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El Toro Loco (Spanish for "The Crazy Bull") is a custom-bodied monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports. Originally created in 2001 as a Spanish-themed spinoff of Bulldozer, the truck has been driven by the most drivers out of any other truck. Some of its most notable drivers Lupe Soza, Marc McDonald, Chuck Werner, Becky McDonough, Armando Castro, Elvis Lainez and Scott Buetow. The identity has also been campaigned by various independent teams on various chassis. Since its debut, El Toro Loco has become a major staple of Monster Jam events and a fan favorite, having competed in every World Finals event since 2003, as well as every Showdown competition. It has also become very popular among Latin fans, commonly competing at international shows and being driven by many Latin drivers.

History[]

2000's[]

El Toro Loco originally debuted in 2001 in Lafayette, Louisiana, with Lupe Soza behind the wheel. At the time of the truck’s debut, the truck ran on the Taurus 4 chassis with nwo's chrome wheels. The truck would run on the 2001 Meents Bulldozer chassis in Salinas. In 2002, the truck got a new chassis and the original would be reverted back into Bulldozer.

Freestyle_El_Toro_Loco_Monster_Jam_World_Finals_2004

Freestyle El Toro Loco Monster Jam World Finals 2004

Lupe winning the world title in 2004 at World Finals V.

In 2003, Soza and El Toro Loco would be invited to compete at Monster Jam World Finals IV, where they would place second in the freestyle competition with a score of 36. In 2004, both the truck and the driver would again be invited to compete at Monster Jam World Finals V, where the truck would win its first world championship, tying in freestyle with Madusa and Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction with a 31, famously driving through the semi trailer with Bounty Hunter stuck inside it. Later that year, El Toro Loco would resume running on the Taurus 4 chassis with Rob Knell driving in Red Bluff, California. During the event, however, the transmission exploded, engulfing the truck in flames and critically injuring Knell in the process.

In 2006, Dan Evans drives the truck in Detroit.

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AAP sponsored El Toro Loco at World Finals IX in 2008.

In 2008, two additional trucks would be added to the team. The first truck would be driven by Nathan Weenk under the ownership of Randy Brown Motorsports, while the second would be driven by Paul Cohen under FELD Motorsports. Soza’s El Toro Loco would debut a new, though short-lived, maroon paint scheme that year, exclusive to his truck. They would later receive a minor sponsorship from Advance Auto Parts exclusively at Monster Jam World Finals IX. Weenk left the team the following year, and Chris Baker took over the driving duties. Deric Evans would fill-in for Lupe Soza at the Sunday shows in Hidalgo, Texas. Soza would again drive the Advance Auto Parts-sponsored El Toro Loco at Monster Jam World Finals X. Meanwhile, Damon Bradshaw would drive the truck on the U.S. Air Force Afterburner chassis in that year’s European tour.

2010's[]

In December 2009, Soza left the team to drive the new Advance Auto Parts Grinder. He would be succeeded by former Safe Auto Minimizer driver Marc McDonald. Former Bulldozer driver Chuck Werner would also join the team, campaigning the name on his chassis. With said Bulldozer being converted into an El Toro Loco, Bulldozer would be retired from competition. McDonald and the truck would be invited to compete at Monster Jam World Finals XI, where the truck would receive a minor sponsorship from the U.S. Air Force for that occasion. Marc would be fastest qualifier at the event, however, he would not compete in freestyle due to a racing crash during the semi-finals. Carl Van Horn drives the truck in Sunrise, Florida. Meanwhile, Anders Flogard would drive the truck in Stockholm, Sweden, with Bradshaw again driving the truck in the European tour, winning both racing and freestyle in Cardiff. Soza would also return to drive the truck in shows at select international shows.

In 2011, Baker would retire from driving and he would be succeeded by rookie driver Joey Parnell. Another El Toro Loco would be added to the team, with Bari Musawwir behind the wheel. Musawwir would go on to win that year’s Rookie of the Year Award, alongside Nick Owens in Iron Outlaw.

In 2012, Parnell and Musawwir left the team to drive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Spider-Man, respectively. They were succeeded by both Becky McDonough and Ryan Huffaker. Aaron Basl would also join the team, campaigning his El Toro Loco on a new Racesource chassis and touring with Pablo Huffaker's Grave Digger. McDonough would be invited to compete in the inaugural Young Guns Shootout at Monster Jam World Finals XIII, while Marc McDonald would compete in the main event. Meanwhile, Morgan Kane would drive El Toro Loco in Atlanta, Georgia and Carl Van Horn would drive the truck in San Jose, then Costa Rica that December.

In 2013, McDonald and McDonough would debut two new paint schemes, being black one exclusively for Marc and yellow one exclusively for Becky and other female drivers of the truck, respectively. Werner, Basl, and Huffaker would continue to use the standard orange El Toro Loco. McDonough would again be invited to compete in the Young Guns Shootout at Monster Jam World Finals XIV, while McDonald would again compete in the main event. There, he would make it all the way to the championship round, only to lose to Adam Anderson and Grave Digger the Legend.

In 2014, Basl left the team to drive Wolverine. Lupe Soza returned to drive El Toro Loco following the retirement of the Advance Auto Parts Grinder. Dan Rodoni would also begin running El Toro Loco on The Patriot chassis for select shows in the first quarter. There would a notable incident in Atlanta where Werner's El Toro Loco collided into Avenger during qualifying, though the truck would be good for racing. The following year, McDonough competed in the inaugural #MoreMonsterJam series, and would later be invited to compete in the Young Guns Shootout again at Monster Jam World Finals XVI, with Marc in the main field. Werner debuted a new chassis and competed in the inaugural Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. In Salinas, Lupe Soza drove the yellow version for the Team North vs Team South of the border contest, and Chuck Werner drove the black version. Meanwhile, Cynthia Gauthier would drive the truck in Manila, Philippines.

In 2016, Soza again left the team to drive El Diablo. Rookie drivers Kayla Blood and Mark List joined the team, competing in the Monster Jam Amsoil Series West and East, respectively. Blood would also begin campaigning a second yellow El Toro Loco for said series. Meanwhile, McDonough would receive a new chassis and compete in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. Dan Evans fills in for a sick Marc McDonald in Hidalgo, Texas by driving the black El Toro Loco. If you watch the trucks freestyle from that show, the announcer mentions Marc McDonald is driving the truck. The results on MonsterJam.com says Dan Evans drove the truck. It is unknown which is correct. Both McDonough and Blood would be invited to compete in the Young Guns Shootout at Monster Jam World Finals XVII, with Blood campaigning the standard orange paint scheme. Marc would once again compete in the main field. After the first quarter, McDonough would campaign the standard orange El Toro Loco on the El Diablo chassis, where they would win six consecutive wheelie contest championships.

Beginning in 2017, all five trucks would return to running the standard orange paint scheme, with the exception of McDonald’s truck. He would continue to run the black paint scheme, competing on the FS1 Championship Series West, until he resumed running the standard paint scheme during the series’ Jacksonville shows. At the Sunday show in Providence, Chad Tingler filled in. The black paint scheme would also be run at Monster Jam’s inaugural event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with Joe Sylvester driving. Meanwhile, Werner competed in the FS1 Championship Series East, and McDonough competed in Stadium Championship Series 3. List and Blood would compete in the Triple Threat Series East and West, respectively, and a fifth El Toro Loco would be added to the team, with rookie driver Armando Castro driving in the Triple Threat Series Central. Both McDonald and McDonough competed at Monster Jam World Finals XVIII in the main field, while List and Blood competed in the Double Down Showdown. Late in the year, rookie driver Collete Davis joined the team, although her time in the truck would be short as she moved to Wonder Woman the following year.

El_Toro_Loco_Driver_Chuck_Werner's_Freestyle_Orlando

El Toro Loco Driver Chuck Werner's Freestyle Orlando

Chuck Werner's iconic Orlando 2018 freestyle, completing a backflip and then completing a corkscrew.

In 2018, Werner and McDonough competed in Stadium Championship Series 2 and 3, respectively. Another El Toro Loco would temporarily be added to the team for the first quarter, being driven by Bryan Wright on the Hooked chassis in Stadium Championship Series 1. Blood, List, and Castro competed in the Triple Threat Series Central, East, and West tours, respectively. McDonough would be invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XIX, while List and Blood would again compete in the Double Down Showdown. Meanwhile, Marc McDonald would temporarily leave the team for the first quarter to drive FS1 Cleatus in Stadium Championship Series 3, before returning to drive El Toro Loco in that year’s international tour. McDonough would compete in that year’s Australian Tour, List competed in Puerto Rico and Costa Rica, and Castro competed in Chile. A seventh and temporary El Toro Loco would be featured in Houston and Minneapolis, being driven by Diesel Dave.

In 2019, Werner left the team to drive Max-D. Blood also left the team to drive Soldier Fortune, and rookie driver Elvis Lainez would succeed her. He, along with List and Castro, competed in the Triple Threat Series. McDonough competed in Stadium Championship Series 3. Two additional trucks would be added to the team, the first being the truck’s "Fire & Ice" counterpart, El Toro Loco Ice, with said truck being driven by former Team Hot Wheels Firestorm driver Scott Buetow in Stadium Championship Series 2. The second El Toro Loco would be driven by Brad Allen on the Brutus chassis exclusively in Stadium Championship Series 1. McDonough would be invited to compete in the main field at Monster Jam World Finals XX. Meanwhile, List [[would compete in both the Showdown and both Speedster racing and obstacle course competitions, Buetow competed in the high jump competition and Castro would compete in both the skills competition and both Speedster competitions. Castro would go on to win the Speedster racing championship. Buetow and El Toro Loco Ice would also compete in the inaugural All-Star Challenge in Las Vegas, where they would be selected as the captain for Team Ice. Jon Zimmer would drive the truck in Manchester, United Kingdom.

2020's[]

In 2020, List, Lainez, and Castro competed on the Triple Threat Series Central, West, and East tours, respectively. McDonough and Buetow would compete in Stadium Championship Series Red and Yellow, respectively. Team Scream Racing would transfer their El Toro Loco to the Axe chassis, with Kevin Crocker driving in Stadium Championship Series Green. McDonald was originally slated to drive in that year’s international tour, but the plans would eventually be canceled due to the 2020 Monster Jam season abruptly ending due to the COVID-19 pandemic. El Toro Loco would be placed in indefinite storage for the time being due to budget cuts by FELD Entertainment as a result of the pandemic. Buetow would eventually depart from the company, resulting in the retirement of El Toro Loco Ice. Zane Rettew drove the truck on his chassis in Biloxi, Mississippi. Meanwhile, McDonough would retire from driving by the start of the 2021 season, and Marc McDonald would leave the team and FELD Motorsports the same year. Lainez would also temporarily leave the team for the year drive the Great Clips Mohawk Warrior for the 2021 season.

After a year and four months of being placed on hiatus, El Toro Loco returned to competition at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on July 23rd, 2021, with Armando Castro driving. Castro would go on to win the overall event championship during the Sunday afternoon show, and would go on to compete in select arena shows for the remainder of the season before competing in select stadium shows in the fall. In October in Hamilton Ontario, Kayla Blood was supposed to temporarily return the truck, but the events were cancelled.

Monster_Jam_-_2022_Crazy_Moments_-_El_Toro_Loco_Insane_Barrel_Roll

Monster Jam - 2022 Crazy Moments - El Toro Loco Insane Barrel Roll

Kraig's famous 2022 front-flip attempt.

In 2022, El Toro Loco would run on almost every tour during the first quarter, with the exception of Arena Series West. Armando Castro would compete on Arena Series East, while Elvis Lainez returned to the team to drive on Arena Series Central, where UNOH graduate Brenden Rassel would fill-in for Elvis Lainez in Toledo. Mark List made his return to team and made his stadium series debut on Stadium Series Red, where he notably started his season off with two consecutive overall wins in San Antonio. Finally, a fourth and Team Scream ran El Toro Loco was driven on the Brutus chassis, with Kraig Champion driving, who would arguably perform the truck's most famous moment of the year in San Diego, where he would attempt a front-flip in Skills, which would be unsuccessful, and he would instead pull off a "double barrel roll" save. This also left him out of the freestyle competition due to the truck being damaged during the stunt, though it later won the Crash Madness of the Year award. Armando would finish second on his series, Elvis would finish third on his series, Mark would finish sixth on his series, and Kraig would finish tenth on his series. List and Armando would eventually receive invites to World Finals XXI, with Mark competing in the main field, and Armando competing in the Skills Challenge. Mark would do well at the World Finals, getting a first round bye in racing at making it to round 3, and finishing 5th in freestyle, famously completing a backflip to moonwalk and almost making it up the middle ramp all the way. Armando would later compete at select international shows.

In 2023, similar to the previous year, El Toro Loco competes on almost every tour (excluding Arena Series Central). Mark competed on Stadium Series Blue, Elvis competed on Arena Series West, and Armando competed on Arena Series East. Jamey Garner would later start running the truck on the Miss Over Bored chassis on Stadium Series Red (Due to his regular chassis not being able to fit the El Toro body). Prior to each freestyle, he would blow smoke at Tom Meents and also at Adam Anderson sometimes. The truck also runs in international events during the year. For international events, Brandon Arthur drives the truck (he would also fill in for Elvis in Oklahoma City & Des Moines). Sometime in February, Mark List leaves Monster Jam on his own accord to focus on his personal life. Charlie Pauken fills in for the Indianapolis, Anaheim, El Paso & Arlington shows. Chelsea VanCleave drives the truck in Nampa, Vancouver, Seattle and Glendale. After that, Coty Saucier drove for the rest of the tour. Bari Musawwir would fill in for Elvis Lainez at the Austin, TX events for Arena Championship Series West. Both Elvis & Armando would finish second on their tours, Elvis on Arena Tour West & Armando on Arena Tour East. Jamey Garner finishes 8th on Stadium Tour Red. The truck finished 6th on Stadium Tour Blue with its many fill-in drivers. Armando will make his first official World Finals appearance in Nashville in July (not counting his appearances in the previous two), as well as being in the Monster Jam Superstar Challenge as part of Team Nitro. On September 5, 2023 Manuel Solorio would make his debut in Duluth, Georgia for Monster Jam. In late September, Armando wins two-wheel-skills and his first ever stadium overall event championship at the quarter 2 Glendale show. In early October, Elvis would leave FELD Motorsports and later that month, Fernando Martinez would debut in Nampa, Idaho as the newest El Toro Loco driver for Monster Jam. Armando competes in the Superstar Challenge in Anaheim.

In 2024, the truck competes on every tour, unlike the previous two years, with Fernando Martinez on the central arena tour, the east stadium tour with Jamey Garner once again, Armando Castro on the east arena tour, Manuel Solorio on the west arena tour, Joe Foley on the west stadium tour, Blake Granger will do arenas on the international tour & Chelsea VanCleave will do stadiums on the international tour.

Drivers[]

Current drivers

Former/temporary drivers

Paint schemes[]

  • Red/orange - The first and most common version of El Toro Loco that is still used to this date. Small changes were made on the truck throughout its career, such as the horn's color going from white to yellow, the display of the El Toro Loco logo changing position throughout the years, as well as the presence of a nose ring and a golden tooth.
  • Maroon - Short-lived dark red paint scheme run by Lupe Soza only in 2008.
  • Advance Auto Parts - Run by Lupe Soza only at World Finals 9 & 10. Same as the orange paint scheme, but with Advance Auto Parts campaign ads on the top lip, side and rear of the truck.
  • Black - Exclusively driven by Marc McDonald from 2013-February 2017.
  • Yellow - A version of El Toro Loco, mainly used by female drivers. Two trucks were built driven by Becky McDonough from 2013-2016 and Kayla Blood during 2016.
  • Blue/inverse (2018) - This was a version of the yellow El Toro Loco with inverted colors, seen on a Hot Wheels toy in a Target exclusive 5-pack. It was never made in real life.
  • Ice - Debuted in 2019 as part of Monster Jam's Fire & Ice, driven by Scott Buetow. It was retired in 2020.

Trucks that have run as El Toro Loco[]

World Finals appearances[]

  • 2003 - Lupe Soza
  • 2004 - Lupe Soza (won freestyle)
  • 2005 - Lupe Soza
  • 2006 - Lupe Soza
  • 2007 - Lupe Soza
  • 2008 - Lupe Soza
  • 2009 - Lupe Soza
  • 2010 - Marc McDonald
  • 2011 - Marc McDonald
  • 2012 - Marc McDonald; Becky McDonough (Young Guns Shootout only)
  • 2013 - Marc McDonald (Black); Becky McDonough (Yellow) (Young Guns Shootout only)
  • 2014 - Marc McDonald (Black); Becky McDonough (Yellow) (Young Guns Shootout only)
  • 2015 - Marc McDonald (Black); Becky McDonough (Yellow) (Young Guns Shootout only)
  • 2016 - Marc McDonald (Black); Becky McDonough (Yellow) (Young Guns Shootout only); Kayla Blood (Orange) (Young Guns Shootout only)
  • 2017 - Marc McDonald & Becky McDonough; Mark List & Kayla Blood (Double Down Showdown only)
  • 2018 - Becky McDonough; Mark List & Kayla Blood (Double Down Showdown only)
  • 2019 - Becky McDonough; Showdown: Mark List, skills: Armando Castro; high jump: Scott Buetow (Ice); Speedsters: Armando Castro & Mark List; ATVs: Mark List
  • 2022 - Mark List; skills: Armando Castro
  • 2023 - Armando Castro (main field & skills challenge)

All-Star Challenge appearances[]

  • 2019 - Scott Buetow (Team Ice; Team Ice Captain)

Superstar Challenge appearances[]

  • 2023 - Armando Castro (Team Nitro)

Video game appearances[]

​Trivia[]

  • El toro smoke

    El Toro Loco "snorting" smoke before its freestyle at World Finals 7, March 2006.

    Much like Bulldozer, El Toro Loco is well known for "snorting" smoke out of its snout, a unique feature triggered by the driver.
  • El Toro at Englishtown 09

    El Toro Loco at Englishtown in 2009.

    For some reason, El Toro Loco ran in Englishtown in 2009 driven by Kevin Lewis that seemed to be on a Meents chassis that makes it resemble Chuck Werner's El Toro Loco, Although Bulldozer competed in Englishtown events in that year, including the fourth one in September, it is because El Toro Loco competed in the third one in August.
  • Armando Castro's chassis was originally used as Soldier Fortune Black Ops for two shows in Minneapolis 2016 before being converted to El Toro Loco.
  • El Toro Loco is the only truck to compete in all Showdown events, although it never won the championship.
  • Whenever El Toro Loco was driven by a Becky McDonough, a pink piece of cloth was tied around one of its horns.
  • El Toro Loco is the second truck to be seen in every Monster Jam game. The first was Grave Digger.
  • El Toro Loco has been featured in various displays internationally with Dan Evans. The chassis it currently uses was formerly Wrenchead.com.
  • At New Orleans 2022, Mark List would run a ran a Kermit the Frog plush, usually brought to shows by @avengersracing (Wayne).
  • Elvis Lainez was scheduled to drive for the 2024 season on Arena Championship Series Central, but in early October, he would be completely removed from Monster Jam's page, as well as the tour graphics image, signifying his release after a bicycle attempt in Hampton that resulted in him hitting the wall.
  • El Toro Loco has the most known drivers, with Blake Granger being at least the 66th different driver.
  • El Toro Loco is one of the most popular trucks in Monster Jam & is usually at every show, along with Megalodon & Grave Digger.

Gallery[]

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