Scott Buetow (Born June 1st, 1970) is a former monster truck driver out of Crystal Lake, Illinois, who is most famous for driving Team Hot Wheels Firestorm until December 8th, 2018. Buetow has a college degree and is employed as a Senior Design Engineer. Buetow first drove Iron Man in 2011 and later drove El Toro Loco Ice in 2019-2020.
Career[]
Buetow took a driving test in 2008 for FELD Motorsports. Although the test went well, no openings were present. Buetow would be called back in 2010.
On January 7th, 2011, Buetow would begin to drive the second Iron Man truck. In Manchester, New Hampshire in 2011, he hit the van stack in freestyle, hit the brakes & did what might be the first stoppie. He made his TV debut in San Antonio as the teammate to Adam Anderson's Grave Digger the Legend. He later drove the truck in the inaugural Baltimore event at M&T Bank Stadium, which also aired on TV in 2011. He would win the 2011 "Wow Factor of the Year Award" at the Monster Jam Awards Ceremony.
In 2012, Buetow would compete in the first Young Guns Shootout. He then drove Iron Man again in Baltimore in the Path of Destruction Tour that year, but the primary driver of the truck, Lee O'Donnell, drove the truck for the rest of the tour.
In 2013, Buetow would be invited to World Finals 14 with Team Hot Wheels Firestorm. He would complete a backflip in his freestyle run and Buetow would win that year's "Rising Star of the Year Award."
In 2014, Buetow finished 2nd to Todd LeDuc in freestyle at World Finals 15.
In 2016, at the Monster Jam World Finals 17, Scott became the first ever driver to successfully complete three backflips in a single freestyle run (two in regulation time and the third in bonus time). This run is also known to spark the initial controversy regarding the freestyle judges that year, as several fans severely booed the judges following his believed to be underrated score. Scott would win 7 stadium freestyles in a row that year. No other driver has done that & he has the unofficial record.
In 2017, at World Finals 18, Buetow would top that record by successfully executing 4 backflips in his freestyle run the current record.
In February 2018, Buetow received an invite to the Monster Jam World Finals 19. After Mattel stepped down from Monster Jam in 2018, Team Hot Wheels Firestorm retired after its last show at Minneapolis, MN on December 8th, 2018. He drove Zombie in Costa Rica in December 2018.
In 2019, Buetow drove the Ice El Toro Loco in Stadium Tour 3. He created the reverse corkscrew maneuver and was the only driver to have successfully landed it. Scott would drive the Monster Jam Stunt Truck for the second show in Minneapolis.
In 2020, Buetow would leave FELD Motorsports, though stated that he isn't retired from driving just yet. It is theorized by fans that he could likely join Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live, though it isn't confirmed.
World Finals appearances[]
- 2012 - Iron Man (YGS)
- 2013 - Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
- 2014 - Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
- 2015 - Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
- 2016 - Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
- 2017 - Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
- 2018 - Team Hot Wheels Firestorm
- 2019 - El Toro Loco (Ice) (high jump)
All-Star Challenge appearances[]
- 2019 - El Toro Loco (Ice) (Team Ice) (Team Ice Captain)
Accomplishments[]
- 2011 Monster Jam Wow Factor of the Year Award.
- 2013 Monster Jam Rising Star of the Year Award.
- First driver to complete three backflips in a single freestyle run. (World Finals XVII)
- First driver to complete four backflips in a single freestyle run. (World Finals XVIII)
- Only driver to win 6 stadium freestyles in a row.