Brian Barthel (Born November 2nd, 1967) is a retired monster truck owner and driver out of Big Lake, Minnesota. He was best known for being the owner and driver of Little Tiger from 1995-2005, and as the driver of Wolverine from 2001-2003. He would win the 2003 racing championship with the latter truck.
Career[]
Barthel began his monster truck career after purchasing the previous Magnum Force truck from Don Van Loo in 1995 as a partnership with Don Williams. The truck was initially called Midnight Maniac, but after the two ended their business partnership due to a falling out, Barthel changed the name to Midnight Magic and later Little Tiger, his most recognizable identity.
Starting in mid-1999, the Little Tiger chassis would be campaigned as Monster Patrol until the former truck's return in the summer of 2000. Barthel would also work as a pit crew member at World Finals I.
In 2001, Barthel would be hired by Clear Channel Entertainment-Motorsports (now FELD Motorsports) to drive the recently introduced Wolverine. Brian would fill-in for Dennis Anderson at the Sunday show in Rosemont. Brian would drive both of his trucks in Houston for the freestyle competition. He is one of a small handful of drivers to do double duty at a show. The others are Rick Raab, Daron Basl & Allen Pezo. He would later be invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals II. While he would finish as the fastest qualifier, Barthel would be eliminated in the semi-finals of racing by Lyle Hancock in Blue Thunder. This in turn was due to limited visibility and difficulty adjusting to the abrupt layout change, which was caused by a broken water pipe in Thunder Alley. When the race was re-ran, Wolverine also broke a pick-up tube in the process, resulting in Barthel and the truck being unable to compete in freestyle.
In 2002, Barthel would again be invited to compete at World Finals III. Entering the field as the second-fastest qualifier, he would be eliminated in the first round of racing against Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter. He would go on to finish sixth in freestyle, with a score of 30.
In 2003, Barthel would be invited yet again to compete at World Finals IV, where he would win the world racing championship against Creten in Bounty Hunter. Meanwhile, Barthel would have a brief freestyle performance due to a broken right-rear four-link bar after hitting the rock pile. He would finish in twelfth with a score of 16.
After Clear Channel's license with Marvel expired by the end of 2003, resulting in the retirement of Wolverine, Barthel returned to driving Little Tiger at the start of 2004. During that occasion, he would use his previous PEI chassis, which in turn was used for Wolverine, as Little Tiger's original chassis was competing as Ragin' Steel. Barthel would later be invited to compete at World Finals V, where he would be defeated in round 2 of racing by Creten in Bounty Hunter. He would eventually finish ninth in freestyle. During the summer, Little Tiger's newer chassis was run as Ameriquest Freedom until after the Montreal event in the fall, and Little Tiger was run on its original chassis for the remainder of the year.
Stolen parts controversy[]
Around the summer of 2004, Barthel was suspended for using a replacement transmission he had bought off of Mike Harper, who was selling stolen spare parts from Paul Shafer. At the time, Barthel was unaware that the transmission was stolen, but his suspension would be lifted before the 2005 season and was re-hired.
After Barthel returned to driving following the suspension, he would construct an all-new chassis for Little Tiger for the 2005 season. He would also construct another new chassis for the truck's new teammate, Total Chaos. Both were inspired by the original Little Tiger chassis and would largely compete in arena shows during the season. However, Barthel was also suffering from a back injury he had since 2001. His final televised victory would be freestyle in Montreal, with his last televised appearance being in Minneapolis.
Brian's final appearance at a USHRA event was in Oklahoma City on February 27th, 2005. Afterwards, Barthel retired from monster truck competition altogether due to his injury and has not returned to the sport since.
Today, he currently owns and operates his own metal fabrication shop in Minnesota.
World Finals appearances[]
- 1999 - Little Tiger
- 2001 - Wolverine
- 2002 - Wolverine
- 2003 - Wolverine (won racing)
- 2004 - Little Tiger
Accomplishments[]
- 2003 Monster Jam World Racing Champion
Trivia[]
- Brian has tiger stripe tattoos on his back (see gallery)
- Brian was the first World Finals champion to retire.
- In 2006, Brian would sell the Total Chaos chassis to Randy Moore to run as War Wizard after the original chassis was destroyed in Atlanta.