February 7, 2007
Pro-Lite Driver Lee O’Donnell keeps busy during the “Off Season”
Ever wonder what off-road short course race drivers do during their off season?
Some drivers go desert racing, some get right to work on next year’s stuff, and then there’s Lee O’Donnell, he races a Monster Truck. For several years now you can find Lee, every winter, on the USHRA Monster Truck tour. Sold out stadiums watch as Lee takes on the biggest names in Monster Truck racing. Grave Digger, Maximum Destruction, and Teenage Mutant Turtle to name a few. Photos courtesy of Eric Stern.
On January 27, at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, Lee O’Donnell, driving TAZ, won his first SPEED televised Monster Jam. Lee started out the day qualifying second overall, just behind Scott Harstock in Gunslinger. When the 75,000 fans found their seats, the single elimination racing began. Lee driving his 1500HP TAZ, defeated some of the biggest names in the sport, Teenage Mutant Turtle, Air Force Afterburner, Grave Digger, and finally Cowboy, to bring home his first Monster Jam title.
“Wow what a night, its amazing how you can actually feel the crowd screaming and cheering you on during the race,” commented Lee O’Donnell. “To win my first Monster Jam in front of 75,000 fans here in Orlando, it just blows me away.”
Later that night Lee compared driving his Nissan Frontier Pro-Lite off-road short course truck to his Monster Truck. “If you go back far enough in time, their origins are similar, but they are different animals. Both forms of off-road racing put the fan right on top of the action. In the CORR and WSORR events we race side by side on the same track, for about 20 minutes. In the Monster Truck, we race side by side on different tracks for about 20 seconds.”
Lee got his first opportunity to compete in a monster truck, when PACE (now known as Live Nation) officials noticed his driving abilities while competing in their stadium truck and buggy series back in the 90’s. Now the two types of competition keep Lee at his best, no matter what type of race truck, or the time of year. Some of his fellow summertime competitors go to the local indoor carting track to keep their senses sharp, Lee just jumps into an off-road truck with a slightly different pedigree.
In the coming weeks, Lee is scheduled to compete at the USHRA Monster Jams in Philadelphia, Minneapolis, and Jacksonville.
After his Monster Trucks assignment is complete, look for Lee and the entire Team Sticker Dude Race Team (Luke Zoetmulder, Steven Federico, Lee O’Donnell) to be testing somewhere in the Midwest. The first round of the Lucas Oil World Series of Off-Road Racing is just three months away.
For more information about USHRA Monster Jam visit www.ushra.com.
For the complete Lucas Oil World Series of Off-Road Racing schedule visit www.wsorr.com.
There are marketing opportunities available for 2007 season for Lee O’Donnell and the entire Team Sticker Dude race team. For more information www.federicoracing.com
Photos courtesy of Eric Stern/ www.usrha.com
Posted to Truck Racing - Monster Trucks by Motorsports Journal « Go Back
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)
