Trackzilla was a robot from North Carolina that competed in Season 2 of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors. It entered into the main competition and the Tag Team Terror (partnered with teammate Trilobyte), but lost in the first round on both occasions.
Design[]
Trackzilla in the pits
Trackzilla is a tank-like robot that, as its name suggests, ran on tracks with a counter-levered suspension allowing it to drive over any obstacles without the treads leaving the ground. Its weapon was a lifting arm with a fang tip, which could cause piercing damage or lift heavyweight robots over, but it crucially did not provide Trackzilla a self-righting mechanism.
Etymology[]
Trackzilla's name was a simple hybrid of 'tank tracks' and 'Godzilla'. The robot was originally named Botzilla when it first competed on Robotica, with Trackzilla being a small adjustment to qualify as a new machine for a different TV show.
Robot History[]
Season 2[]
Trackzilla fought in Heat D of the US Championship, where it faced the defending runner-up The Revolutionist in the first round, alongside the lifting weapon of The Gap.
Trackzilla is flipped over
Trackzilla's lifter is gripped
In the opening seconds of Trackzilla's first bout, it was flicked over by The Gap's lifting arm. The Gap pushed Trackzilla onto its side, but it fell on its back again. Trackzilla's lifting arm turned out not to be powerful enough to self-right, so Refbot counted it out, even though The Gap had since been immobilized by The Revolutionist. Sgt. Bash used his pincer to grab the lifting arm of Trackzilla, and Sir Killalot pushed it onto the flame pit, then the arena floor flipper, which hurled Trackzilla across the arena. Trackzilla still didn't get righted by this arena hazard, and the team were eliminated from the main competition.
Trackzilla returned for the Tag Team Terror competition, where it teamed up with Trilobyte to face Mad Cow Bot and Texas Tornado.
- "These guys are definitely rewriting the rules books, because, err, nobody's tagged and they're all in the arena!"
- — Stefan Frank as all four robots converge
All four competitors come out at once
Sir Killalot puts Trackzilla on the floor flipper
Trilobyte started the match fighting Texas Tornado and pressed the pit release before tagging to bring Trackzilla into play. Trackzilla and its teammate looked rather cumbersome as both opponents nudged them around the arena. Texas Tornado repeatedly got underneath the side of Trackzilla but couldn't turn it over. Mad Cow Bot slammed into Trackzilla, although this attack had little effect on Trackzilla's mobility. Dead Metal started cutting into Trilobyte and let go seconds before Trackzilla's teammate appeared to give up on the battle and slowly drive into the pit. Sir Killalot picked up Trackzilla and put it on the floor flipper. It failed to throw Trackzilla the first time, but as Trackzilla tried to drive away, it was flipped over and out of the competition.
- "He's not going anywhere, there's no self-righting mechanism - it's over!"
- — Stefan Frank
Results[]
| TRACKZILLA - RESULTS | ||
| Season 2 | ||
| US Championship Heats, Round 1 | ||
| Heat D, Round 1 | vs. The Gap, The Revolutionist | Eliminated |
| Tag Team Terror Competing with Trilobyte, Round 1 | ||
| Round 1 | vs. Mad Cow Bot & Texas Tornado | Lost |
Wins/Losses[]
- Wins: 0
- Losses: 2
Series Record[]
| US Series | Trackzilla Series Record |
|---|---|
| Season 1 | Did not enter |
| Season 2 | Heat, Round 1 Entered with Trilobyte |
| Nickelodeon | Did not enter |
Gallery[]
Outside Robot Wars[]
Trackzilla as Botzilla in Robotica
BrickSlayer shortly before competing in a battle.
Like many other American competitors, Team Innovation Robotics fought in Robotica, with a robot called Botzilla, likely based off of the general build of TrackZilla, and was driven by Trilobyte team captain Lawrence Fier. Botzilla was much more successful, finishing as runner-up in Season 2 only to lose to Team Robot Dojo's Flexy Flyer in the Final Fight to the Finish. Team Innovation would later build a Middleweight flipper named ThrillZilla. ThrillZilla never had much success, its only win coming against Total Anarchy.
Team Innovation Robotics would also compete in some live events around 2002 with BrickSlayer, which had a similar weapon and body shape to Trilobyte, although it is unknown how well the robot did in live events.
Trivia[]
- During its initial build, Trackzilla was armed with a flamethrower, which while outlawed in Robot Wars was a permitted weapon type in Robotica. However, the flamethrower was removed before completion.
- In an official Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors souvenir programme, Trackzilla was referred to as Trackzilla Powered. The reasoning behind the suffix is unclear.
- A clip of Sgt. Bash grabbing Trackzilla's lifter was used in the Series 6 House Robot introduction, and in Nickelodeon Robot Wars
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