Women of Off-Road Racing Cont.

Nicole Johnson (Monster Jam, ULTRA4, W.E. Rock)
Now a prominent competitor in Monster Jam, Nicole Johnson got her start in competitive off-road driving by racing in UROC, W.E. Rock and the ProRock Women’s National Championship competitions in 2004. Today, she sits 12 feet up atop 10,000 pounds of monster truck packing 1,500 horses.

During her beginnings in 2004, she stamped her name on the off-roading sport with a 2nd place finish in the UROC series event #3 in Cedar City, UT and then won first place in the ProRock Women’s National Championships. In 2008 she became the first woman to ever complete the King of the Hammers race and in 2010 was named “Fastest Queen” when she was the first female finisher of the race.

Johnson began competing in Monster Jam in 2011 and has been awarded the “Rising Star Driver” and “Crash Madness of the Year” awards. In 2014 she became the second woman in Monster Jam history to land a backflip in a Monster Jam truck. She’s a fierce competitor, unafraid of being simultaneously feminine and powerful, and is a woman who could teach us all a thing or two about confidence, passion and success.

Makinzie Alavazo (Ultra4)
Seventeen-year-old Makinzie Alavazo has been off-roading since she was two when she began riding quads. She’s been around competitive rock crawling since she was eight years old and began competing in races herself two years ago, earning a first-place victory in her very first race.

Since that first win, Alavazo has continued to crawl competitively in the CalRoc/TEAM series and NorCal rock races and, in 2014, started racing ULTRA4 in the MetalCloak Stampede. She was immediately hooked and has since worked relentlessly to make herself a better competitor. That effort paid off this year when she qualified for and competed in the 2015 King of the Hammers competition in her Formula Toy 22re.

Alavazo hopes to break into the intensely competitive ULTRA4 4400 class soon and is determined to excel. Her bold tenacity and grit are inspiring both on the course and in her day-to-day life, as she not only competes but also works on her own rig after learning to weld when she made the decision to compete. The same determination that helped her reach her dreams of being a competitive off-road driver also helped her graduate from high school a year early and begin attending college at just 16.

This woman is absolutely, through and through, an exceptional role model for young people everywhere and living proof that hard work and resolve pay off. This year, she will be competing in the entire 2015 ULTRA4 series in the 4500 class as well as the NorCal Rock Races and the CalRoc/TEAM Series rock crawling competitions.

The Future Women of Off-Road
The next generation of female off-road competitors are already proving themselves out on the track in the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing Series Kart classes. To be a player in this sport, these highly competitive young women need to have a serious appetite for adrenaline on top of being confident, daring and unafraid to get down in the dirt.

“It’s something that I crave, the butterflies that go and go and go,” says Modified Kart competitor Brooke Kawell. She was the first girl to come up into the mod class and her mother Stefanie says it’s made her a target from the start.

“The other parents would tell their kids, ‘Oh, you better beat her, you better not let her take that place,’” she says.

That has far from deterred Brooke from racing. “You do get treated a little differently,” she says. “We drive different than the men. We do things a little different. To be in this kind of sport, you need to see yourself a little differently … but the feeling is great. I’ll have little ones come up to me and say, ‘you’re the one I want to be.’ You don’t see a lot of women in motorsports and I’m lucky to be one of them.”

The other side of the coin is that many sponsors are thrilled to support the only female competitor in the class because right now, it’s novelty. Brooke is right: there aren’t many female competitors at the moment, especially in the Pro classes. However, when it’s all said and done competitive off-road racing is about being the best no matter your gender.

As Charlene Bower put it, “You have to earn your place in this sport.” Like in any other competition, you have to put yourself on the map by working hard and showing everyone that you’re a name to beat. Once you’ve done that, it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman.

Right now the Kart class competitors Brooke Kawell, Hailie Deegan, Isabella Naughton, Trisha Wright, Allyssa Fortin, Mia Chapman, Kamrin Dickerson, Kali Kinsman, Raygen Wilkins and Rylie Pierce are well on their way to making a name for themselves.

“Go after your dreams,” Brooke says. “Don’t hold back anything, don’t give in and don’t give up. There are going to be moments that will be hard … keep your head high and just go forward.”

Rachel Bowes is copywriter with 4 Wheel Parts, global retailer of truck and Jeep parts and accessories. Check out more of her work by following her on Google Plus.