VP Racing Fuels' The Mad Scientist (also referred to as simply The Mad Scientist or Mad Scientist) was a 2004 Cadillac Escalade monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports and was sponsored by VP Racing Fuels. It was driven by Lee O'Donnell. Following its creation in 2016, the truck was a fan favorite in Monster Jam and also competed in three Monster Jam World Finals up until its retirement in 2018. The truck is most notable for winning the 2017 Monster Jam world freestyle championship by successfully performing the first-ever front flip in competition.
History[]
The Mad Scientist was originally announced in late 2015, with Zombie Hunter driver Lee O’Donnell as the driver.
2016[]
The truck would make its debut on January 8th at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. During that weekend, O’Donnell and the truck would win the wheelie competition during the Saturday evening event. Meanwhile, The Mad Scientist would go on to have a strong debut season and was later invited to compete at Monster Jam World Finals XVII.
2017[]
The Mad Scientist competed on Stadium Championship Series 4. During the series, the truck won three racing competitions, two overall event championships, and a freestyle championship in Minneapolis. This ultimately resulted in The Mad Scientist finishing third in the series standings.
The truck would later be invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XVIII, where it would win the freestyle competition by successfully completing the first front flip.
In September a diecast of the truck was released in 1:64 scale, although would be controversially released as part of the "Mud Treads" series. Luckily, the truck received a normal release the next year.
2018[]
The truck competed on Stadium Championship Series 4, and would go on to win the series, resulting in an automatic invite to compete at World Finals XIX.
This year would end up being The Mad Scientist’s final year of competition, as the truck would end up retiring in June due to O’Donnell’s contract with FELD Motorsports expiring and VP Racing Fuels pulling out of their sponsorship.
Events competed in[]
| 2016 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Driver | Notes |
| January 8-9th | Charlotte, NC | Lee O'Donnell | Won Wheelies, Show 3 |
| January 15-17th | Hidalgo, TX | Won Wheelies, Show 1 | |
| January 23-24th | San Antonio, TX | ||
| January 30th | Anaheim, CA | ||
| February 6th | San Diego, CA | Won Racing | |
| February 12-14th | Denver, CO | ||
| February 20th | New Orleans, LA | ||
| February 26-28th | Tuscon, AZ | Won Racing, Show 3 | |
| March 17-19th | Las Vegas, NV (World Finals XVII) | ||
| April 15-16th | Lincoln, NE | Won Racing, Show 1 | |
| April 23rd | East Rutherford, NJ | ||
| June 18th | Nashville, TN | ||
| June 25th | Foxborough, MA | ||
| July 15-17th | Hagerstown, MD | Won Racing, Show 2 | |
| July 23-24th | Stafford Springs, CT | ||
| December 3rd | St. Louis, MO | ||
| December 10-11th | Minneapolis, MN | ||
| 2017 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Driver | Notes |
| January 28th | Detroit, MI | Lee O'Donnell | Won Racing |
| February 4th | Tampa, FL | Won Racing | |
| February 11th | Minneapolis, MN | Won Freestyle | |
| February 18th | San Diego, CA | ||
| February 25th | Anaheim, CA | Won Racing | |
| March 4-5th | El Paso, TX | ||
| March 24-25th | Las Vegas, NV (World Finals XVIII) | Won Freestyle Championship | |
| June 10th | Foxborough, MA | ||
| June 17th | East Rutherford, NJ | ||
| June 24th | Nashville, TN | ||
| October 7th | Glendale, AZ | ||
| October 14th | Indianapolis, IN | ||
| October 21st | Houston, TX | ||
| December 2nd | Minneapolis, MN | Won Skills | |
| 2018 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Event | Driver | Notes |
| January 13-14th | Toronto, ON | Lee O'Donnell | Won:
|
| January 20th | San Antonio, TX | Won:
| |
| January 27th | Houston, TX | Won Skills | |
| February 3rd | Detroit, MI | ||
| February 10th | Arlington, TX | Won Skills | |
| February 16-17th | Oklahoma City, OK | Won Racing, show 3 | |
| February 24-25th | Anaheim, CA | Won Overall, show 1 | |
| March 3-4th | El Paso, TX | Won Skills, both shows, and was crowned the Series champion | |
| March 23-24th | Las Vegas, NV (World Finals XIX) | ||
| April 7th | Syracuse, NY | ||
| May 5th | Philadelphia, PA | ||
| May 12th | East Rutherford, NJ | Won freestyle | |
| June 9th | Foxborough, MA | Final event | |
World Finals appearances[]
| Year | Driver | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Lee O'Donnell | Qualifying: 16th (16.380) | Racing: defeated in round 2 by Monster Energy | Freestyle: 21st (19) |
| 2017 | Qualifying: 16th (16.710) | Racing: defeated El Toro Loco in round 1,
however was disqualified for a red-light violation |
Freestyle: 1st (9.355) | |
| 2018 | Qualifying: 16th (16.695) | Racing: defeated in round 1 by Pirate's Curse | Freestyle: 25th (5.184) | |
Trivia[]
- The Mad Scientist character, as seen on the side of the truck, is inspired by the look of Danny Elfman (lead singer of Oingo Boingo) in the music video for his band's hit song "Weird Science", which was also the theme song used by the truck.
- As pictured below, the original render featured red beadlocks, but the truck never used them.
- After the truck won the freestyle championship at the World Finals, it was talked about on talk shows like The Late Show with Stephen Colbert & there was also a song written about the frontflip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwQT4jnbAso
Gallery[]
.jpg "Charlotte 010916 Bialek (3).jpg (183 KB)")
.jpg "2018 EP03-Mad Scientist (2).jpg (431 KB)")
.jpg "Screenshot 20190614-163043 (1).jpg (364 KB)")
Video[]
