00:00Jumping a monster truck is like flying.
00:03Now we're going 30, 40, sometimes even 50 feet in the air.
00:08It's pretty indescribable.
00:28Some people try and give me a hard time because I'm a girl once in a while, but you really
00:31can't let it get to you.
00:32If you do, then that's your biggest disadvantage.
00:40My name is Rosalie Raymer.
00:41I am 20 years old and I am the driver of the Wildflower Monster Truck and the youngest
00:45professional female monster truck driver.
00:47And we're here in Turlock, California today for the Spring Nationals.
01:02So I've been racing monster trucks professionally since I was 14 years old.
01:06When I was 13, I crushed my very first car, and then by 14, I was in full-time competition.
01:11All right, hold it.
01:20I think I was too young to remember when I first started working with trucks and cars.
01:25I have pictures at three years old holding flashlights out at monster truck shows while
01:30the guys were working on trucks.
01:33As soon as I got the opportunity, I've always been working on trucks alongside my dad, whether
01:39that's working on his truck, helping build my own.
01:42You have that side?
01:46All right.
01:47My dad is like my best friend.
01:50You know, it's pretty great getting to spend every weekend on the road with him.
01:56At age 11, she was driving my truck around in the pit area, getting comfortable with
02:00it.
02:01It was just an ongoing progression, and we just added that in.
02:05It just seemed like the natural next step to put her in a monster truck and set up one
02:10that fit her and her style.
02:18This is Wildflower, my 1932 Ford Coupe monster truck.
02:22She runs on 66-inch tall tires.
02:26That's 5'6".
02:28That's as tall as I am, but they weigh about somewhere between 600 and 800 pounds, depending
02:33on the tire you run.
02:36Back here for our power source, we've got 565 cubic inches of blown alcohol motor, so
02:43she's got about 1,500 to 1,600 horsepower, and she runs on methanol.
02:47Back here is my wheelie bar.
02:48You can see it gets a lot of action.
02:50Last weekend, wheelie contest, bent it up a little bit.
02:57We've got two nitrogen shocks on each corner of the truck, so to go along with the two
03:01nitrogen shocks in each corner, we run a four-link suspension.
03:04Monster trucks are a lot to handle.
03:05It's two different complete steering systems, a lot of horsepower, a lot of responsibility,
03:10but, you know, I think I was definitely ready when I jumped in the seat.
03:23Sometimes I say it's kind of like driving a roller coaster, but I have control over
03:27it.
03:28The highest I've jumped is probably about 50 feet in the air.
03:36I mean, the adrenaline rush is absolutely insane.
03:39Going 30, 40 feet in the air, you feel like you're flying, and sometimes there's a moment
03:44of hang time when you're up there, where you just lose your breath a little bit, and you're
03:51not sure exactly when you're going to land, but you're still planning for when you do.
03:56It's pretty incredible.
03:58Ready to go, Dad?
04:00Ready to have some fun?
04:02Yes.
04:03All righty.
04:04I love you.
04:05Love you, too.
04:06All righty.
04:07Good to go.
04:08I probably competed in over 300 competitions.
04:26I've won multiple competitions, from freestyle to racing to donut competitions and wheelie
04:33contests.
04:44I'm studying mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech with a minor in industrial design, and
04:49right now I'm going into my fourth year.
04:51I try to keep Monster Trucks and school pretty separate.
04:53Right now, I'm with the build of our new truck.
04:56We're working on the chassis, so getting all the tubes bent and fitted before we weld it
05:00up to start putting the rest of the truck together.
05:03It's a lot of fun.
05:05To be able to share something, a passion, that you have together makes it just so much
05:10more fun and exciting.
05:12Monster Trucks is the only platform, really, where girls and boys compete on an even playing
05:18field.
05:19There's no girls' Monster Trucks, boys' Monster Trucks.
05:21We're all out there competing against each other together.
05:24I'm doing something I love to do out here, and I like to say I put my best into everything.
05:29I think Rosalie should win tonight in the wild!
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