An Iron Man among monster trucks

iron-man-monster-jam-lee-odonnell.JPGLee O'Donnell's Iron Man, modeled after the 'Avengers' superhero.

Growing up in Bayonne, Lee O'Donnell never found anything unusual in fast-moving cars. While other kids delighted in speedy toy cars, his parents, in fact, were off-road racers.

"My mother bought my first race truck," he says. That was a regular-sized Toyota.

"I was just a few months old when we were out on the road," he says. "All my memories are racing."

Now 44, the vehicle O'Donnell drives today is significantly larger. He cruises on tires that are 6 feet tall and weigh 1,700 pounds, manning a 1,500-horsepower engine. His truck's name is Iron Man, for the very same Tony Stark superhero of Marvel Comics fame. All gold and scarlet to match the hero's color scheme, it's just one set of (very big) wheels in Advance Auto Parts' fleet. O'Donnell revs the truck constantly, the mammoth big-wheeler glowing a fierce red, moving over a series of vacant white cars that break like each is a delicate cracker.

As part of the Monster Jam show, O'Donnell has been doing the same all over Europe and Central America, and takes his stunts to MetLife Stadium tonight for the "Path of Destruction."

O'Donnell, who now lives in Lebanon, Hunterdon County, began driving Iron Man in 2010, timed with the release of the movie "Iron Man 2." The Marvel theme held strong with the release of "The Avengers" last month. Other trucks are named after comic mainstays: Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine.

lee-odonnell-monster-jam.jpgLee O'Donnell's parents called off-road racing a hobby.
His work doesn't start when he climbs into the driver's seat, though. O'Donnell exercises "religiously" every morning.

"You're taking a beating all afternoon," he says. "It's like 20 crashes in a minute and a half." During the show, he might not feel it, with all that adrenaline kicking in, but the next day, the impact hits heavy.

His Monster Jam colleague, Tom Meents, will attempt a double backflip in his truck, Maximum Destruction. Landing upside down, says O'Donnell is "not fun."

He says he first remembers driving when he was around 5 years old, when crashes weren't part of the equation. He was assisting his father with snow removal at Newark Airport.

"Okay, drive to that end," he told the toddler. Now, O'Donnell has two young daughters of his own. One, Katelyn, is 7 and shares her dad's zest for getting behind the wheel, whether in a go-kart or junior four-wheeler.

"If I threw her the keys, she'd get in the truck herself," he says. "She can't reach the pedals but she does everything else." Her younger sister, 4-year-old Lindsey, might not have the same need for speed — "She walks into walls constantly," says O'Donnell — but they'll both be watching at MetLife Stadium as their dad commands Iron Man, transforming average cars into puny Matchboxes.

Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam Path of Destruction

Where: MetLife Stadium, 102 Route 120, East Rutherford

When: Tonight at 7. A pit party with the drivers runs from 1 to 5 p.m.

How much: $35 to $125. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit or