Check out our favorite Max D Monster Truck Toy!
If you’re here to find out more about Max D and its amazing legacy, you’ve come to the right place. Here you’ll find history about the futuristic SUV, and the story of how it became one of the most prominent monster trucks in Monster Jam history.
Who Is Max D?
Max D, previously known as Maximum Destruction, is a monster truck owned by Tom Meents and FELD Motorsports. Tom Meents owns the chassis and FELD Motorsports owns the monster truck’s design and name.
It was originally driven under the name “Goldberg” before its name changed to Team Meents. The more fitting moniker, Maximum Destruction, was adopted in 2003.
The truck quickly became one of the standout crowd-pleasers of Monster Jam because of its destructive freestyle performances. This is especially true when the truck is being operated by Meents, particularity when Meents is competing against his longtime friend and rival Dennis Anderson, who is the driver of the monster truck Grave Digger.
There are currently five Maximum Destruction monster trucks on the team and four full-time drivers. The five Max D trucks consist of three Willman chassis and two Max D CRD chassis. The team’s full-time driving roster includes Tom Meents, Jared Eichelberger, Colton Eichelberger, and Neil Elliott. Meents is the driver of two of the Willman chassis; the third is driven by Elliott. Meents’ second truck is exclusively used for stunts and exhibition showings. The remaining two Max D CRD chassis on the team are driven by Meents’ stepsons, Jared and Colton. Each current embodiment of the Max D is a futuristic style SUV with a 540ci Merlin engine, 2-speed Coan transmission, and 66 inch BKT Terra tires.
The Max D is also one of the only monster trucks in the industry that incorporates a front-centered engine in its design.
The drivers and specifications aren’t the only interesting things about Maximum Destruction. The monster truck also has a long and intricate history that surpasses its current incarnation.
History of the Max D
The Max D originally ran as the monster truck Goldberg in a collaboration between World Championship Wrestling and Clear Channel. Their goal was to create monster trucks based on the most popular wrestlers in the WCW. In 1999 Clear Channel, today known as FELD Entertainment, hired veteran monster truck driver Tom Meents to build, promote and drive the truck. Goldberg debuted in January of the year 2000 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Meents continued driving the monster truck from 2000-2001 until the deal between World Championship Wrestling and Clear Channel was dissolved. This occurred when the WCW was acquired by the World Wrestling Federation.
In 2002 Meents planned to change the name of the truck to Maximum Destruction, but chose to use the name Team Meents instead to show respect for those affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks that occurred in 2001. Team Meents retained the same truck body and kept the majority of its color scheme and visual graphics. The truck’s flame decals were changed, and Meents’ face replaced the wrestler Goldberg’s image on the back. The words “ON A MISSION!” were also added to the front of the truck.
Team Meents ran for one year before it was transformed into Maximum Destruction. It is the only truck to achieve a clean sweep of wins at the Monster Jam World Finals while only competing for a single year.
Maximum Destruction made its debut in 2003. Meents kept the futuristic SUV design its predecessors were known for while changing the truck’s color scheme to gunmetal gray with orange and yellow accents. Maximum Destruction retained that design from 2003 to 2013 when the team created all new body styles for the truck’s tenth anniversary. Throughout that time the Meents’ team roster endured a number of changes.
From 2003 to 2005 the team consisted of Tom Meents and Neil Elliott, each driving a different version of the truck. That lineup changed in 2005 when Neil took a year off from racing and was replaced by driver Phil Foster.
Fun fact: In 2005, Tom Meents used Maximum Destruction to destroy his old home after jumping the monster truck over it.
Neil returned to the team in 2006, but took another break from the team in 2009. That year his spot on the team was filled in by Kreg Christensen. Neil returned once again in 2010 and Chuck Werner was added to team Maximum Destruction. Another new Willman chassis was added to the Max D team in 2011 by Meents at the beginning of the season. A CRD chassis Maximum Destruction was also added to the team when Kreg Christensen rejoined the crew full-time. A new chassis was debuted for Neil’s truck in 2012.
In 2013 Tom Meents, Neil Elliott and Kreg Christensen were the drivers on the Maximum Destruction team. Each driver received a brand new body style for their truck, but one unifying element was added to each vehicle. The robotic character known as the Creator of Chaos was placed the sides of each truck. This robotic character design has appeared on every version of the monster truck since then. The body styles of the trucks belonging to Neil Elliott and Kreg Christensen were both changed to incorporate spike covered chrome, while the body of Meents’ truck was covered in orange LED lights. The truck also became known as “Max D” during that time.
Fun fact: In 2013 Tom Meents won the freestyle competition at World Finals 14, making it his 11th World Finals win.
Kreg Christensen left the team in 2014 to become an independent driver in Australia; he was replaced by Morgan Kane. In 2015 the team members began working on different endeavors. Morgan drove the Max D for the More Monster Jam tour. Neil started competing in the Fox Sorts 1 Championship Series, and Tom continued racing in Monster Jam.
2015 was also the first time that three Max D monster trucks were invited to participate in the World Finals. The color schemes of the Max D trucks driven by Morgan Kane and Neil Elliot were changed for the finals. Morgan began driving a gold colored Max D, while Neil began driving a red Max D when he was competing in the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series. Both of the trucks resembled Max D’s previous embodiments, Goldberg and Team Meents respectively.
Morgan left the Max D team to join the Grave Digger team in 2016, while Colton Eichelberger left Team Grave Digger to join his brother and stepfather on the Max D team. A new gold Max D was given to Colton to drive in the West More Monster Jam, while his brother Jared drove a new yellow Max D in the East More Monster Jam tour. In 2016 Meents’ name was replaced on the Max D with the name of Mike Wales to honor the deceased Monster Jam driver. In October of that year, Jared switched out his yellow Max D for a spare CRD chassis that he had from Monster Jam University, paired with a candy apple red body. He drove this truck for the show in Glendale, AZ. In October, Jared switched over to a gold body for the Jackson, MS show, later debuting a shorter truck with the same shock heights and chassis as his previous trucks in the St. Louis show. This was the truck that he ran when he won the race in Minneapolis the following week. At the beginning of 2017 Jared debuted a new chassis for the truck in Salt Lake City.
2017 marked a new change in the the visual design of the team’s monster trucks. All of the trucks were returned to their original gray and silver coloring. That year Meents ran the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series in the East Tour, while his stepson Jared ran the West Tour. Jared debuted the Max D number seven on his tour. Meents sustained an injury to his lower back that year after the New Orleans leg of the tour. That injury prevented him from competing in the Monster Jam 18 Finals. He was unable to race for four months. During Meents’ absence Colton took over for him, from the end of January to the end of May.
Fun fact: In an ironic turn of events, Meents’ rival Dennis Anderson, was injured that year as well and also unable to compete in the finals. It was the first Monster Jam final that both drivers were unable to compete in.
2018 was the 15 year anniversary of Team Max D. That year Meents and Neil both ran a Monster Jam Stadium Tour, while Meents’ stepsons Jared and Colton both ran tours at More Monster Jam. Meents and Colton were both invited to Monster World Final 19 in March of that year. Neil received an invitation to the tour as well after he won the Stadium Championship Series in February. Jared received an invitation to the Double Down Showdown at the World Finals as well. That year, all five Max D monster trucks ran in the finals.
Tom Meents is scheduled to debut the new Fire Max D at Monster Jam Fire & Ice as part of Team Fire for Monster Jam Stadium Tour 1 in 2019. Blake Granger is scheduled to take over for Jared while he’s on hiatus during the first quarter of the season. Granger is slated to compete in the Triple Threat East series in Jared’s stead, while Colton will compete in the Triple Threat West Series. Neil is on the roster to compete in Stadium Tour 2.
About Tom Meents: Driver of Max D
Tom Meents is the head driver of the Max D team. He was born in Paxton, IL on July 10, 1967. Meents began his racing career driving his car, Shake Me, as a mud racer. In 1992 he won the NMRO Open Class Championship. After that win, Meents partnered with Paul Shafer and begin racing in Shafer’s Mud Patrol mud racer. While driving that vehicle he won the NMRO Class 5 Championship in both 1993 and 1994. Meents also won the Class 6 Championship in 1993. These wins led Shafer to invite Meents to run his new monster truck Monster Patrol, leading to a win at the USHRA U.S. Truck Fest in 1997. His chaotic driving style soon made him a fan-favorite.
Meents’ growing exposure caught the attention of PACE Motor Sports, who hired him in 1999 to run their monster truck Bulldozer in order to gain publicity for their vehicle. Meents used Bulldozer to defeat the highly popular monster truck Grave Digger, driven by Dennis Anderson, in his first racing event. That highly televised victory instantly made Tom Meents a household name in monster truck racing. Meents continued to run Bulldozer until the end of 1999.
Clear Channel hired Meents in 2000 to build, promote and drive their new monster truck Goldberg. Meents ran Goldberg until his contract with Clear Channel ended after the Monster Jam World Finals in 2001. In 2002 Meents changed the name of the monster truck to Team Meents. That incarnation of the vehicle only lasted one season before the truck became Maximum Destruction, which was later shortened to Max D in 2013.
Tom Meents’ currently holds a large number of records in the Monster Jam industry. He is the only driver to hold 11 championship titles, and he is currently the only driver to win the Monster Jam race championship three times back-to-back. Meents is also currently the only driver to win both the racing and freestyle championships at the same World Finals Championship two years in a row as of 2018.
Max D Monster Truck Toys
Hot Wheels released 17 monster truck toys under the vehicle’s Maximum Destruction designation from 2003 to 2013, and 13 monster truck toys under the Max D designation from 2013 to present day. Here is a list of all the Maximum Destruction and Max D monster truck toys made by Hot Wheels.
Max D Racing Results
2003 – No World Finals were won by Max D this year.
2004 – Tom Meents tied with El Toro Loco and Madusa for the winning spot in Monster Jam World Finals 5 freestyle competition.
2005 – No World Finals were won by Max D this year.
2006 – Tom Meents won the freestyle competition at Monster Jam World Finals 7 with a score of 37.
2007 – No World Finals were won by Max D this year.
2008 – Meents won the semi-finals at Monster Jam World Finals 9, but a mechanical problem prevented him from competing in the championship race.
2009 – Tom Meents beat Captain’s Curse in the racing championship of Monster Jam World Finals 10.
2010 – Meents made it to the championship racing round of Monster Jam Finals 11, but lost to Grave Digger.
2011 – Meents beat long-time rival Bounty Hunter to win the championship racing round of Monster Jam World Finals 12.
2012 – Tom Meents beat Monster Energy to win the championship race at Monster Jam World Finals 13.
2013 – Meents won the freestyle competition at Monster Jam World Finals 14 with a score of 34.
2014 – Meents won the semi-finals after a second race attempt resulting from a controversial race call being made. He lost against Grave Digger the Legend in the final round of racing at Monster Jam World Finals 15.
2015 – Tom Meents received an invitation to Monster Jam World Final 16, but he did not win. Neil Eliot won the Fox Sports 1 Championship Series, while Morgan Kane won the More Monster Jam Tour. This was the first time that three Max D truck were invited to compete at the World Finals at the same time.
2016 – No World Finals were won by Max D this year.
2017 – Meents did not compete in the World Final this year.
2018 – No World Finals were won by Max D this year.
The Top Max D Videos
Fans of Max D know that it is capable of amazing feats. If you are a fan of the Max D or if you are just being introduced to this incredible monster truck for the first time, check out the evidence of just what this truck can do for yourself.
Max-D Two-Wheel Win
Max D Front Flip
Max D Double Backflip
Max D Encore Performance
Max D vs Grave Digger 2016 Finals Race
Related Questions:
Why are there five Max D monster trucks?
One of the trucks is specifically used for exhibitions and to perform stunts. There are also times when drivers are required to do shows on opposite ends of the country or overseas during the same time period. Additionally, a truck may become damaged during a show and require a substitution.
Will the Max D’s body be changed again for 2019?
The Max D is debuting a change to its visual design in March of 2019 for the Fire & Ice portion of the Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series’. Its new orange and red paint scheme will represent its position on Team Fire for the duration of the series.
