 Crash Madness of the Year
- 2011 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion
- 2012 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion
- 2012 Crash Madness of the Year
- 2013 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion
- 2013 Save of the Year
- 2014 Save of the Year
- 2015 Stadium Save of the Year
- 2016 Stadium Donut of the Year
- 2017 Donut of the Year
- 2018 Donut of the Year
- 2019 Monster Jam World Finals two-wheel skills champion
- 2019 Stadium Championship Series 1 champion
- 2021 Extreme Air of the Year
- 2022 Stadium Series Red champion
- 2022 Monster Jam World Finals skills challenge champion
- 2022 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion
- 2023 Stadium 2-wheel skills of the Year
- 2024 Save of the Year
- 2024 Life Time Achievement award
Injury[]
Tom Meents would suffer an injury with a dislocated neck in Indianapolis 2024. This unfortunately caused him to retire early.
Trivia[]
- Tom Meents is the current holder of many records in the Monster Jam industry, including.
- Only Monster Jam driver to have over 5 championships (overall 14 championships).
- Only Monster Jam driver to win the racing championship three times in a row.
- Only Monster Jam driver to win the World Finals freestyle championship back-to-back.
- Only Monster Jam driver to Double Down at the World Finals.
- Only Monster Jam driver to Double Down at the World Finals twice.
- He also holds the record for longest nose wheelie in a monster truck with an estimate record of 209 FT (2.64 In) set in Bradenton, Florida for Monster Jam Breaking World Records.
- Tom was also involved the 1984 Illinois High School Football Class 2A State Championship, playing for Paxton. His team would end up losing to Amboy High School, with the final score being 16 to 7.
- Despite being Dennis Anderson's main competition rival, Tom drove Grave Digger #12 for at least one show around 1999/2000 at Raceway Park in New Jersey when Dennis was injured. He was also once considered by Dennis to fill in for him for Grave Digger when an ice storm prevented him from getting to a show, however Eldon Depew ended up driving instead.
- Tom was known for wearing sunglasses a lot during the TNN era.
- Tom and his competition rival Dennis Anderson are known for their chemistry off the track, with them being known to goof around. An Inside Monster Jam segment featured them trying to autograph a wall at a Nashville arena and one spectra chrome video featured them visiting SEMA and having a generally good time.
- When driving Goldberg, Tom was billed as being from Atlanta, Georgia, the hometown of Bill Goldberg, though it was clarified by announcers such as Mike Hogewood that he was originally from Paxton.
- He would always give his helmet away to a young fan after his freestyles.
- Tom built a truck called Cheap Foot when he was young along with his cousin. The parts for the truck came from a junkyard.
- Tom is married to his wife Darci & has a daughter named Hannah, along with his two stepsons, Colton & Jared.
- He built a chassis for Rob French, who would get started in monster trucks by driving Sniper.
- One of his crew members when he drove Maximum Destruction was Tim Missentzis.