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Blue Thunder (originally known as the "Built Ford Tough Blue Thunder" from 2001-2010) is/was a 2008 Ford F-150 monster truck owned by FELD Motorsports. The truck has been driven by a multitude of drivers over the course of its career, with its most notable including Lyle Hancock, Tony Farrell, Linsey Weenk, Todd LeDuc, Tyler Menninga and Matt Cody. Blue Thunder was originally created as a sponsorship for the Ford Motor Company, until Ford's contract ended in 2011 the truck then became a full-time concept. As of 2024, the truck is not scheduled to compete and has been placed on indefinite hiatus with no signs of returning anytime soon, as it is not featured or mentioned in the 2024 yearbook.

History[]

Blue Thunder made its debut on January 6th, 2001, in Houston with Lyle Hancock behind the wheel. At the time of its debut event, the truck originally featured a 1999 Ford F-250 Super Duty body style and featured a sponsorship from the "Built Ford Tough" division of the Ford Motor Company. Hancock and the truck would go on to win the racing championship and would finish in a three-way tie for freestyle. Afterwards, they would be invited to compete at World Finals II, and would make it all the way to the championship round of racing. However, they were defeated by Tom Meents in Goldberg and would crash in the process, resulting in Blue Thunder being unable to compete in freestyle.

In 2002, a second Blue Thunder was added to the team for the start of the season, with Tony Farrell driving. During Farrell’s first event in said truck in the first Pontiac event, he would perform one of the most spectacular crashes of the season during his freestyle performance in said event. Meanwhile, Hancock would win the racing championship in Pontiac for the second event. Carl Van Horn would drive the truck for Lyle in Oakland. Hancock and Blue Thunder would later be invited to compete at World Finals III. Despite being unable to compete in racing due to mechanical issues, they would finish fourth in freestyle.

In 2003, Hancock continued to drive Blue Thunder, even competing again at World Finals IV, until his retirement by the end of the season. Afterwards, George Balhan would join the team to replace Hancock for the 2004 season.

In 2004, Farrell was invited to compete at World Finals V, where he would tie for last place in freestyle.

In 2005, Balhan left the team to drive An Escalade, Norm Miller joined the team to replace him. Meanwhile, Farrell and Blue Thunder would be invited to compete at World Finals VI, where they would tie for the freestyle championship with Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter, but lost to the tiebreaker. In Stafford Springs, Carl Van Horn drove the truck.

In 2006, Miller would briefly depart from monster trucks, Farrell would be left as the sole driver for Blue Thunder, and would be invited to compete at World Finals VII.

In 2007, Mike Wine drove the truck in the first Minneapolis show. Farrell is invited to World Finals VIII, which would mark his final appearance at the World Finals. George Balhan made a one-off appearance in Calgary.

In 2008, former Iron Outlaw driver Linsey Weenk joined the team, resulting in a second Blue Thunder being re-added to the team. Throughout the season, Weenk would establish a rivalry with former teammate and team owner Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter. Lee O'Donnell would drive the truck for Linsey in Atlanta where he would win racing. Weenk would be invited to compete at World Finals IX, meanwhile Blue Thunder would be displayed on what was his brother Nathan Weenk's El Toro Loco chassis during the pit party.

In 2009, Farrell would continue to drive Blue Thunder until his retirement by the end of the season. He would be replaced by Frank Krmel afterwards in the following summer.

In 2010, Blue Thunder wins freestyle in Detroit, Linsey Weenk was invited to compete at World Finals XI, and Krmel takes part in the freestyle encore. Ford would officially end their sponsorship with Monster Jam after the 2010 season, resulting in Blue Thunder receiving an updated paint scheme with the Built Ford Tough references being removed.

In 2011, Weenk and Krmel would leave the team, moving to Lucas Oil Crusader and Advance Auto Parts Grinder, respectively. Rookie driver Todd LeDuc would take over the driving duties afterwards, competing throughout the 2011 season until he would move to the new Metal Mulisha truck for the 2012 season, resulting in Blue Thunder being retired for the time being.

The retirement of Blue Thunder would be short, however, as it was eventually brought back into competition for the 2013 season with a brand-new design and chassis. It was also announced that the truck would receive a new driver, Dan Evans. Pablo Huffaker drives the truck at World Finals XIV.

In 2014, Blue Thunder would also compete on The Patriot chassis for a show in Vancouver. Marc McDonald drove the truck in Auckland. Evans continued to drive the truck until his retirement after the 2014 season.

Following Evans’ retirement, rookie driver Dalton Millican took over the driving duties as both truck and driver competed in the inaugural More Monster Jam series in 2015. During the series, Millican and the truck would win an overall event championship for the second event in Cleveland and finished fourth in the standings. They would later be invited to compete in the Young Guns Shootout at World Finals XVI, although they were unable to compete due to mechanical issues. Millican’s driving career in Blue Thunder would be short, however, as he would be killed in a motorcycle accident in August. Three months before, former driver Tony Farrell died after being stuck by an SUV in a parking lot while leaving a local concert in Tennessee, Alx Danielsson would take over the driving duties following Millican’s death, serving as a fill-in driver for the time being.

In 2016, it was announced that rookie driver Tyler Menninga would become the new driver for Blue Thunder, as both truck and driver competed in the Monster Jam Amsoil Series West. Menninga and the truck would win an overall event championship in Portland, and finish fourth in the series standings. They would later be invited to compete in the Young Guns Shootout at World Finals XVII, where they would make it all the way to the Championship Round, only to lose to Scott Liddycoat in Dragon. Meanwhile, LeDuc would briefly return to the team to campaign the name on the Metal Mulisha chassis for that year’s European tour.

In 2017, Menninga moved to Grave Digger for the 2017 season, Blue Thunder was left without a full-time driver. However, Matt Cody would briefly join the team, campaigning the name on the Iron Warrior chassis in the Monster Jam Triple Threat Series Central. Cody and the truck would later compete in the Double Down Showdown at World Finals XVIII. Blue Thunder would also compete on its previous chassis under various drivers as part of that year’s international tour, including Chad Fortune, Randy Brown, and Rhianna Buchanan. Morgan Kane would drive the truck in Alxa.

In 2018, Cody would again compete with the Blue Thunder name for the 2018 Monster Jam Triple Threat Series East. Meanwhile, the name would also be campaigned by Travis Groth on the Trouble Maker chassis for select Triple Threat Series events after the first quarter.

In 2019, Cody would yet again drive Blue Thunder on the Iron Warrior chassis for the Monster Jam Triple Threat Series Central, and would later be invited to compete in the Speedster competition at World Finals XX. During the competition, Cody would go on to win the Speedster Obstacle Course championship, earning the truck its first-ever world championship. An old Blue Thunder body was displayed on the Axe chassis during the pit party. Cody would later receive a new chassis afterwards as the truck continued to compete in select Triple Threat Series events following the first quarter.

In 2020, Cody would again drive Blue Thunder for the 2020 Monster Jam Triple Threat Series Central, finishing fourth in the standings, after the series abruptly ended in March due to the pandemic. Blue Thunder would then be placed on hiatus throughout the remainder of the 2020 season and the season following.

In 2021, Blue Thunder was originally slated to return to competition exclusively in Hamilton, most likely due to 2021 being the 20th anniversary of the truck's original debut. However, said event would be cancelled due to capacity restrictions imposed by authorities in Canada as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Had the event happened, the truck would have been driven by Tony Ochs (And also may have been campaigned on his Soldier Fortune Black Ops chassis). However, Tony planned to campaign the truck on November 4th-6th for the international events in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

In 2022, Todd LeDuc returned to driving the truck, using his former Monster Energy chassis after its sponsor ended, and competed on Stadium Championship Series Red. Although not winning the series championship, he would be successful in the truck and he would also notably have more fun driving the truck, as Todd claimed that having a simple body style and not having to live up to a big sponsor made him feel more calm and free. He would finish third in the point standings and would receive an invite to World Finals XXI, marking the truck's first main field appearance since 2013, where he would compete in all four competitions. Afterwards. the truck would compete at the Fall stadium shows. Notably in Houston, the truck ran as the The Rod Ryan Show. Todd drove the truck for the last time at Arnhem in December, before moving into Megalodon the next year.

In 2023, the truck would compete exclusively at international shows and was driven by a selection of drivers. The truck would initially be scheduled to compete mainly with Chelsea VanCleave, but would eventually transition into various drivers after Chelsea would begin filling-in and competing into various different trucks. Various drivers of Blue Thunder during international shows included Randy Brown, Camden Murphy, Tristan England and Bernard Lyght.

Drivers[]

Fill-in drivers[]

Trucks that have run as Blue Thunder[]

World Finals appearances[]

  • 2001 - Lyle Hancock
  • 2002 - Lyle Hancock
  • 2003 - Lyle Hancock
  • 2004 - Tony Farrell; George Balhan (encore only)
  • 2005 - Tony Farrell
  • 2006 - Tony Farrell
  • 2007 - Tony Farrell
  • 2008 - Linsey Weenk
  • 2009 - Linsey Weenk
  • 2010 - Linsey Weenk; Frank Krmel (encore only)
  • 2013 - Pablo Huffaker
  • 2015 - Dalton Millican (Young Guns Shootout only)
  • 2016 - Tyler Menninga (Young Guns Shootout only)
  • 2017 - Matt Cody (Double Down Showdown only)
  • 2018 - Matt Cody (Double Down Showdown only)
  • 2019 - Matt Cody (Speedster racing & obstacle course only) (won speedster obstacle course)
  • 2022 - Todd Leduc (main field, skills, and high jump)

Video game appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • Every Blue Thunder body had a different and rather unique lightning bolt pattern. No two Blue Thunder bodies had the same pattern.
  • Kirk Dabney owned and drove a truck with the same name, which ran over a decade prior. Although not related, does share many similarities.
  • When originally sponsored by Ford, Blue Thunder would receive an update to its body style every two years to feature the most recent version of the Ford F-250 Super Duty.
  • Following Blue Thunder’s redesign in 2013, the catchphrase “Feel the Energy'' was showcased on the truck’s tailgate. However, it was neither advertised nor mentioned by Monster Jam since its addition.
  • From 2006-2008, Blue Thunder was used to promote a sweepstakes named "Monsters on Mainstreet" where participants could enter to win a Monster Jam event in or near their hometown.
  • The return of Blue Thunder in the World Finals main field in 2022 would make the truck beat the record of having the longest hiatus between a truck's latest World Finals appearance and their return, being between nine years, and beating Wolverine by two months with the event moving from March to May.
  • From 2017-2020, Blue Thunder had neither a permanent chassis nor a full-time driver, as it had competed exclusively on the Iron Warrior chassis under Vaters Motorsports for the Triple Threat Series from 2017-20. While it has been used on its original chassis for several occasions, this was the case exclusively for international events.
  • When Monster Jam's October Glendale show was first announced, a placeholder name was labeled as XXX. Although this speculated the name would be returning, it was later revealed as TBA, which would later be revealed to be Blue Thunder.

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Main gallery[]

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