Obsession is a Ford monster truck owned by the race team of the same name and driven by team owner Rick Swanson. 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. The Obsession name has not run since 2019, due to the chassis running as other identities. Swanson has said that a new Obsession is under construction.
History[]
Obsession was first constructed in 1996, and made its competition debut the following year under Rick Swanson.
2001[]
A second Obsession debuted under Team KCM, with Chester Stone driving. This variant would later be rebranded as Major Obsession the following year.
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 Chester would continue to campaign their trucks throughout select events.
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.
2008[]
Another new paint scheme would debut.
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.
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.
2011[]
Swanson began driving Obsessed, resulting in Jeff Jones driving Obsession. The truck would also run as Backwards Bob that year in Anaheim.
2012-2014[]
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.
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.
2017[]
A brand-new Obsession debuted, featuring another Generation 2 PEI 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.
2018[]
Obsession would receive a new DKP chassis, which was also previously used for Obsessed. The PEI chassis was sold and turned into Wicked Strong. The truck would also start running as Obsessed Wear.
2019[]
The truck would run Wrongway Rick for the season changing in-between it and the Obsession body.
2021[]
The truck would run as Trouble Maker for a select few events and then would be run as Wild Card for the rest of the season.
2022[]
The truck would continue to run as Wild Card. The truck would also run as The Boss. Later that year, the chassis would be sold and would become Monster Moose before becoming The Veteran. According to Rick Swanson, a new chassis is currently under construction.
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.
- Wrongway Rick
- Backwards Bob
- Safety Kleen
- Obsessed Wear
- Monsters Of Destruction (M.O.D.)
- The Poodle
- Captain's Curse (Obsession)
- Gemini
- 95
- T-Maxx X=Drive (Swanson)
- Colossus
- Game Over
- Maytag
- Unnamed truck from Wendy's commercial
- Mohawk Warrior (World Finals XI encore)
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:
Trivia[]
- 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".
- The team's website is obsessionracing.com, but it hasn't been updated since 2019.
- The team also has a YouTube channel, which is Obsession Race Team.
Gallery[]
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