Alex Blackwell started out his career in motocross as a pro rider for 16 years until an injury forced him to retire in 2002. Blackwell first got involved in the monster truck industry in 1992, when his truck club was asked to coordinate the infield activities at the Bloomsburg (PA) Jamboree. It was there that he met Andy Slifko, owner and driver of the Eradicator^® monster truck. He began traveling with Slifko as part of the Eradicator team. Six months later, after one of the events, Slifko let Blackwell drive Eradicator over a few cars and the rest was history. Blackwell began to attend events with the Eradicator crew on a regular basis. As part of the crew, Alex made a huge contribution to the monster truck business with his creation of the "Gazoo Motor" – a rear steer motor that spins 2 ½ times quicker than the typical motor. Blackwell mounted the first motor on Eradicator in late 2003. Today – the "Gazoo Motor" can be found on more than 40 of the top monster trucks in the country - including Grave Digger^®.

After crewing for a year and a half, Blackwell took on driving duties for Randy Brown Motorsports in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle™ truck. January 2005 marked Alex's professional monster truck driving debut at the Monster Jam^® in Birmingham, AL. In the same year, he earned a Rookie of the Year nomination for his creation of the "Gazoo Motor." In 2007, Blackwell took on the driving duties for Bulldozer^® before taking over Captain's Curse^® in 2008 after Pablo Huffaker won the 2007 Monster Jam^® World Freestyle Championship in the pirate themed 1941 Willys. 

In 2013, Blackwell will once again take the reins in the newly designed Captain's Curse Monster Jam truck. This veteran driver will put the pedal to the metal next year to heave ho over all of the competition.

Q&A with Alex Blackwell  

MonsterJam.com: How did you get started competing on the Monster Jam circuit? 
Alex Blackwell:  I started traveling with Andy Slifko as part of the Eradicator team and six months later he gave me my first chance to drive. Six months after that, I met Randy Brown and within two weeks of that meeting I moved to North Carolina to go to work full time for Randy Brown Motorsports. I drove the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for RBM in 2005, and then got to drive some other trucks in both the United States and on the world tour, and finally I began driving Captain's Curse in 2008.  

MonsterJam.com: What do you enjoy doing while on the road with Monster Jam?  
Alex Blackwell:   I really just enjoy traveling to so many places and meeting so many great fans. I really loved Switzerland when it was on the Europe Tour, it's just beautiful. It's hard to explain unless you go there and in the states anywhere down south is always awesome because the people there are so great.

MonsterJam.com: What is your greatest memory as a monster truck driver?  
Alex Blackwell:  In 2010, I won freestyle at the first ever event in the new Arlington Stadium; also I won three straight freestyles in the Minneapolis Metrodome, three straight January events there (twice in Bulldozer, once in Captain's Curse); and getting to travel the world, so far it's been 16 different countries with more to come.

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TRUCK INFO

• Truck Name: Captain's Curse  
• Body: Custom Concept
• Engine:  540 Cl
• Transmission: Coan 2-Speed