For years, monster truck pilot Lee O'Donnell was a fill-in driver, a gun for hire. If a substitute driver was needed, O’Donnell would fill the seat, no matter the truck.
Today he finally has a ride of his own, the eye-grabbing Iron Man, based on the popular Marvel Comics character. And just as the suit makes the man in the Iron Man universe, O’Donnell is using the Iron Man truck to make his mark on the sport.
Q: How difficult was it to be versatile enough to drive any monster truck thrown at you?
A: Each truck has its own personality, yet they're kind of similar. ...You just get in it and adjust whatever you can to make it comfortable. You do the best you can with what you got. And for some reason, I found success in that.
Q: Of all the trucks you got to drive, which was your favorite?
A: I always had a soft spot in my heart for Monster Mutt. I drove it for a lot of years. It's always a favorite of the kids. It had big dog ears, a tail and a tongue. ...The ears stayed on pretty good. It was the tail that I could never keep on. I would always land on the back of the truck, and that tail would be gone.
Q: Does Marvel give you any guidelines as to what you can or can't do when you're representing Iron Man in the truck?
A: They kind of leave it up to me. I started doing this funky thing with the lights. My truck has lights everywhere. So I started flicking them in the beginning. And they were like, "That's just awesome. Flick them all the time." So now I'm running around half the time flicking this switch making the lights go on and off. Everyone kind of digs it. [Marvel] just wants me to do my job and do the best I can. They know I'll represent the company well. And so far we've had some pretty good success with it.
Q: Were you a fan of the character Iron Man before you got the job?
A: Huge fan. My father-in-law is a collector of comic books. ...So the shop in my backyard has a loft filled with comics and Iron Man comic books are posted all over our shelf. It's actually really cool. My daughter's friends come in the shop and say, "Oh, wow!" I don't know who was more excited [about the Iron Man truck], me or my father-in-law.
Q: What's the craziest thing you've ever done in a monster truck?
A: Over in Europe during one of the Monster Jam tours, I wanted to win racing so bad that I literally ripped the front half of the truck off trying to win the race. My boss and crew weren't too happy, but we won the race. That's all that mattered to me.
Monster Jam 2011
7:30 p.m. Feb. 12. $17.40-$58.75; $129.25 for Total Access Package. Georgia Dome, One Georgia Dome Drive, Atlanta. 800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.
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