Brandon Edward Budd (born February 26th, 1987) is a monster truck owner and driver out of Culpepper, Virginia. He was the owner and driver of Buckshot, First Response and Wasted Nites. He later drove Outlaw for Monster Truck Wars under various aliases following his arrest in February 2023.

 

Budd started out driving Hot Tamale and Red Solo Truck. He also drove Equalizer in Syracuse around 2011 or 2012. At some point, he had also piloted RB Moler's XXX.

In 2018, Budd created First Response; Buckshot's alter ego.

In 2019, Budd made his Monster Jam debut in Nashville, driving Zombie Fire.

In 2020, Budd debuted Wasted Nites in Biloxi. In October of that year, he also debuted Gold Digger.

In 2022, Budd ran a Bigfoot body on his chassis for the Toughest Monster Truck Tour. Brandon ran Wasted Nites for three Monster Jam events due to FELD's censoring of guns, preventing him from running Buckshot in said league.

In late 2022, a new Hummer body debuted for Wasted Nites.

In 2023, Budd returned to driving Buckshot for the 2023 Toughest Monster Truck Tour Championship Series.

 

On February 3rd, 2023, one day before he was scheduled for a Toughest Monster Truck Tour event in Youngstown, Budd was arrested by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force after he arranged to pay $180 to engage in intercourse with a woman and someone, he believed to be a 15 year old girl. He was found to have $200 in cash and the phone allegedly used to make the appointment. He would be freed on a $25,000 bond and appeared in court at least twice afterwards, with the stipulation that he is unable to have contact with minors. Details surrounding the aftermath of the arrest are unclear, but he would briefly exit the industry as a result.

 

In March 2023, Budd would return despite his arrest, driving Shark Attack under the name “Kelly Schroeder” in Seguin, Texas. He would then become a driver of Outlaw, using his former Buckshot chassis, competing in City of Industry, California, as "Dave Woodcock" and at later dates as "Michael Harper" and “Mike Hawkins”.

 

On November 30th, 2023, a hearing was held in the case which resulted in him pleading guilty on two indictments being attempted compelling prostitution and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. He would have to register as a tier II sex offender. Budd's sentence hearing happened on February 8th, 2024. Budd would be sentenced to a total of nineteen months (but would only serve ten) in Columbia County Jail and will be on parole for five years, he was released in late 2025, and Harper would rehire him in 2026. He is not allowed to leave the state of Virginia as part of his parole.

 

A link to a news article about his arrest can be found here