Anthony 'Tony' Ochs (born January 17th, 1986) is a monster truck driver out of Lucinda, Pennsylvania. He originally drove Soldier Fortune Black Ops from 2016-2022, and currently drives ThunderROARus.
Career[]
Before joining Monster Jam, Ochs served in the U.S. Army with four combat deployments and a total of five overseas tours in South Korea, Iraq & Afghanistan. He was also a stunt motorcycle crew chief for Marvel Universe Live!
Ochs began his monster truck career in 2016 by debuting Soldier Fortune Black Ops in Albany, New York. Ton also did some stadium events. He would later compete in the Young Guns Shootout at Monster Jam World Finals XVII, where he would be eliminated in round 1 by Buddy Tompkins in Razin Kane.
In 2017, Ochs did not compete in the first quarter of 2017, but would drive Superman for Monster Jam's inaugural event at Saudi Arabia. He would later return to driving Soldier Fortune Black Ops in the fall and would also drive The Punisher exclusively in Houston.
In 2018, Ochs began competing in the Monster Jam Triple Threat Series Central. He finished fifth in the series standings, and would later compete in the Double Down Showdown at Monster Jam World Finals XIX. During the event, he would be eliminated in round 2 by Brandon Vinson in Grave Digger.
In 2019, Ochs competed in the Monster Jam Triple Threat Series West. During the series, he would win an overall event championship in Fargo, and finished fourth in the series standings. He would later be invited to compete in both the Showdown and ATV racing competitions at Monster Jam World Finals XX. During the Showdown, Ochs was initially eliminated in the semi-final round by Nick Pagliarulo in Kraken. However, Pagliarulo was unable to return to compete in the championship race due to damage sustained from a crash that occurred during the race against Ochs, resulting in Ochs advancing to the round as the fastest loser. He would ultimately lose to Linsey Read in Scooby-Doo! During the ATV competition, Ochs finished in fourth on Friday and in last place on Saturday. He would ultimately finish sixth in the points standings. Following the World Finals, Ochs would drive Soldier Fortune Ice in select Triple Threat Series events after the first quarter. However, he would be involved in a minor ATV accident during an event in Rosemont, which resulted in Joe Urie driving the truck for the Sunday night show.
In 2020, Ochs competed in the Monster Jam Triple Threat Series West again. During the series, he would win multiple overall event championships in Tacoma, Winnipeg, and Spokane, and would finish third in the standings. After the series abruptly ended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ochs would be placed on hiatus for the time being due to budget cuts by FELD Entertainment as a result of the pandemic.
In 2021, Ochs returned to competition on August 27th, just in time for his hometown show at the PPL Center in Allentown. He would later compete in multiple arena events throughout the remainder of the season.
In 2022, Ochs competed in the Monster Jam Arena Championship Series Central finishing second to Krysten Anderson. It was his best season yet, as he had multiple wins & his 2nd place finish is a career best. He drove Dragon in the Dominican Republic in November.
In 2023, Ochs drove ThunderROARus on Arena Tour Central & finished 4th. He drove Earth Shaker in South Africa & Dresden, Germany. In Capetown, he won racing, the skills challenge & overall event championship.
In 2024, Ochs competed on the west arena tour & finished 3rd. He would drive Dragon in Huntsville & Salinas since Coty Saucier was driving Max-D for the last 5 stadium shows on the east stadium tour to fill in for Tom Meents. He would be invited to compete in the Last Chance Qualifying event at the World Finals and used an inverted design. In Allentown, Pennsylvania at show 2, he swept the whole event. This was only the second time in his career that he has done this. In Pensacola, Florida at show 1, he accidently turned the truck off during the skills challenge, which ruined the $20,000 body. He drove Iron Man in Melbourne, Australia, which was his first time competing there. Brandon Arthur drove his version at its US debut in Glendale. This was the first time 2 Iron Man trucks competed since its redebut. Tony drove Iron Man again in Sydney.
In 2025, he will compete on the East arena tour.
Accomplishments[]
- 2019 Arena Freestyle of the Year award winner.
World Finals appearances[]
Year | Truck (Competitions) |
---|---|
2016 | Soldier Fortune Black Ops (Young Guns Shootout only) |
2018 | Soldier Fortune Black Ops (Double Down Showdown only) |
2019 | Soldier Fortune Black Ops (Showdown + ATV racing only) |
2024 | ThunderROARus (Last Chance Qualifying) |
Trivia[]
- Ochs was slated to drive Blue Thunder exclusively at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton, Ontario on October 2-3, 2021, most likely due to 2021 being the 20th anniversary of Blue Thunder's existence. However, said event would be cancelled due to capacity restrictions imposed by authorities in Canada as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- His last name derives from the German word "Ochsen", which translated to English means "oxen".
- Ochs is a certified Apache helicopter technician.