Wrecking Crew is a 2002 Chevrolet S-10 monster truck owned by Team Scream Racing out of Columbus, Michigan. Since its debut in 2005, the truck has been driven by various drivers, with two of its most notable being Steve Koehler from 2009-2015, and the late Mike Thompson in 2017.
Wrecking Crew was originally used as a spare truck until 2009 when it entered full-time competition. After the chassis was converted into Axe in 2017, Wrecking Crew has competed on and off on various chassis used by the team to this day.
History[]
2005-2008[]
Wrecking Crew debuted on November 19, 2005, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, alongside Spike Unleashed during the Monster Truck Thunder Drags season finale on the original Avenger chassis with Jim Koehler driving. Koehler wins freestyle after launching the truck skyward and ripping out the entire rear axle upon landing. From that point up until 2008, Wrecking Crew would serve as a spare truck, usually in instances when a certain truck owned by the team was unable to make a show.
2009[]
Wrecking Crew would enter its first full year of competition in 2009 with Jim’s brother, Steve Koehler, behind the wheel. Both truck and driver would win that year’s Save of the Year Award.
2010[]
Wrecking Crew would receive a small update in its design, with the lettering in the logo being recolored red. Chris Bergeron would drive the truck as an encore in Monster Jam World Finals XI, on the Brutus chassis.
2013[]
The truck received a score of 2 in freestyle in Arlington, this is the only time this has happened prior to fan judging.
2014[]
Brad Allen drove the truck in Virginia Beach for the Monster on the Beach events. Wrecking Crew would make its first and only Young Guns Shootout appearance at World Finals XV.
2015[]
The truck would be one of 16 trucks selected to compete in the inaugural Fox Sports 1 Championship Series, with its highlight being its hard landing in Atlanta which saw the back axle rip from the truck.
2016[]
Steve Koehler retired from full-time competition, leading to XDP Diesel driver Dave Radzierez, along with John Killinger, sharing driving duties for the season.
2017[]
Wrecking Crew received a new paint scheme, featuring an updated logo and a yellow-orange gradient paint job. Mike Thompson would also take over the driving duties for the truck as they competed on Stadium Championship Series 3. During the series, Thompson and the truck would win two wheelie competitions in the first and last events of the series in Tampa and Oakland, respectively, and finished eleventh in the series standings.
After the series, the truck would receive a new chassis, being the previous Avenger chassis (Avenger 2), as said truck received an all-new CRC chassis for World Finals XVIII.
In June, Wrecking Crew was initially succeeded by Axe, but would continue to run on and off on various chassis. As for Thompson, he would eventually leave Team Scream Racing to crew part-time for various other teams until August 20th, 2019, when he tragically took his own life.
2018[]
The chassis would begin running as Axe full-time. Despite this, Wrecking Crew would continue to run on various chassis with Chris Koehler and Kyle Garr sharing the driving duties on occasion.
2020[]
Garr would assume full-time driving as Koehler would move to Brutus that same year. Meanwhile, rookie driver Kraig Champion would join the team, sharing driving duties with Garr.
2021[]
Champion would assert full-time driving duties as the chassis competed as Brutus for select shows throughout the season.
2024[]
In August, the truck would make its return at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was driven by Chris Koehler, who drove the truck again in Butler, Indiana that October.
Drivers[]
Current drivers[]
- Chris Koehler (2018; since 2024)
Former drivers[]
- Steve Koehler (2009-2015)
- Mike Thompson (2017-2019)
- Dave Radzierez (2016)
- John Killinger (2016)
- Kyle Garr (2018-2020)
- Kraig Champion (2020)
- Stephanie Cotnoir
Fill-in drivers[]
- Jim Koehler (Indianapolis 2005, 2008)
- Chris Bergeron (World Finals XI encore)
- Brad Allen (Virginia Beach 2014)
World Finals appearances[]
| Year | Driver | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Chris Bergeron | Encore only |
| 2014 | Steve Koehler | Young Guns Shootout: defeated in round 1 by Crushstation |
Trivia[]
- Wrecking Crew's chassis has been used to run various sponsor trucks during the early years of its career. Such examples include General Tire from 2009-2011 and 2014-2015.
- Wrecking Crew was originally created by Jim Koehler so he could compete in both events in Joliet, due to the promoter at the time only allowing a truck to run in one event.
Gallery[]
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.jpg "2008 20-Wrecking Crew (2).jpg (467 KB)")
