Editing Donkey Kong (monster truck)

[[File:DK_truck_logo.jpg|thumb]]

[[File:DK_truck1.jpg|thumb|The Donkey Kong monster truck]]

{{quote|It's not even close to a real job. It's more like a dream.|Frank Krmel on driving the Donkey Kong monster truck|[http://www.monsterjamonline.com Monster Jam Online] driver bio}}

'''Donkey Kong''' was a {{wp|monster truck}} that competed in the {{wp|Monster Jam}} racing series, and was designed after the character [[Donkey Kong]]. The truck was owned by {{wp|Irvin Feld|Feld Motor Sports, Inc.}}, and was driven by Frank Krmel (last name pronounced "kerr-mell"). It debuted on December 8, 2007, and later competed in the {{wp|Monster Jam World Finals}} 9 and 10 competitions. Another driver, Kreg Christensen, later took over as driver of the truck before the truck was later retired in 2010.

[[File:DK truck eyes.jpg|thumb|The Donkey Kong truck with its new "eyes"]]

The truck had a custom concept body designed to look like Donkey Kong. It was colored brown, and featured a large mouth on the front hood area along with two nostrils; it also sported two large ears on the sides in place of the doors. Its most prominent feature was the necktie dangling from the front. Later, two large eyes were added to the windshield. Its resemblance to Donkey Kong made it especially popular among children.{{ref needed}}

[[File:DK_truck2.jpg|thumb|left|The Donkey Kong monster truck performing in a freestyle competition]]

Donkey Kong made its debut on December 8, 2007, at the {{wp|Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome|Metrodome}} in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

In the racing competition's first round, it defeated {{wp|Chad Fortune}} and his Superman truck, moving on to face perennial powerhouse {{wp|2Xtreme Racing|Jimmy Creten in Bounty Hunter}} in the second round and lose. The competition was eventually won by Linsey Weenk in {{wp|Blue Thunder (truck)|Blue Thunder}}.

Later that day, in the {{wp|Freestyle (monster trucks)|freestyle}} competition, Donkey Kong came out and performed first. Scoring an intimidating 21 points out of 30, it sat in first place until bested by racing winner Linsey Weenk in Blue Thunder, who scored a 26. The competition was later won by {{wp|Dennis Anderson}} and {{wp|Grave Digger (truck)|Grave Digger}}, who scored a perfect 30.

Frank Krmel led Donkey Kong to qualify for the ninth annual Monster Jam World Finals at {{wp|Sam Boyd Stadium}} in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. In the racing competition, Donkey Kong lost in the first round to veteran driver Dennis Anderson and his Grave Digger truck. The competition was eventually won by {{wp|John Seasock}} in {{wp|Batman (truck)|Batman}}.

In the freestyle competition later that night, Donkey Kong scored 26 out of 40 points, finishing in ninth place. The truck suffered a huge forward rollover crash near the beginning of its freestyle run. The competition was eventually won by {{wp|Adam Anderson (monster truck driver)|Adam Anderson}} in the Taz truck, who scored 37 points.<ref>Monster Jam (December 2, 2014). [https://youtu.be/jKEy0ztt_Rk Donkey Kong Freestyle - Monster Jam World Finals IX]. ''YouTube''. Retrieved April 16, 2020.</ref>

During the tenth annual Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas, Krmel lead Donkey Kong to the world finals. Donkey Kong was the fastest qualifier for racing, earning a free pass to the second round; there, DK was defeated by the truck Madusa in an upset victory. {{wp|Tom Meents}} in {{wp|Maximum Destruction}} was later crowned the racing champion.

Donkey Kong was powered by a 540 cubic-inch Merlin engine, giving the truck a {{wp|horsepower}} of 1500. It also featured a Coan 2-speed transmission, and it sported four massive 66-inch Terra tires.

[[File:DK_truck_krmel.jpg|thumb|Driver Frank Krmel in his Donkey Kong driving suit]]

Donkey Kong was piloted by Frank Krmel (born December 20, 1978). He currently resides in Montgomery, Illinois, when not traveling with the Monster Jam tour. He competed on the Monster Jam circuit from 2003 until 2016, and has piloted trucks such as Pure Adrenaline, Demolition Man, Power Forward, Hot Wheels, and {{wp|Del Taco|Del Taco's}} Del Scorcho before joining the Donkey Kong team. He also was a crew chief for the notorious "{{wp|Team Scream Monster Trucks|Team Scream}}," consisting of {{wp|Jim Koehler}}'s {{wp|Avenger (truck)|Avenger}} and Chris Bergeron's Brutus trucks. Krmel later moved to the Blue Thunder team.

[[File:ChristensenDK.jpg|thumb|left|Driver Kreg Christensen waving from the truck]]

==Merchandise==

Along with many other Monster Jam trucks, the diecast car company [[Hot Wheels]] produced many diecast replicas of this truck. As the popularity of this truck grew, Hot Wheels continued to make various sizes of toy Donkey Kong trucks, including 1:64, 1:43, and 1:24 scale trucks. The 1:24 scale trucks feature working suspension, and some 1:64 scale trucks contain a small flag designed like the truck. Additionally, the 1:44 scale trucks were marketed as "Rev Tredz"; if revved up, these trucks will zoom forwards. A plush toy of the truck was also released by Feld Motor Sports in 2008.

DKdiecast24.jpg|1:24 scale diecast

DKdiecast43.jpg|1:43 scale diecast

DKdiecast64.jpg|1:64 scale diecast