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Blacksmith was a 1941 Willy's truck owned by FELD Motorsports. Since its debut in 2000, the truck was driven by many drivers over the course of its career, including Norman Miller, Ryan Huffaker, Aaron Basl, and Pablo Huffaker. Blacksmith was a major staple and a fan favorite in Monster Jam since its introduction, competing in every Monster Jam World Finals until 2006, and was later retired by the end of 2007, following the introduction of Captain's Curse that same year.

History[]

  • 2000 - Blacksmith debuts near the end of the year on December 29th.
  • 2001 - Blacksmith is driven by Corey Clark and Norm Miller for the season. The truck would later be invited to compete in World Finals II, with Pablo behind the wheel. During the event, the truck would experience a violent crash during its race against Lyle Hancock in Blue Thunder, which resulted in the truck tumbling into the wall protection. With no way to recover the truck before freestyle, Pablo would instead drive Ragin' Steel in its place.
  • 2002 - Corey leaves the team and Norm becomes the full-time driver of Blacksmith. Blacksmith tours with Pablo's Grave Digger throughout the season, before Pablo once again steps into the truck for World Finals III. Pablo has a strong event, making it to the semi-finals of racing, only to lose to Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter and finishes third overall in freestyle with a score of 35. Pablo ends his run by driving Blacksmith onto a dumpster at the end of the track in an act of revenge from the previous year, which caused the truck to miss freestyle.
  • 2003 - Pablo becomes the main Grave Digger driver for the season after Dennis Anderson sustains an injury, which puts him out of action. Carl Van Horn also joins the team alongside Norm as co-driver for Blacksmith, getting a racing win in Phoenix. Carl drives Blacksmith at World Finals IV as Pablo drives Grave Digger, still filling in for Dennis.
  • 2004 - Carl Van Horn leaves the team and Pablo's stepson, Ryan Huffaker, takes his place alongside Norm as the Blacksmith driver. Jeff Hoy would drive Blacksmith one time at the El Paso event. Qualifying for World Finals V, Blacksmith debuts a new paint scheme featuring a new spark design, a change that Pablo reportedly did not care for. Pablo and the truck make it all the way to the final round of racing, after defeating Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction in the semi-finals, but falls short of the victory to Dennis Anderson and Grave Digger.
  • 2005 - Norm moves to the Blue Thunder team and Ryan becomes the sole full-time driver for Blacksmith, driving it throughout the season. At World Finals VI, Pablo sports a jolly roger flag on Blacksmith. He defeats Tom Meents and Maximum Destruction again, this time in round two, only to again lose to Dennis Anderson and Grave Digger in the quarter-finals. Jim Lehnertz drives the truck in Lancaster, California. Aaron Basl drives Blacksmith at the Red Bluff event in October.
  • 2006 - Ryan continues to drive Blacksmith, touring with Pablo's Grave Digger. At World Finals VII, Pablo takes control of Blacksmith again and advances to the semi-finals of racing, only to lose to Jimmy Creten and Bounty Hunter, the same truck and driver Pablo previously lost to back at World Finals III at the same stage.
  • 2007 - For its final year of competition, Aaron Basl drives Blacksmith, getting television appearances that season at Detroit and St. Louis. The truck qualifies for World Finals VIII, but at the event, Pablo debuts Captain's Curse, which runs on Blacksmith's chassis and uses the same '41 Willy's body style. Pablo captures the 2007 World Freestyle Championship in his new ride. Blacksmith makes a few appearances afterwards, before fully being retired.
  • 2008 - Captain's Curse is turned over to FELD and gets given a new chassis. Blacksmith's chassis, which ran as Captain's Curse at World Finals VIII and at the Salinas show a few months afterwards, is converted into the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle truck after its original chassis is scrapped, which continues to run as a team mate to Pablo's Grave Digger under Ryan Huffaker and Aaron Basl.

Events competed[]

2000[]

  • Oklahoma City, OK, Dec 29-31

2001[]

  • Oakland, CA, Jan 5-7
  • Anaheim, CA, Jan 13
  • Houston, TX, Jan 20
  • Anaheim, CA, Jan 27
  • Vancouver, BC, Feb 3
  • Portland, OR, Feb 9-11
  • Salt Lake City, UT, Feb 16-17
  • El Paso, TX, Feb 24
  • Calgary, AB, Mar 9-11
  • Reno, NV, Mar 16-18
  • World Finals 2, Las Vegas, NV, Mar 24
  • Grand Junction, CO, Jun 1-3
  • Pueblo, CO, Jun 15-16
  • West Allis, WI, Jul 20-22
  • Albuquerque, NM, Oct 12-13
  • San Bernandino, CA, Nov 3-4

2002[]

  • Atlanta, GA, Jan 12
  • Tacoma, WA, Jan 18-20
  • Vancouver, BC, Jan 26
  • San Diego, CA, Feb 2
  • Spokane, WA, Feb 8-10
  • Denver, CO, Feb 22-24
  • Lafayette, LA, Mar 1-2
  • Nampa, ID, Mar 8-9
  • Reno, NV, Mar 15-17
  • World Finals 3, Las Vegas, NV, Mar 23
  • Grand Junction, CO, May 31-Jun 2
  • Red Bluff, CA, Unknown Date, (West Coast Monster Truck Nationals)

2003[]

  • Houston, TX, Jan 4
  • Denver, CO, Jan 11-12
  • Minneapolis, MN, Jan 18
  • Phoenix, AZ, Jan 25
  • Kansas City, MO, Jan 31-Feb 2
  • Salt Lake City, UT, Feb 7-8
  • San Diego, CA, Feb 15
  • Spokane, WA, Feb 21-23
  • Bakersfield, CA, Feb 28-Mar 1
  • Council Bluffs, IA, Mar 14-16
  • World Finals 4, Las Vegas, NV, Mar 22
  • Fresno, CA, Apr 11-13
  • Santa Rosa, CA, Apr 25
  • Roseburg, OR, May 2-4
  • Salinas, CA, May 18
  • Grand Junction, CO, Jun 6
  • Lancaster, CA, Nov 14-15
  • San Bernandino, CA, Nov 22-23

2004[]

  • Birmingham, AL, Jan 2-3
  • San Antonio, TX, Jan 10-11
  • Pontiac, MI, Jan 17
  • Phoenix, AZ, Jan 24
  • Houston, TX, Feb 7
  • Rosemont, IL, Feb 13-15
  • Albuquerque, NM, Feb 20-22
  • El Paso, TX, Mar 6
  • Minneapolis, MN, Mar 13
  • World Finals 5, Las Vegas, NV, Mar 20
  • Santa Rosa, CA, Apr 16-18
  • Roseburg, OR, Apr 30-May 2
  • Salinas, CA, May 16
  • Ennis, TX, Jun 19
  • Middletown, NY, Jul 29 (Monster Truck Challenge)
  • Lancaster, CA, Sep 25-26
  • Albuquerque, NM, Oct 22-23
  • San Bernandino, CA, Nov 6-7

2005[]

2006[]

2007[]

  • Birmingham, AL, Jan 5-6
  • San Antonio, TX, Jan 13-14
  • Detroit, MI, Jan 20
  • Little Rock, AR, Jan 26-27
  • Dallas, TX, Feb 2-3
  • Uniondale, NY, Feb 9-11
  • St. Louis, MO, Feb 17
  • Oklahoma City, OK, Feb 23-24
  • El Paso, TX, Mar 3
  • Fresno, CA, Mar 9-10
  • Salt Lake City, UT, Aug 11-12 (Maverik Clash of the Titans)
  • Lancaster, CA, Sep 21-22

World Finals appearances[]

  • 2001 - Pablo Huffaker (racing only)
  • 2002 - Pablo Huffaker
  • 2003 - Carl Van Horn
  • 2004 - Pablo Huffaker
  • 2005 - Pablo Huffaker
  • 2006 - Pablo Huffaker

Video game appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • Blacksmith was the first of only three trucks owned by FELD Motorsports to use a 1941 Willy's body style, the other two being Captain's Curse and Whiplash.
  • As was true with many of the trucks that Pablo Huffaker drove, Blacksmith would feature purple-colored beadlocks on its wheels whenever Huffaker drove the truck.

Gallery[]

Main gallery[]

Merchandise gallery[]

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