Bad News Travels Fast, also known simply as Bad News, is a Chevrolet Silverado monster truck, owned and driven by Brandon Derrow out of Elkton, Virginia. The truck was originally created in 1998 by Bruce Haney out of Bronson, Florida, who drove the truck for thirteen years, until his retirement in 2011, and sold the entire operation to Derrow, who continues to operate the truck to this day. Bad News Travels Fast has also been a staple of multiple monster truck leagues, including Monster Jam. It is unknown if Brandon and the truck will return to Monster Jam.
History[]
Bruce Haney era (1998-2011):[]
Bad News Travels Fast was originally created in 1998 after Bruce Haney purchased the previous Excaliber truck from Charlie Pauken. At the time of its debut, the truck featured a black paint scheme that was campaigned for four years, until a white paint scheme debuted in 2002. The truck also began running under the name “Bad News” for the time being, and also began competition in the Thunder Nationals.
In 2003, a brand-new Bad News Travels Fast was constructed, featuring a new paint scheme that displayed the first incarnation of the iconic paperboy character. The truck also received a new PEI chassis. This variant of Bad News Travels Fast also happened to be the most successful, as the truck made multiple televised appearances on Monster Jam.
Five years later, a brand-new orange paint scheme was created for Bad News Travels Fast, which was first unveiled at the start of the 2008 season. The truck would also receive a new Chevrolet Silverado body style. Haney and the truck would also be nominated for that year’s Crash Madness award, in which the truck performed a power wheelie in Des Moines, Iowa, and the left front wheel clipped a car in the process, resulting in the entire front axle being torn off of the truck. Meanwhile, Haney continued to drive Bad News Travels Fast until his retirement in 2011.
Brandon Derrow era (2011-present):[]
Following Haney’s retirement, he sold the entire operation to Brandon Derrow out of Virginia. A year after the purchase, Bad News Travels Fast received a new purple paint scheme. Derrow and the truck would later be selected as one of sixteen trucks to compete in the inaugural Monster Jam Fox Sports 1 Championship Series in 2015.
In 2016, Bad News Travels Fast received a new green paint scheme. The following year, Derrow and the truck competed in Monster Jam Arena Championship Series 5. During the series, they would win an overall event championship in Milwaukee, and finish fourth in the standings. Meanwhile, the truck also competed in the Tampa event for Stadium Championship Series 4.
The Bad News Travels Fast team celebrated their 20th Anniversary in 2018, and debuted a new black paint scheme for the occasion, which was reminiscent of the truck’s original paint scheme from 1998. Meanwhile, Derrow and the truck competed in Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 3. Bad News Travels Fast would compete in the Arena Championship Series the following year, winning an overall event championship in Wilkes-Barre. Derrow and the truck would go on to finish eighth in the series standings. The following year, Bad News Travels Fast competed in select Monster Jam arena events throughout the first quarter.
In 2022, Bad News Travels Fast received a new blue paint scheme, and would compete in select events throughout Monster Jam Arena Championship Series East. Former Fox Sports 1 Cleatus driver Frank Krmel would also drive the truck for the series' events in Washington, D.C. The truck finished 8th.
In 2023, The Bad News Travels Fast team celebrated their 25th anniversary, the truck received a slightly updated paint scheme for the occasion, featuring a 25th Anniversary tailgate which features their 25th anniversary tour set to be across various shows such as Monster Truck Throwdown, All Star Monster Truck Tour and more.
Video game appearances[]
Trivia[]
- Since 2016, the numbers displayed on the helmet of the paperboy character on the side panels of Bad News Travels Fast represent the age of Derrow’s son. Following the birth of his daughter in 2018, the character on the left side panel began representing the age of his daughter beginning in 2019. It would also feature hair strands sticking out from underneath the helmet and around the shoulders.
- Bad News Travels Fast features LED lights that are displayed on the eyes of the paperboy character (see gallery).
- During the televised European airing of the 2009 Knoxville event, Bad News Travels Fast is misspelled as "Bad News Traves Fast" as its wheelie score is revealed.[1]
- Starting in 2018, for independent events, the truck runs a pair of Goodyear tires on the front, and a pair of Firestone tires on the back.
Gallery[]
Main gallery[]
.JPG "DSC 0733 (2).JPG (275 KB)")
Merchandise gallery[]
.jpg "2004-2 28-Bad News Travels Fast (2).jpg (383 KB)")
.jpg "2008 34-Bad News Travels Fast (2).jpg (422 KB)")
.jpg "2015 37-Bad News Travels Fast (2).jpg (431 KB)")
.jpg "2017 MU01-Bad News Travels Fast (2).jpg (437 KB)")
.jpg "2019 AF-Bad News Travels Fast (2).jpg (160 KB)")
