MEET the youngest female monster truck driver in America who started racing when she was a teenager. Rosalee has been driving monster trucks professionally since she was just 14. She is known as the youngest professional female monster truck driver in the United States. Rosalee’s truck, Wild Flower, is a 1932 Ford Coupe monster truck with 66 inch tall tyres, weighing approximately 600-800lbs each, boasting 15-16 horsepower and decorated with pink roses.
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MotorTranscript
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]