Girl power

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Monster truck driver Becky McDonough proves big toys not just for boys.

Back in 2003, when Becky McDonough learned that one of her friends had a spare ticket to a Monster Jam event in Minneapolis the ninth-grader thought it would be fun to see the big trucks jump over a few cars. By the end of the show she was jumping at the thought of doing that as a career.

"When we were walking out of the dome I told my friends that one day I'd drive a monster truck and they just laughed at me," McDonough says.

It turns out she had the last laugh.

This weekend at the MTS Centre, McDonough, now 23, will pilot Dragon's Breath, one of the newest trucks on the Monster Jam circuit.

Following high school, the Brainerd, Minn., native attended the Wyo Tech automotive technology college in Sacramento, Calif., where she studied high performance engines and chassis fabrication. Upon graduation from the renowned gearhead college she joined the pit crew of a monster truck owned by freestyle motocross legend Travis Pastrana. Although she thoroughly enjoyed working on the truck, McDonough continued to pursue her dream of being a driver and finally got the chance to get behind the wheel last April in Costa Rica.

"It's been an amazing experience, I really enjoy the travel and the opportunity to meet so many nice people," says McDonough, who has travelled extensively throughout both North and South America.

This weekend, McDonough will compete against trucks with equally sinister names, including Grave Digger, Bounty Hunter, Iron Outlaw, Shock Therapy and Excaliber. Although each truck has a different body and a unique identity they are all approximately 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide, weigh a minimum of 10,000 pounds and roll on massive 66-inch-tall tires.

The trucks are custom built for short, high-powered bursts of speed and generate 1,500 to 2,000 horsepower. When they launch off the dirt ramps that cover the arena's ice surface the big rigs can fly as high as 35 feet over as many as 14 cars lined up side by side.

The Dragon's Breath monster truck McDonough competes in is actually a car, or at least the body is. The massive machine features a 1953 Chevrolet Corvette body on top of a powerful machine that is valued at more than $250,000.

"It's an absolute thrill to fly through the air in this beast and I'm really looking forward to driving in Winnipeg for the first time," says McDonough, who has been here in the past but only as a pit crew member.

When asked how the male drivers feel about her competing against them, McDonough offered that there are now a handful of female drivers on the circuit and that nowadays it's open season regardless of your gender or age.

"When I first started driving I heard that the guys were placing bets on how long I would last, but once they realized I could do it they accepted me and treat me like any other driver," she says.

In addition to the monster truck action this weekend, spectators will also be treated to quad races and a quad freestyle exhibition. As an added bonus Death Defying Steve DiRenzo will light himself on fire and freefall from the rafters of the MTS Centre.

willy@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 12, 2011 G8