Tropical Thunder was a 2005 Chevrolet Silverado & 2002 GMC Sierra monster truck owned by Dan Rodoni out of Santa Cruz, California. Throughout its career, the truck was driven by several drivers, with its most prominent being Phil Foster, Andrew Peckham, and Mike Pappas. The truck also served as the teammate to The Patriot and was a staple of multiple monster truck leagues and events held across the West Coast until its retirement by the end of 2015, when Rodoni sold the name to Sam Xuereb out of Australia.
History[]
In late 2000, Guy Wood would create a new chassis for his own version of Tropical Thunder. This truck would compete until 2003. Two years later in 2005, the truck was sold to Dan Rodoni. The truck would begin competition in 2006, making its debut on January 7 with Phil Foster behind the wheel. At the time of its debut, the truck originally featured a 2002 GMC Sierra body style, but would receive a new 2005 Chevrolet Silverado body style sometime later.
Foster continued to drive Tropical Thunder until his retirement in 2010. Andrew Peckham and Mike Pappas would later join the team and take over the driving duties afterward. After Rodoni received sponsorship from M2D Camo, the Tropical Thunder name would be temporarily shelved, as the truck was rebranded as M2D Camo Thunder, which ran from 2011 until 2012.
Following the retirement of M2D Camo Thunder, Tropical Thunder returned to competition in 2013 and would debut The Patriot’s first chassis later that year. The original chassis would eventually be sold to Tony Canedo, and converted into Enforcer. The following year, Tropical Thunder received a brand new paint scheme.
In 2015, Tropical Thunder would run as The Patriot for select Monster Jam shows throughout the first quarter. That year would also mark Tropical Thunder’s final year of competition under Rodoni’s ownership, as he would sell the name to Sam Xuereb out of Australia. The truck would later be succeeded by Hellraiser the following year. It would later become Outfoxed.
Trivia[]
- At some shows, Tropical Thunder usually ran with a Shrek plush placed in front of the truck.
- The 2014 paint scheme was originally planned to debut the previous year, but would be delayed for unknown reasons.
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