The USA-1: Here's What Happened To The Chevrolet Monster Truck

USA-1 is half of the reason the monster truck scene exists and — contrary to what some believe — it's still around. Here's how a rivalry between Ford and Chevy trucks with larger-than-life wheels turned into a worldwide motor sport. 

Former drag racer Everett Jasmer has always loved trucks, especially Chevy trucks. He met another truck enthusiast, Bob Chandler, at a four-wheeling event in the '70s and found out they both had the same goal: creating a massive truck to advertise their truck-part businesses. Jasmer's was a Chevrolet with a red, white, and blue license plate that read "USA-1," while Chandler's was a Ford F-250 he called Bigfoot (not to be confused with Ford's monster truck-inspired Bigfoot). In 1979, a movie producer asked Chandler if Bigfoot could appear in a movie called "Take This Job and Shove It," which led to more and more people wanting to see the trucks — especially as they grew bigger and bigger. 

Soon they became so massive, people were paying to watch them drive over cars. By the mid-1980s, the monster truck phenomenon had gone mainstream, with ESPN airing a monster truck event. Then, in 1988, TNT Motorsports announced the Monster Truck Challenge, which solidified monster trucks as a national motor sport. Chevrolet asked Jasmer to build a new USA-1 with its newest pickup for the competition.

But the original is still on display at Jasmer's Minnesota headquarters. "I don't use that one for much other than nostalgia events," he told History. "It's irreplaceable." 

The USA-1 was part of the OG monster truck squad (along with King Kong, Bigfoot, and Bearfoot). Jasmer competed in the truck himself during the Monster Truck Challenge throughout the 1980s. Even though the driver and vehicle have changed over time, the USA-1 name is still on the circuit to this day. And it's inspired many other epic monster trucks ever since. 

The second USA-1 competed in the TNT's Monster Truck Challenge in the late 1980s — and it won. Another USA-1 Chevy monster truck competed in the Penda Points Series in the 1980s. At this point, USA-1 trucks were being driven by Randy Brown and Roger Gauger, including at Monster Jam. 

In 2021, James Trantina bought the USA-1 name from Jasmer, giving the trucks an upgrade — they now used a Master of Disaster chassis. In 2022, Rodney Tweedy drove a USA-1 truck with a Pretty Wicked chassis. The following year, he operated a USA-1 with a C-10 70 body. In 2024, the USA-1 truck was given a Blue chassis. The USA-1 name lives on, still driven by Tweedy (and unlike the latest Bigfoot, it's still not electric).