Monster Patrol (Shafer) were a series of monster trucks owned by Paul Shafer that debuted in 1993. There were four Monster Patrol chassis under Shafer. The first one was originally the Taurus 4 chassis. The second one was a custom in-house chassis built by Shafer and Tom Meents. The third one was originally the Taurus 5 chassis. The fourth and final one was a PEI chassis purchased by Paul. The trucks primarily ran Chevrolet bodies but Dodge bodies have also ran on the fourth chassis and on the Bear Foot 12 chassis after Shafer's purchase of Bear Foot. The truck has undergone many different paint jobs and sponsorships, with the truck's black and green paint job being most famous and consistent.
History[]
In 1993, Paul Shafer would switch from driving mud racers to monster trucks. He bought the Taurus 4 chassis and would transform it to Monster Patrol. The name was based off of Tom Martin and Shafer's mud racer, Mud Patrol. That same year, Shake Me driver, Tom Meents, would start driving Monster Patrol on occasion for Shafer, taking over the original chassis full-time by 1994. Meents primarily drove Monster Patrol in Monster Jam, while Shafer would mostly run in the PENDA Points Series and independent shows.
In 1994, Paul would switch from the Taurus 4 chassis to a rear engine chassis that was built by him and Tom Meents that had a similar design to a front-engine Willman; he debuted this new truck in the PENDA points series. Meents would take over the front-engine Taurus 4 chassis as a result of this. On July 24, 1994, Just shortly after his debut, Meents and Monster Patrol were involved in an accident that fatally injured one of Tom's best friends at the time. The truck lost control during a race and crashed into some hay bales, where he was sitting.
In 1996, the third Monster Patrol would run as Super Truck 20.
In 1997, Meents would win the 1997 US Truck Fest Championship in Monster Patrol for making the racing finals all three days. Shafer would also buy another front-engine chassis which was formerly the Taurus 5 chassis. Shafer would transform the truck into a third Monster Patrol. Many drivers would pilot this particular chassis, such as Brent Warstler, Brian Welch, Rod Schmidt, and Bill Haslett. Meents would continue to drive Monster Patrol until 1999, when he would leave Shafer's team to drive Bulldozer on the Taurus 4 chassis, which he ended up purchasing from Shafer.
In 2000, Brian Townsend and Dave Harkey would drive the rear-engine chassis. Shafer's last Monster Patrol was black with green airbrushed flames on the PEI chassis, formerly Frankenstein, with its last public appearance being in 2012. This was Paul's main truck from 2000 until his retirement. That same year the second Monster Patrol would run as Tonka and Carolina Crusher. The third Monster Patrol would briefly run as Carolina Crusher as well.
In 2001, the second Monster Patrol would be turned into Carolina Crusher full time until being turned into The Mummy in 2003.
In 2003, the third Monster Patrol would run its last season as the truck would run as The Scorpion King and would later go into storage to be turned into Jesse James West Coast Cadaver.
2012 would be the last year of competition for Shafer's Monster Patrol as he would put all of his trucks in storage.
On January 27th 2022, Paul Shafer would sell his entire operation to James Trantina III. This included Jesse James West Coast Cadaver (Monster Patrol 3) and Monster Patrol 4.
Video game appearances[]
Monster Jam World Finals Appearances[]
- 1993 - Paul Shafer
- 1994 - Paul Shafer
- 1999 - Paul Shafer
Versions of Monster Patrol[]
Currently, Monster Patrol is not only the truck with the highest number of different drivers, but the highest number of different variations across multiple teams. As is the case with other Shafer-owned truck names, other truck owners have used the name under license from Shafer. Brian Barthel ran a version on his Little Tiger chassis for a short time in late 1999-2000, adopting the purple and orange color scheme. From 2000-2005, 2xtreme Racing ran their own Monster Patrol on a former Bounty Hunter/Dragon Slayer chassis, piloted by Gene Kinal. Kirk Dabney would campaign his Monster Patrol from 2000 to 2010 with an Extreme Overkill inspired purple paint, and later a black and green flame and checkerboard style paint job. Michael Phelps has campaigned a Monster Patrol since 2013 with a more traditional paint job but a modern Chevy body. Mark Gilbert owned and drove a Monster Patrol once a year in Australia until his passing.
- Monster Patrol (2Xtreme)- Owned by Team 2Xtreme from 2000-2004, driven by Gene Kinal. Was sold to Paul Shafer and then sold to Australia in 2005.
- Monster Patrol (Barthel)- Owned by Brian Barthel, and run in 1999-2000.
- Monster Patrol (Dabney)- Run by Kirk Dabney from 2000-2010. Was among the only Ford Monster Patrols run.
- Monster Patrol (Furbee)- Run by Steve Quercio in 2013 on the former Monster Mayhem chassis.
- Monster Patrol (Gilbert)- Run by Gillbert Racing out of Australia, on the former Boogey Van chassis.
- Monster Patrol (Gorilla)- Run by Rex Smith, and later became Don King's 2006 Bear Foot.
- Monster Patrol (Phelps)- Run by Michael Phelps from 2014-2022, later renamed to Maze Runner, due to the deal with Triple B Motorsports to run the name falling through.
- Monster Patrol (Ride)- Was a ride truck, run on Maximum Override.
- Monster Patrol (Robbins)- Run by Bob Robbins Jr. on Aftershock for a fairgrounds event.
- Monster Patrol (Roy)- Run by Nitro Promotions on the original Executioner chassis.
- Monster Patrol (Shafer's Ride)- The former ride truck run in Australia by KC's Fireworks and Paul Shafer.
- Monster Patrol The Ride- Ride truck run by Michael Phelps from 2014-2022.
- Monster Patrol (Trantina) - Run by Triple B Motorsports since 2022, on the former Jailbird chassis, and is currently the only competing Monster Patrol in the United States.
Gallery[]
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Video[]
Monster Patrol truck
Monster Patrol competing in the PENDA Points Series