00:00 Jumping a monster truck is like flying.
00:03 Now we're going 30, 40, sometimes even 50 feet in the air.
00:06 It's pretty indescribable.
00:09 [music]
00:19 [music]
00:27 Some people try and give me a hard time because I'm a girl once in a while,
00:30 but you really can't let it get to you.
00:32 If you do, then that's your biggest disadvantage.
00:35 [music]
00:39 My name is Rosalie Raymer.
00:41 I am 20 years old, and I am the driver of the Wildflower Monster Truck
00:44 and the youngest professional female monster truck driver.
00:47 And we're here in Turlock, California today for the Spring Nationals.
00:51 [music]
00:57 I've been racing monster trucks professionally since I was 14 years old.
01:07 When I was 13, I crushed my very first car, and then by 14,
01:10 I was in full-time competition.
01:12 [crash]
01:14 All right, hold it.
01:16 [crash]
01:20 I think I was too young to remember when I first started working with trucks and cars.
01:26 I have pictures at 3 years old holding flashlights out at monster truck shows
01:30 while the guys were working on trucks.
01:32 [truck siren]
01:36 As soon as I got the opportunity, I've always been working on trucks alongside my dad,
01:40 whether that's working on his truck, helping build my own.
01:45 You got this side?
01:47 All right.
01:49 My dad is like my best friend.
01:51 It's pretty great getting to spend every weekend on the road with him.
01:54 [music]
01:57 At age 11, she was driving my truck around in the pit area, getting comfortable with it.
02:01 It was just an ongoing progression, and we just added that in.
02:05 It just seemed like the natural next step to put her in a monster truck
02:09 and set up one that fit her and her style.
02:12 [music]
02:18 This is Wildflower, my 1932 Ford Coupe monster truck.
02:23 She runs on 66-inch tall tires.
02:26 That's 5'6". That's as tall as I am.
02:29 But they weigh about somewhere between 600 and 800 pounds, depending on the tire you run.
02:34 [tires screeching]
02:37 Back here for our power source, we've got 565 cubic inches of blown alcohol motor.
02:42 So she's got about 1,500 to 1,600 horsepower, and she runs on methanol.
02:47 Back here is my wheelie bar. You can see it gets a lot of action.
02:50 Last weekend, wheelie contest, bent it up a little bit.
02:53 [tires screeching]
02:57 We've got two nitrogen shocks on each corner of the truck.
03:00 So to go along with the two nitrogen shocks in each corner, we run a four-link suspension.
03:04 Monster trucks are a lot to handle.
03:06 It's two different complete steering systems, a lot of horsepower, a lot of responsibility.
03:11 But, you know, I think I was definitely ready when I jumped in the seat.
03:14 [tires screeching]
03:24 Sometimes I say it's kind of like driving a roller coaster, but I have control over it.
03:28 [music]
03:32 The highest I've jumped is probably about 50 feet in the air.
03:35 [tires screeching]
03:37 I mean, the adrenaline rush is absolutely insane.
03:40 Going 30, 40 feet in the air, you feel like you're flying.
03:43 Sometimes there's a moment of hang time when you're up there.
03:46 [music]
03:50 Where you just lose your breath a little bit, and you're not sure exactly when you're going to land,
03:54 but you're still planning for when you do. It's pretty incredible.
03:59 Ready to go, Dad?
04:03 Ready to have some fun?
04:04 Yes.
04:05 Alrighty.
04:07 Love you.
04:08 Love you, too.
04:10 Alrighty. Good to go?
04:13 [tires screeching]
04:17 I've probably competed in over 300 competitions.
04:20 [music]
04:28 I've won multiple competitions, from freestyle to racing to donut competitions and wheelie contests.
04:35 [music]
04:46 I'm studying mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech with a minor in industrial design,
04:50 and right now I'm going into my fourth year.
04:52 I try to keep monster trucks in school pretty separate.
04:54 Right now, with the build of our new truck, we're working on the chassis.
04:58 So, getting all the tubes bent and fitted before we weld it up to start putting the rest of the truck together.
05:04 It's a lot of fun.
05:06 To be able to share something, a passion, that you have together makes it just so much more fun and exciting.
05:13 Monster truck is the only platform, really, where girls and boys compete on an even playing field.
05:19 There's no girls' monster trucks, boys' monster trucks.
05:22 We're all out there competing against each other together.
05:24 I'm doing something I love to do out here, and I like to say I put my best into everything.
05:29 I think Rosalie should win tonight in the wild!
05:34 [cheering]
05:37 [music]
05:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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