- NICOLE JOHNSON MONSTER TRUCK DRIVER DRIVER
- NICOLE JOHNSON MONSTER TRUCK DRIVER PLUS
- NICOLE JOHNSON MONSTER TRUCK DRIVER PROFESSIONAL
NICOLE JOHNSON MONSTER TRUCK DRIVER PLUS
Plus I was going to earn respect by working hard and being just one of the guys.” I wanted to set a good example as a member of the Church. “We were always going to be on time, and our clothes and vehicles would be clean whenever we showed up to crawl. “From the beginning, we decided our approach was going to be wholesome and family oriented,” Johnson says. They acquired a top-of-the-line, custom-built rock crawler and jumped into the sport-Nicole as driver, Frank as her spotter, providing another pair of eyes to help her navigate tricky spots.
Her first-place win fueled the family’s passion for off-road competition. In 2004 Nicole took the wheel when asked to drive a friend’s vehicle at a women’s rock crawling competition. Initially it was Frank who competed, and Nicole cheered from the sidelines when their children were young. She recalls, “I was the first girl, besides Frank’s mom, who ever got to drive his Cruiser.”Īlthough her parents predicted she would not graduate because of her early marriage, a determined Nicole returned to BYU and finished her degree in construction management while Frank attended Utah Valley State College.Īs a young family they often spent weekends camping and four-wheeling together, and their interests eventually expanded to competition rock crawling, a motor sport in which contenders maneuver four-wheel-drive vehicles over harsh terrain, such as boulders, steep inclines, and vertical drop-offs. Johnson liked Frank’s big, curly hair and his four-wheel drive ’72 Toyota Land Cruiser, which her stepdad dubbed the “Japanese Thunder Chicken” for its roaring Chevy-motor conversion. She returned home to Ventura, Calif., and married Frank Johnson, her friend’s returned-missionary brother. “Like my dad, I have an analytical mind, and it was cool to explore what he did.”Īs a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the only Church member in her family, she attended BYU and was engaged by 19-but not to a BYU boy. “I was around motors, gears, and smelly oil all the time,” she says. Johnson grew up under the hood of a car, spending weekends and summers with a diesel-mechanic dad. It took out the transmission, of course, but hey, the fans loved it, and we had a good time.” “I was planning to either roll or blow up, and so the tranny cooler blew into a million pieces. “I was going to just burn it down with that doughnut,” she laughs. She cheerfully describes the huge explosion fans saw as she spun multiple doughnuts at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas. She finished her second season by racing at the first-ever Young Guns Shootout at the Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam World Finals XIII in March 2012. “With all the color and action, it’s as if I’m in a cartoon.” To earn points she crushes smaller vehicles beneath her truck’s huge tires, drives up and over barriers at high speeds, catches serious air, and performs tricks, pushing her truck beyond its limits-all to the delight of cheering crowds.Īfter winning the most victories ever by a rookie, Johnson switched trucks, from the Tasmanian Devil to the Advance Auto Parts Grinder. A closer inspection of the truck’s pointed ears, hefty ebony nose, and razor-sharp teeth reveals details in the paint, including hair and whisker dimples.įor safety she straps into a custom-fit aluminum seat with immovable neck and head restraints, but Johnson retains enough control over the 1,475-horsepower motor to hurl the monster truck up and over other vehicles.
The Las Vegas mother of two boys drives a custom-built monster truck, a cherry-red behemoth called Tasmanian Devil, which weighs in at 10,000 pounds and whose 66-inch tires equal her 5-foot-6 height. With her signature mane of dark hair and her commanding confidence-and armed in a helmet and fire-protective suit-she resembles a warrior princess preparing to conquer a world few women dare to venture.
Nicole Jardin Johnson (BS ’96) gleefully climbs into an 11-foot-high beast and prepares for battle.
NICOLE JOHNSON MONSTER TRUCK DRIVER PROFESSIONAL
A professional rock crawler (below) before climbing into a monster truck, she frequently went vertical to conquer tough terrain.
NICOLE JOHNSON MONSTER TRUCK DRIVER DRIVER
Monster truck driver Nicole Johnson is fearless.
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