Meents Chassis

The Meents chassis was a front engine chassis created by Tom Meents and was inspired by the Willman Chassis. MAXIMUM DESTRUCTION aka MAX-D was the most known truck to run on this chassis, unfortunately the iconic front engine Meents chassis MAX-D was retired after Tom Meents was injured during the second Indianapolis show in February. This led to Tom Meents' final Monster Jam season ending early. It's unkown if the meents chassis MAX-D will ever return and as of now the CRD MAX-D, specifically MAX-D 6 would replace the og meents chassis MAX-D and is currently the only active MAX-D.
== Meents chassis variants ==
=== MAX-D 1/Goldberg 2 ===
Max-D 1 (Commonly and originally referred to as Goldberg 2) was the second Meents chassis built. It was driven by Tom Meents from 2000 to 2010, and Neil Elliott in 2011. It is famous for winning the bulk of Meents' Monster Jam world championships. Meents debuted the truck in late 2000 as the second Goldberg, which would replace his first Goldberg chassis. The truck continues running until September of 2001. After this, the truck would be transformed into the first Team Meents in December of 2001. Team Meents would run until December of 2002. The truck would then debut as Maximum Destruction on January 4th, 2003. Meents would drive the truck until 2010, before he recieved an all new chassis, That being Max-D 3. Neil Elliott would take over the truck for its final year of competition in 2011 before debuting Max-D 5 the following year. The chassis' current whereabouts are unknown though there are claims that it's been scrapped but there isn't any info to confirm this and the chassis is most likely stored away.
=== MAX-D 2/Goldberg 1 ===
Max-D 2 (commonly and originally referred to as Goldberg 1) was a chassis that competed as the first Goldberg from 2000-2001, second Team Meents from 2001-2002 and later the second Maximum Destruction from 2003-2010, mainly driven by Neil Elliott. The truck was also driven by Phil Foster from 2004-2005 and Kreg Christensen in 2009. The truck originally debuted as Tom Meents' first Goldberg truck in 2000. Meents would drive the truck until debuting Goldberg 2 in the Fall of 2000, leading to Goldberg 1 to run as a second Goldberg. In 2002, the chassis ran as the second Team Meents under Eldon DePew and Steve Reynolds, before becoming the secondary Maximum Destruction in 2003, driven by Neil Elliott. From 2004-2005, the chassis ran as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Monster Mutt on multiple occasions at various J&K Motorsports shows. In 2008, the chassis would be famously destroyed in New Orleans, causing $20,000 in damages. Neil ripped off all the shock towers on the truck, even ripping off the cradle in two or even in four in some spots. The freestyle would win Elliott that year's Crash Madness of the Year award. In 2009, Kreg Christensen would drive the chassis after Elliott briefly left the sport. In 2011, the truck was retired from competition. Elliott would then start driving Max-D 1/Goldberg 2 that same year before that chassis too was retired. He would then move to Max-D 5. In 2012, the chassis was repurposed and converted into the Max-D Stunt Truck. From 2012-2015, Meents would use the chassis to perform his double backflip attempts in East Rutherford 2012, 2013 (both were unsuccessful), and a front flip attempt there in 2015 (which was successful but did not count due to the truck bouncing on the back wheels and performing a front roll). He would land the double backflip in Foxborough, although broke the front axle in the process. In 2015, the chassis runs as Battlecorn in Anaheim, by smashing through a camper trailer. In 2016, the chassis runs as The Rod Ryan Show in Houston, Meents himself drives it in an encore. In 2017, the chassis runs as Monster Jam 25th Anniversary for the World Finals XVIII racing encore. Neil Elliott would successfully perform the first forward momentum backflip over racing winner Son-uva Digger. In 2018, the chassis runs as Max-D blackout for the World Finals XIX racing encore, and Rampage (George) for the freestyle encore. Meents drove both of those identities; he would narrowly fail the double backflip attempt in the freestyle encore. The truck also had Lucas Oil Crusader at one point. In 2019, the chassis was converted into the Monster Jam Stunt Truck. Colton Eichelberger drove it for the World Finals XX freestyle encore, where he would successfully jump over 7 trucks. In December, Scott Buetow drove the truck in Minneapolis. In 2020, the chassis would run as Monster Energy for the Monster Jam Breaking World Records event. Todd LeDuc would unsuccessfully attempt a forward momentum double backflip. The truck was officially retired and was later scrapped.
=== MAX-D 3 ===
Max-D 3 was the third Max-D chassis driven by Tom Meents and Neil Elliott from 2010-2016. Tom won 3 championships in this truck (2 racing and 1 freestyle). However, the truck is most well-known for its spectacular crash at the 2011 event in Arlington. In 2011, Tom Meents would begin driving the truck in Detroit. Later that year, Tom would destroy the truck in Arlington, which saw the entire front housing and suspension assembly break off the truck. This crash was later ranked the #1 Max-D moment in the "Top 10 Max-D Moments" list by Monster Jam themselves in 2013. Meents would win the racing championship at World Finals XII by defeating Jim Creten in Bounty Hunter. In 2012, Meents would win his 6th and final racing championship at World Finals XIII by defeating Damon Bradshaw & the new Monster Energy truck. In 2013, Meents would win the freestyle championship at World Finals XIV. In 2016, the truck made its final competition appearance in St. Louis. Meents would move to Max-D 8 the next week. In 2018, the aftermath of the Arlington crash was replicated for the World Finals XIX pit-party. 
=== MAX-D 5 ===
Max-D 5 was the fifth Max-D truck, owned by FELD Motorsports. Originally constructed by the start of the 2012 season, the truck was driven by Neil Elliott up until the end of the 2017 season when it was replaced by Max-D 9. Meanwhile, this truck was notable for using the Red Max-D body and for winning the 2015 Monster Jam Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. Max-D 5 was constructed by the start of 2012 and began competition that year with Neil Elliott behind the wheel. In 2015, Elliott and Max-D 5 competed in the inaugural Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. Neil would miss Arlington during the series due to an illness and let Lupe Soza drive his truck for the event. Despite that, they would go on to win the series, resulting in them being automatically invited to compete in Monster Jam World Finals XVI, where the truck received a special red paint scheme for the occasion. 2017 marked Max-D 5's final year of competition. During that season, Elliott and the truck competed in the FS1 Championship Series West. They would go on to finish in the runner-up position in the standings, behind Todd LeDuc in Monster Energy. In 2023, the chassis would be used for the Split Max-D Display for Monster Jam World Finals XXII.
=== MAX-D 8 ===
Max-D #8 was a futuristic SUV monster truck driven by Tom Meents as of 2020. It debuted in Minneapolis in 2016. Colton Eichelberger drove the truck for several events in 2017 on the FS1 East Series and at World Finals 18 for an injured Tom Meents. The truck formerly ran the Fire design, before going back to the normal grey design at Atlanta. The truck retired on July 18th, 2021, after a failed backflip attempt in East Rutherford damaged the chassis. The truck has since been fixed, and was converted into the Monster Jam Stunt Truck. 
=== MAX-D 9 ===
Max-D 9 was the newest Max-D truck built for Neil Elliott for the 2018 season. This truck competed in Monster Jam Stadium Tour 1, which the team would eventually win. Elliott drove the truck from 2018-2020. Colton Eichelberger took over the truck after Neil's temporary retirement. He and Tom Meents shared the chassis, due to Tom's chassis (Max-D 8) being damaged after a failed backflip attempt in East Rutherford on July 18th, 2021. In 2024, during the second Indianapolis show in February, the truck would have a hard landing on the roof, damaging the roll cage, and dislocating Meents' neck. This would put him out for the rest of the season. The fate of the truck is unknown.
=== El Toro Loco (Meents) ===
In 2001, Tom Meents built a new chassis for his version of Bulldozer. This led to Bulldozer's old chassis (Taurus 4) being turned into the first El Toro Loco under Lupe Soza. The truck would run on this chassis for the entire year until it received its proper chassis on the former Ragin Steel chassis. The Willman chassis would then go on to campaign several names in the next few years. Steve Reynolds would also campaign El Toro Loco on the 2001 Meents chassis in Salinas that year. Tom Meents would drive the truck in Roseburg, Oregon due to mechanical issues with his Goldberg truck from the first show. The truck would return in 2004 on the same chassis (Taurus 4) only this time, under Rob Knell at Hidalgo and numerous shows post-World Finals. While at Red Bluff, the truck's transmission would explode during its qualifying run which would send debris into fuel lines which then caused a massive explosion. The truck was then engulfed in a massive fire. Rob Knell tried to get out of the truck but would get out only once the fire was extinguished. Rob would have to be airlifted to the hospital as he was facing 2nd-degree burns, a broken elbow, and several broken fingers. The truck would return in 2010 under Chuck Werner on the Meents chassis (2001 Bulldozer chassis) after Bulldozer had been retired the year previous. In 2013, the truck would run as Max-D in the Decade of Destruction encore at the World Finals. In 2014, the truck would run as Thor at the World Finals XV racing encore and as Doom’s Day in the freestyle encore. The truck would continue to compete on that chassis until 2014 when it was retired. In 2015, A new Meents chassis would debut for the truck. The truck competed in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series and would win freestyle in St. Louis. The truck would run a blue N.E.A Police body at the World Finals XVI racing encore and a "biker" Zombie body at the freestyle encore. Later in the year, the truck would run a black bull body in Salinas. In 2016, the truck would run as Army at the World Finals XVII freestyle encore. In 2017, The truck would compete in the FS1 stadium tour and would attempt 3 corkscrews. In 2018, the truck competed on Stadium Championship Series 2. The truck would run a Maximum Destruction body for Max-D's 15th anniversary encore at the World Finals. That year would be Werner's final year in the truck as he would retire from driving. The truck is currently used for Monster Jam Thunder Alley displays.
Category:Monster Jam
Category:Types of Monster Truck Chassis
Category:Front Engine Monster Trucks
Category:MAXIMUM DESTRUCTION