Monster Mutt is a custom-bodied, dog-themed monster truck, owned by FELD Motorsports and currently driven by Chris Koehler. Since its debut in 2003, the truck has become a staple of Monster Jam events and a fan favorite for its unique design, competing in eighteen World Finals events and winning the freestyle championship under Charlie Pauken in 2010. Its popularity has inspired the creation of severalspinoffs, most based on different dog breeds.
In 2001, Clear Channel Motorsports planned on debuting two new monster trucks, The Junkyard Dog (a brown 1955 Chevrolet Cameo) and Hulk (a 1950 Mercury Street Rod based on the Marvel character), for next year's season. However, both of these designs were canceled. Junkyard Dog would be converted into the fire truck-themed Radical Rescue as a tribute to the firefighters who'd lost their lives in the September 11 attacks, while Hulk's body was reportedly made, but never painted.[1] Before the 2003 season began, it was decided that Junkyard Dog's theming and Hulk's Mercury body would be combined into one truck. The result was a brown Mercury monster truck with ears, teeth, a tongue and a red collar, simply known as Monster Mutt.
2003-05[]
Monster Mutt with the first version of its tail at World Finals 6, March 2005.
On January 3, 2003, Monster Mutt made its competition debut in Oakland on the former Firemouth chassis, with Chad Reed behind the wheel. His time as a driver would be very short-lived, however, as he'd retire immediately afterwards due to a family emergency. Todd Frolik took his place for the rest of the year, bringing Monster Mutt to its first World Finals event.
The next year, a second Monster Mutt was added to the team, as Bobby Zee and Bryan Winston would take over driving duties following Frolik’s retirement. Zee and the truck would be invited to compete in World Finals 5 and 6; Monster Mutt's signature tail would debut at the latter event, albeit a very thin version of it.[2][3]George Balhan would campaign the truck in the 2005 European Tour, while Kasey Christensen drove the ill-fitting body on a Meents chassis for select shows that year.[4]
2006-07[]
In 2006, Lee O'Donnell joined the team for that year, while Jim Lehnertz drove the truck in Sacramento as a fill-in. Grave Digger driver Charlie Pauken runs as Monster Mutt at World Finals 7, being his first World Finals event since 2000 and his first time driving the Mutt; he'd get third place in freestyle.[5] Frolik would return to driving Monster Mutt for three show in West Lebanon. Zee and Winston would both retire by the end of the year, and were succeeded by Mike Wine and Alex Blackwell, respectively. Monster Mutt's first spinoff, Monster Mutt Dalmatian, makes its debut in 2007, driven by Candice Jolly. Pauken drives the truck again at World Finals 8, leaping over an ice cream truck and landing on its roof.[6]
2008-09[]
In 2008, Whit Tarlton would join the team, sharing driving duties with Wine. Blackwell competes as Monster Mutt in the 2008 European Tour before leaving the team; in Cardiff, he'd win the freestyle tiebreaker over Tom Meents in Maximum Destruction.[7]Gary Porter would also drive the truck in the 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals shows in Springfield. Pauken continues to drive Monster Mutt at World Finals 9 and 10, getting eighth and seventh place in freestyle, respectively.[8][9] Wine leaves the team the following season to drive Backwards Bob, while Lee would rejoin the team, sharing driving duties with Tarlton.
2010's[]
2010-2012[]
Monster Mutt Freestyle Monster Jam World Finals XI
Monster Mutt's winning freestyle run at World Finals 11, March 2010.
In 2011, Ryan leaves the team to drive his new Son-Uva Digger truck, and former 2Xtreme Racing driver Joe Miller would take his place. Additionally, Monster Mutt Rottweiler, driven by Charles Benns, is introduced as Monster Mutt's second spinoff. Carl Van Horn drives the truck in Philadelphia. The following year, Whit would rejoin the team after Creech retired from driving, while Taryn Laskey would drive the truck in Stafford Springs and Gothenburg.
2013-15[]
Miller would retire from driving in 2013, leaving Tarlton as Monster Mutt's sole driver until he also retired by the end of the 2014 season. Former Iron Man driver Dustin Brown began driving Monster Mutt on a new CRD chassis, competing in the inaugural Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. He'd claim three freestyle wins and two obstacle course wins, finishing in third place. At World Finals 16, Dustin would make it to the semi-final round of racing, beating drivers such as Dennis Anderson, Neil Elliot and Linsey Weenk before crashing against Todd LeDuc in Metal Mulisha.[11]
On November 2, 2015, a 3D body for Monster Mutt, similar in shape and style to Rottweiler's newer body from the year before,[12] was teased;[13] renders of both it and Dalmatian's new looks would be released at the end of the month.[14][15][16] One day later, a third Monster Mutt spinoff, Monster Mutt Junkyard Dog, was announced, being a beat-up version of the original Mercury design.[17]
In 2018, Crocker competed in the Monster Jam Arena Championship Series and retired after the first quarter; Gauthier drives the truck again at World Finals 19. Shane Phreed would succeed Crocker, only to step away from driving the truck after Pablo's retirement in May, leaving Monster Mutt without a full-time driver for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, in the Australian tour, a Monster Mutt body was run on the Buddy chassis, with Jack Monkhouse behind the wheel.
In 2020, Root would again run as Monster Mutt on the same chassis and tour as last year, while Aaron Basl ran the body on the Ice Cream Man chassis for Triple Threat Series East. However, the entire 2020 season would abruptly end in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[19] and Monster Mutt would be temporarily shelved for the next two years before making its return in 2022, this time with Pauken as its full-time driver. He competed in Stadium Championship Series Yellow, getting multiple racing and freestyle victories and finishing in fourth place. He'd make his first World Finals appearance since 2018, getting second place in freestyle.[20]
Monster jam SoFi stadium Monster mutt winning freestyle
Monster Mutt's winning freestyle in Monster Jam's first show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, April 2023.
2023[]
In 2023, Chris Koehler became Monster Mutt's primary driver, as Pauken would primarily compete in international events for the year in Megalodon. Running the body on the Brutus chassis, he competed in Stadium Championship Series Blue. Throughout the season, Chris would become known for his chaotic saves and sidewalls,[21] getting several wins and finishing in tenth place. He'd make his first World Finals appearance that year, performing two back-to-back saves and getting sixth place in freestyle.[22] Later, he would also receive the Rookie of the Year award alongside Megalodon driver Ashley Sanford.[23] Chris drove the truck for the Superstar Challenge in Anaheim on Team Neon.
In 2024, Chris Koehler will drive the truck again on the Brutus chassis for the west stadium tour.
Monster Mutt has been driven at least once by approximately fifty-four different drivers throughout its career.
Monster Jam Allstate Arena Monster Mutt Freestyle 2-13-2011
An example of Monster Mutt "panting" and "chasing" after a bone, February 2011.
Before Monster Mutt begins freestyle, an official will occasionally come out and toss a large bone as the truck drives onto the track. In more recent years, the truck has also displayed in pit parties with a large inflatable bone in its mouth.[24]
Monster Mutt's original body style was occasionally referred to as a "1950 Mercury Mutt", primarily in television appearances and yearbooks.[25]
Prior to its 2016 redesign, Monster Mutt was notorious among drivers for its small windshield and limited field of vision. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain's Curse, and Dragon suffered from the same issues.
Early concept art of Monster Mutt shows that the truck was going to have additional teeth on the front of the truck, much like the original plan for Hulk.[26] While this idea was eventually scrapped, the body initially still had the bottom clip where the truck’s teeth would have been set in (around where the tongue is), just painted tan like the rest of the mouth.[27]
Monster Mutt at World Finals 9 with most of the body sheared off. Note the additional structure at the front of the chassis, allowing the tongue to move back and forth.
Most of the older Monster Mutt chassis were equipped with a mechanism that allowed the tongue to "pant".[28] While this feature is still present on some chassis nowadays (primarily Dalmatian's),[29] the majority of them simply have the tongue loosely attached to the front, likely due to the mechanisms being too expensive or complicated to implement.
Both versions of Monster Mutt's body have occasionally been modified to fit various chassis:
Kasey Christensen's Monster Mutt ran on a long, front-engine Meents chassis. In order to fit the chassis, the body had cuts on the hood and trunk.
When the Mercury body was bolted onto a Grave Digger chassis, it would often be slightly tilted in order to fit the roll cage. The chassis itself would also be painted black.
In 2019, Team Scream's version of Monster Mutt temporarily had fiberglass spikes on its collar, reused from Monster Mutt Rottweiler.[30] These were removed by request in order to make it fit in with the other versions of the truck.
Several other spin-offs of Monster Mutt have appeared in the Spin Master Monster Jam toy line, each of which is based on another dog breed: Poodle, Husky, and Golden retriever. Husky uses the same body casting as the regular Monster Mutt toy, while Poodle and Golden use Dalmatian's.
The 2011 Monster Jam Souvenir Yearbook incorrectly states that Monster Mutt made its debut in Minneapolis 2003, rather than Oakland 2003; the same yearbook also states that the truck debuted in 2004.[25]
The plot of the cancelled Monster Jam: The Movie from 2004 involved a brother and sister building a remote-controlled Monster Mutt and winning the World Finals racing championship.[31] The film would've reused footage from World Finals 4.
Gallery[]
Preliminary concept art; the mascot on the hood is the same as Junkyard Dog's.
Early concept render, as seen in the Monster Trucks: The Science of Extreme Machines episode of Motor Mayhem from 2003.
Ditto, zoomed in and showing the teeth in the truck's grille.
Alternate render from the same documentary; note that the front teeth have been removed.
Top view concept art, circa 2002.
Monster Mutt at its debut show in Oakland, January 2003.
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