West Coast Monster Truck Nationals 2004 Incident (lost footage of monster truck accident; 2004)
El Toro Loco on fire during the accident.
Status: Lost
This article has been tagged as NSFL due to its detailing of a violent accident.
The West Coast Monster Truck Nationals is a yearly monster truck event held in Red Bluff, California at the Tehama District Fairgrounds.[1] It involves monster trucks competing against each other in racing and freestyle events with the event still taking place at the venue to this day. At the 2004 event, an accident occured that resulted in one of the drivers being critically injured.
Background
At the 2004 West Coast Monster Truck Nationals event (also referred to simply as Red Bluff 2004), a field of competitors well-known to fans from Monster Jam and other monster truck promotions were present for the show. Among these was Rob Knell, a veteran driver[2] and the cousin of Tom Meents, a six-time world champion in Monster Jam.[3] For the event, Rob drove the El Toro Loco truck, the chassis of which was often used for Bulldozer, Rob's usual truck that was identical to El Toro Loco with the only exception being the paintjob.
During qualifying, a process where trucks race around the course in order to try and put up the fastest time and set up the racing bracket, El Toro Loco's converter caused its transmission to explode. The explosion sent debris from the transmission into the fuel lines and caused the truck to erupt into a fireball. Rob struggled to release the safety harnesses to get out and was left stranded for several minutes while the fire engulfed the truck. Eventually, the fire was quenched and Rob was rescued from the truck, but he did not escape without injuries. He suffered second degree burns all over his body as well as a broken elbow and several broken fingers. Rob was in critical condition and had to be airlifted to a nearby hospital.[4] The accident would put Rob out of driving for the rest of 2004.
Fortunately, Rob would make a full recovery from the accident and would return to driving in mid-2005 to drive the Hot Wheels truck. In interviews during the televised shows throughout the 2005 and 2006 seasons, Rob could be seen with visible scars on his face from his injury. He continued to drive Hot Wheels into 2006, before retiring for good midway through the season, with Chuck Werner taking his place as the Hot Wheels driver. Rob Knell passed away on January 17, 2024.
Availability
As it was not hosted by Monster Jam despite featuring many of its trucks, the Red Bluff 2004 show was not televised in any capacity. As such, no footage has ever been released of the event and in turn, Rob's accident, not even from fan coverage. Only one photograph has surfaced online showing medical personnel attending to the fire of the truck. It is unknown if the event was filmed but had it been, it is unlikely any footage of the accident would be shown due to the severity of it.
Images
Rob Knell, the driver involved in the accident, pictured in 2000 with Bulldozer.
Rob's El Toro Loco truck at the event's pit party on the day of the accident.
The Tehama District Fairgrounds where the accident occured.
See Also
- Monster Jam World Finals 1 (lost footage of freestyle runs; 2000)
- Monster Jam: The Movie (lost motorsports film; 2004)
- Monster Jam (lost European airings, 2006-2009)