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Obsession is a Ford monster truck owned and driven by Rick Swanson out of Rupert, Idaho since 1997. In addition to competition appearances, the truck is also famous for being featured in a multitude of TV commercials over its career with ads for companies like Maytag, Wendy's, and Bud Light. It was even shown in the House MD TV show as "Colossus". Rick Swanson has been the primary driver of Obsession, with Jeff Jones driving the truck in 2011, while Rick drove Obsessed and Jim Lehnertz driving Obsession from 2012 to 2014.

History[]

Obsession was first constructed in 1996, and made its competition debut the following year under Rick Swanson.

In 2001, a second Obsession debuted under Team KCM, with Chester Stone driving. This variant would later be rebranded as Major Obsession the following year.

In 2004, the Obsession name would expand to four trucks, with Steve Reynolds campaigning the name under Hartsock Racing, and Rod Wood campaigning the name on his McGruff chassis. Swanson and Stone would continue to campaign their trucks throughout select events.

In 2006, Reynolds, Wood, and Stone resumed driving their own trucks, leaving Swanson to campaign the Obsession name for himself. The truck would receive a sponsorship with Fabtech and debut a new blue paint scheme. Another new paint scheme would follow two years later.

In 2009, the Obsession Racing team expanded to two trucks, as the truck’s teammate, Obsessed, was created, and first unveiled to the public at the Monster Jam World Finals X pit party. In 2010 for the World Finals encore, the truck runs as Mohawk Warrior, driven by George Balhan. Obsession would debut a new yellow and blue paint scheme the following year, being first unveiled at the Monster Jam World Finals XI pit party.

Beginning in 2011, Swanson began driving Obsessed, resulting in Jeff Jones driving Obsession. The truck would also run as Backwards Bob that year in select Monster Jam shows across the west coast.

In 2012, Jim Lehnertz began driving Obsession, sharing the driving duties with Jones. Both drivers continued to operate the truck until 2014, when Swanson resumed driving the truck full-time.

In 2015, Obsession received a special Ford F-150 trophy truck body style. This design would be short-lived, however, as the truck debuted a new design in celebration of its twentieth anniversary. Said design featured a special “film reel” paint scheme, which showcased Obsession’s various appearances in commercials.

A brand-new Obsession debuted in 2017, featuring a new chassis, which was previously used for Obsessed. The truck also received a new Top Notch T’s-sponsored paint scheme, and competed in its final season in Monster Jam as part of the FS1 Championship Series West. Obsession would receive another new chassis the following year, which was also previously used for Obsessed with the previous chassis being sold and turned into Wicked Strong.

In 2019, the truck would run Wrongway Rick for the season changing in-between it and the Obsession body. In 2021, the truck would run as Trouble Maker for a select few events and then would be run as Wild Card for the the rest of the season.

Alter-egos[]

Obsession has had many alter-egos, most of which were very temporary, even one-offs, for uses such as commercials and other purposes.

Other trucks[]

In the early 2000's, Swanson leased the Obsession name to various teams across the United States. The teams included are the following:

Gallery[]

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