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Zombie

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Zombie is a custom monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports and it is driven by Bari Musawwir and Jon Zimmer Sr. Prior to these drivers, it has also been driven by multiple other drivers, including Sean Duhon, Ami Houde, Joe Urie and many others. Since its debut in 2013, Zombie has become a staple of and a fan favorite in Monster Jam, having competed in every Monster Jam World Finals since its debut.

History[]

In 2012, Monster Jam hosted an online vote to allow fans to decide the name of a new monster truck for the 2013 season. In the end, Zombie would be the winning name and was officially announced in December 2012, with Sean Duhon as the driver. Zombie would later make its official debut in January 4th, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. Duhon and the truck would later be invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XIV.

A second Zombie was added to the team for the 2015 season, with previous Spider-Man driver Bari Musawwir driving. Musawwir competed in the inaugural Fox Sports 1 Championship Series, and finished fifth in the series standings. Both Musawwir and Zombie were later invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XVI. During said event, a special Zombie encore was featured, which also included various Zombie trucks with various paint schemes, most of which would be used for the following year. Chad Tingler would also have a go in the truck for a show in Perth.

Two additional trucks were added to the team for the 2016 season. The first, being the yellow female Zombie, was driven by Tyler Groth on the Double Trouble chassis, competing in Monster Jam AMSOIL Series West. The second, being an alternate yellow Zombie, would be campaigned on the Madusa chassis under various drivers, including Brandon Vinson, Alx Danielsson (with him making his North American debut) and Joe Sylvester. Meanwhile, Musawwir would briefly campaign the skeleton Zombie design in the first few events of the AMSOIL Series East. 2016 also marked Duhon’s final year of driving Zombie, as he would depart FELD Motorsports by the end of the season. Dustin Brown pilots Zombie for the second Glendale show.

Beginning in 2017, all trucks on the team returned to running the standard paint scheme. Meanwhile, a third Zombie was added to the team, being driven by Ami Houde in the Monster Jam Triple Threat Series Central. Musawwir and Groth competed in the Triple Threat Series East and West, respectively. Later in October, a fourth Zombie was temporarily added to the team, being campaigned by Devin Jones on the Barbarian chassis for select stadium events throughout the month of October. A fifth Zombie was also temporarily added to the team that December, being driven by Steven Thompson on the Hurricane Force chassis for Monster Jam’s inaugural event in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

In 2018, Musawwir and Houde competed in the Triple Threat Series Central and East, respectively. Groth would also finish his final year of running Zombie on the Triple Threat Series West. Meanwhile, two additional trucks were temporarily added to the team. The first was driven by Colt Stephens in Stadium Championship Series 2 as a placeholder truck for BroDozer, which was still under construction at the start of the first quarter. The second truck was driven by Travis Mowery on the Storm Damage chassis in Stadium Championship Series 3. Elsewhere, Alx Danielsson would drive the truck as part of that year’s European tour. Various other drivers would drive Zombie throughout Monster Jam shows in Latin America, with Linsey Read driving in Chile, BJ Johnson in Argentina, and Scott Buetow in Costa Rica. Stephens would also drive the truck in Brazil.

The Zombie team was reduced back to four trucks for the 2019 season. One of these trucks, Zombie Fire, would be campaigned on the Storm Damage chassis, with Paul Strong driving in Stadium Championship Series 2. Meanwhile, Musawwir and Houde competed in the Triple Threat Series Central and West, respectively. Rookie driver Joe Urie would also join the team, driving Zombie in the Triple Threat Series East. Part-way through the first quarter, Macey Nichter took over the driving duties from Houde for the remainder of the first quarter, after she was released from FELD Entertainment. Meanwhile, Danielsson would drive the truck as part of that year’s International tour, and Musawwir would drive Zombie Fire beginning in Monster Jam World Finals XX. During said event, he would make it to the championship race, but was disqualified after red-lighting the race. Following the World Finals, Musawwir would drive Zombie Fire in select Triple Threat Series events and even the inaugural All-Star Challenge in Las Vegas that October.

The Zombie team would again feature four trucks for the 2020 season. Musawwir and Urie would compete in the Triple Threat Series East and West, respectively. Meanwhile, Richie Yatsko joined the team, campaigning the name on the Storm Damage chassis as part of Stadium Championship Series Yellow. Meanwhile, Brittany Marcotte joined the team, driving the truck on the Triple Threat Series Central. Danielsson was initially slated to drive in that year’s International Tour, but the plans were canceled after the entire Monster Jam season prematurely ended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Marcotte, Urie, and Danielsson would be furloughed by FELD Entertainment due to budget cuts as a result of the pandemic. Meanwhile, Musawwir and the truck would be featured in Monster Jam Breaking World Records, where they would set a new record for the most donuts in one minute, as well as the most consecutive donuts in one attempt. He would also drive Zombie at Monster Jam’s return event in Arlington.

In 2021, Musawwir and Zombie competed in the Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series. During the series, they would win the freestyle competition in the sixth Houston event, and finished sixth in the series standings. Meanwhile, Marcotte would return to driving for Monster Jam, beginning that July in Los Angeles, and would later win her first overall event championship in Tacoma.

In 2022, Musawwir competes in Stadium Championship Series Yellow. He was originally scheduled for Arena Series Central, but due to Colton Eichelberger dropping out of his spot in Stadium Series Yellow before its start, Bari would take over his spot. This would go on to be one of Bari's most successful seasons to date, winning a total of five freestyle wins against a tough lineup. His most famous moment would come at the second San Diego show, where he would jump over Tyler Menninga's Grave Digger truck in freestyle. He would finish sixth in the point standings and would receive an invite to World Finals XXI. Bari would get a first round bye in racing after a good qualifying pass, but lost in round 2. He would later finish third in the high jump competition and finish eighth in freestyle. After a brief hiatus, Marcotte returns to driving Zombie later in the summer at Sunrise, Florida.

In 2023, Bari competes on Stadium Championship Series Blue. Chad Tingler would return to the team, this time using Hooked's chassis and he would be competing on Arena Championship Series East. Rookie Chelsea VanCleave would also temporarily drive the truck for the 2023 South African tour. Chad would finish in sixth place on his tour and Bari, after being consistent throughout the year would finish in third place and Bari would be invited to compete at Monster Jam World Finals XXII. Cory Rummell drove the truck on Rage for Monster Jam's Superstar Challenge in November in Anaheim.

In 2024, Bari drives the truck on Stadium Championship Series West & finishes 4th. The truck also once again runs on Hooked, this time by Frank Krmel on Arena Championship Series Central. Frank finished in 8th place. He returned to driving the truck he last drove before his retirement at the end of 2016. Todd LeDuc would also have a turn in Bari's truck in Seattle after the latter left to compete on the international tour in Birmingham. Bari would win the Entertainer of the Year award. Todd will also drive the truck in Mexico City & San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 2025, Bari will drive the truck on the east stadium tour, while Jon Zimmer Sr. drives the truck on his Uproar chassis on the central arena tour, replacing Frank Krmel.

List of zombie bodies[]

  • Standard - The normal Zombie body. A pale gray, with tattered blue clothes and ripped skin. The original version was more blue, with more blood and a tie. This however, was changed after complaints about it being too scary. Bari Musawwir & Sean Duhon drove this version in the World Finals XVl encore.
  • Bald Zombie- A variant of the standard zombie. It essentially identical, except no hair was added to the roof. This includes the decals of hair, meaning an entirely different wrap was made for it. It was only seen at the encore and was most likely exclusive to it. It was run on the pink Madusa chassis.
  • Skeleton - The skeleton Zombie was a version run by Bari Musawwir in a few shows of the 2016 More Monster Jam Tour. It featured a skeleton paint job with skeleton arms and cracks. It had purple clothes, and for the encore had ultraviolet lights in the eyes. Monster Jam cancelled this appearance after its first few shows, as the body was difficult to continuously make. It returned for the World Finals XVl encore and was driven by Jon Zimmer.
  • Female Zombie - The Female Zombie was the second most common zombie. It featured yellow skin, green eyes, painted nails, eyeliner and eyelashes, purple clothes and even a ponytail. However, the ponytail was only used in the encore. This version was run by Tyler Groth on the 2016 More Monster Jam Tour on the Double Trouble chassis. At its debut at the World Finals encore, it was run by Carl Van Horn on a repainted Grave Digger 23.
  • Yellow Zombie - Mainly an alternate appearance for the Female Zombie, which did not feature any of the eyeshadow, eye lashes, or painted nails. This version was run on the Madusa chassis driven by various drivers.
  • Burned Zombie - The Burned Zombie only appeared in the encore & was driven by Lupe Soza. It was planned to appear in Mexico City 2016 driven by Kayla Blood, which it unfortunately never did. It was bright red and made to look burned and scarred, with blue eyes. This version was unique as the mouth was open in a scream, and the arms were positioned to hold its head. A die-cast was released in 2021.
  • Redneck Zombie - The Redneck Zombie, also known as biker Zombie only appeared in the encore. It had green skin, purple eyes, an eyeball and intestines dangling out, as well as a beard, legs, jean shorts and an American flag-laden bandana. It was never re-made. This version was run by Chuck Werner on his El Toro Loco chassis. A die-cast was released in 2021.
  • Fire - The fire Zombie was created in 2019 driven by Paul Strong. It ran on Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 2. It also has a striking resemblance to the Burned Zombie body from 2015.
  • Zombie Invasion- The Zombie Invasion design of Zombie was created in 2020 and was used as a part of the Zombie Invasion toy line.

Past drivers[]

Trucks ran as Zombie[]

World Finals appearances[]

  • 2013 - Sean Duhon
  • 2014 - Sean Duhon
  • 2015 - Bari Musawwir
  • 2016 - Bari Musawwir (YGS: Tyler Groth (yellow))
  • 2017 - Bari Musawwir (DDS: Ami Houde)
  • 2018 - Bari Musawwir (DDS: Ami Houde)
  • 2019 - Bari Musawwir (Fire)
  • 2022 - Bari Musawwir (main + high jump)
  • 2023 - Bari Musawwir (main field/high jump)

All-Star Challenge/ Superstar challenge appearances[]

  • 2019 - Bari Musawwir (Fire) (Team Fire)
  • 2023 - Cory Rummell (Team Nitro)

Video game appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • Bari Musawwir actually gets creeped out by zombies, yet he's driven the truck since 2015.
  • The arm accessories on Zombie were originally featured exclusively in pit parties, as they were removed prior to competition. Beginning in 2014, the arms would be left on the truck's body for use in competition.
  • During the racing competition at Monster Jam World Finals XXII, Zombie only ran one arm because Bari Musawwir couldn't see the lights.
  • In Newark, New Jersey in 2019, Ami Houde got to crush some personal items of the Impractical Jokers for a punishment. Sal rode with Ami Houde in the Zombie Speedster & Murr rode with Mark List in the El Toro Loco Speedster. Whoever handled it worse, would have their item crushed by a monster truck. Both Jokers lost, so Ami Houde in Zombie got to crush the items, which was Sal's one of a kind pinball machine & Murr's Segway's.
  • Since the truck has arms & hands, this truck is the only one that can do a literal ''handstand'' when it does a stoppie or moonwalk in the skills challenge or freestyle.
  • In Monster Jam Showdown, the regular version appears, along with the yellow, Fire, Galaxy & a white version.
  • It takes 30 hours to build the trucks arms.

Gallery[]

Merchandise gallery[]

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