Blue Thunder is a

monster truck A monster truck is a specialized off-road vehicle with a heavy duty suspension, four-wheel steering, large-displacement V8 engines and oversized tires constructed for competition and entertainment uses. Originally created by modifying stock pic ...

that races in the

USHRA The United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) is an organization that sanctions various motorsports. These included the Monster Jam monster truck series as well as motocross, quad racing and others. Having passed through multiple owners, the righ ...

Monster Jam Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour operated by Feld Entertainment. The series began in 1992, and is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association. Events are primarily held in North America, with some additional ...

series. It was originally sponsored by the truck division of

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

and

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...

. The truck has several similarities with the monster truck

Bigfoot Bigfoot, also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, is a purported ape-like creature said to inhabit the forest of North America. Many dubious articles have been offered in attempts to prove the existence of Bigfoot, including anecdotal claims o ...

. Some fans saw Blue Thunder as a replacement for Bigfoot in the Monster Jam series. The truck has been moderately successful and won several major events during its existence. However, it has not yet won a championship. Blue Thunder was used by Ford Motor Company for promotional purposes along with competition. The truck is currently driven by Todd LeDuc. The truck did not compete in 2012 when Todd LeDuc moved to Metal Mulisha after driving Blue Thunder in 2011, but as of 2022, he began driving Blue Thunder again due to the Monster Energy truck not operating anymore. With Ford dropping its sponsorship in 2012, the truck was redesigned and brought back in 2013 with veteran driver Dan Evans; former owner/driver of the Destroyer monster truck.

Truck history

Ford Motor Company teamed up with Live Nation to create a monster truck that would highlight its "Ford Tough" campaign. The body style would be based on the F series Ford pickup with the body style being changed with each model year. Patrick Chassis was chosen to construct the chassis for Blue Thunder. The drive line consists of a Merlin 540ci blown & injected engine with a Dedenbear two speed automatic transmission. This setup has caused some controversy, as Merlin engines are based on the Big Block Chevrolet. The tires on Blue Thunder are 66" Goodyear Terra Tires. Construction of two trucks with the "Blue Thunder" name were completed. The debut of Blue Thunder was January 6, 2001, at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas. Since its debut, it has placed in the finals every year. It performs at more than 20 events per year and is displayed at various promotional events. It also has been licensed for various toys and for several video games.

Drivers

Current Drivers

* Chelsea VanCleave (2023-present)

Former Drivers

* George Balhan (2003-05) * Tony Farrell (2002-2009, deceased) * Lee O'Donnell (on one occasion in 2008) * Dan Rodoni (one Event in Canada in 2014) * Dalton Millican (2015, deceased) * Lyle Hancock (2001-2003) * Norm Miller (2005-07) * Bobby Zoellner * Linsey Weenk (2008-10) * Frank Krmel (2009-10) * Dan Evans (2013-14) * Pablo Huffaker (World Finals 14) * Tyler Menninga (2016) * Alx Danielsson (2017) * Rhianna Buchanan (2017) * Matt Cody (2017-2020) * Todd LeDuc (2011,2022-2023) When the Blue Thunder debuted in 2001, Lyle Hancock was the primary driver. Through the years, Norm Miller, Bobby Zoellner, George Balhan and Tony Farrell have also been drivers. In July 2007, it was announced that Linsey Weenk of CSK Motorsports joined Live Nation Motorsports to drive Blue Thunder. He debuted at Monsters on Mainstreet in Kankakee, IL Speedway. In 2011 after ford left FELD motorsports, Todd LeDuc was announced the new driver where he would drive it for one season and win a SPEED TV event, but has returned again as of 2022, due to his previous truck, Monster Energy, discontinued in November 2021. After taking a year off it was brought back with veteran driver Dan Evans behind the wheel. The current driver was Dalton Millican competing in the #MoreMonsterJam tour with 7 other drivers in arenas across the country. Dalton Millican died on August 12, 2015, of a single-vehicle motorcycle crash at age 22.

Awards

Monster Jam World Finals

* 2001 #Driver: Lyle Hancock # Racing: Lost to Goldberg in the Finals #Freestyle: N/A * 2002 #Driver: Lyle Hancock #Racing: N/A *Broke after intros.* #Freestyle: Scored 35 - Tied for Third * 2003 #Driver: Lyle Hancock #Racing: Lost to Madusa in Round 1 #Freestyle: Scored 34 - Third * 2004 #Driver: Tony Farrell #Racing: Lost to Blacksmith in Round 2 #Freestyle: Scored 9 - Three Way Tie Last * 2005 #Driver: Tony Farrell #Racing: Lost to Bounty Hunter in Quarter-Finals #Freestyle: Scored 31 Tied First Place With Bounty Hunter. Scored 36, Second Place, In Tie breaker *2006 #Driver: Tony Farrell #Racing: Lost to Taz in Round 2 #Freestyle: Scored 24 - Sixth *2007 #Driver: Tony Farrell #Racing: Lost to Monster Mutt Round 2 #Freestyle: Scored 21 - Three way tie Tenth *2008 #Driver: Linsey Weenk #Racing: Lost to Bounty Hunter in Round 2 #Freestyle: Scored 30 - Tied Grave Digger for fourth *2009 #Driver: Linsey Weenk #Racing: Lost to Captain's Curse in Semi-Finals #Freestyle: Scored 28 - Fourth *2010 #Driver: Linsey Weenk #Racing: Lost to Maximum Destruction in Semi-Finals #Freestyle: Scored 25 - Tied Iron Man and Avenger for fifth *2013 #Driver: Pablo Huffaker #Racing: Lost To Grave Digger The Legend In Round 3 #Freestyle: Scored 30 - Second *2022 #Driver: Todd Leduc #Racing: Lost To Black Pearl In Round 2 #2 Wheel Skills Scored 6.321 - Sixth # High jump 32.732 - Seventh #Freestyle: Scored 7.981 - Sixth

Similar Trucks

There was also an earlier monster truck under the same name campaigned by Kevin Dabney and Kirk Dabney which had a

Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro share ...

body and raced in the 1980s.''Monstrous Trucks'', Bill Holder, 1989 Gallery Books, page 73 () The two vehicles are unrelated although the name of the current truck may have been derived from the earlier vehicle.

References

External links

Monster Truck Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Thunder (Truck) Monster trucks Off-road vehicles Sports entertainment Vehicles introduced in 2001 Vehicles introduced in 2013