The Monster Truck Jam: The Women Who Are In It To Win It
Watching live motorsport events is always an exciting time, especially when it is the infamous Monster Truck Jam. With events held all over North America and a few worldwide in exotic locations as Saudi Arabia and Japan, it has quickly gained notoriety around the world. The Monster Truck Jam focuses on two types of events: racing and freestyle. The intermission shows are also part of the attraction, but perhaps the most interesting fact, besides the trucks, of course, are the drivers. Now, you may think this is a male-dominated sport but in fact, there are a ton of women who are sitting behind the wheel of these gargantuan trucks and they are ready to win. These women participate in the Monster Jam Tour and find just as much success as the men, and contain a wildly competitive streak, making them fierce competition. These are no shrinking violets, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to look and feel like strong empowered women. They may be in full wardrobe and makeup but that is simply their version of armor as they prepare to take on their competitors. Let’s meet some of these women taking over the motorsport world.
Pioneer woman: Nicole Johnson
First up, we have Nicole Johnson who was one of the first women to join the Monster Truck Jam. However, she did not start out driving monster trucks right out of the gate. Instead, she took a more measured approach and began with rock crawling.It was when her husband Frank got involved with monster truck racing that Nicole realized she may have just found her true passion. Frank was a spotter for the Red Bull Rock Crawling team in the early 2000s.
Nicole Johnson Gets Behind the Wheel
Once her husband began working with monster trucks, she quickly realized that she needed to participate as well and not simply a member of the crew. She wanted to be behind the wheel and compete with the big dogs. She began rock crawling in 2004 with the help of her husband, together they won the Pro Rock Women’s National Championship.
Thus, her thirst for racing began. She quickly went pro for Rock Crawling and in 2007, she made it to the World Extreme Competition Series. She quickly rose through the ranks of pro-drivers and broke the gender gap by being the first woman to finish the King of Hammers race in 2008.
Her Foray into Monster Jam
Rock crawling was not enough to keep Nicole busy, so in 2010 she began monster truck racing. Her first Monster Jam found her behind the wheel of the Tasmanian Devil, and thus her star was born. In her first year, she won the award for Monster Jam Rising Star in 2011.
She has gone on to rack up the awards like Crash Madness when she spectacularly crashed her Scooby Doo truck and many others. She has truly paved the way for other women to join this male-dominated world and find great success. So how did she achieve this?
Rookie for the Win
During her first season in the Monster Jam circuit, she entered a number of events. She won nine of them, which was an impressive feat for a rookie. She was immediately a record breaker. No rookie, let alone a female rookie had that many wins during a racing season.
This meant that she was ready to push herself even more in the following season and potentially win all the events she entered. It took real drive and determination to work her way through the ranks of drivers so quickly.