When Monster Jam went snooping around to find a driver for its new Scooby-Doo truck, the mystery was solved pretty quickly when Nicole Johnson was revealed as the person behind the wheel. And with an impressive debut last weekend in Houston, Johnson is ready to show the Georgia Dome what she and Scooby are capable of when Monster Jam returns to Atlanta Jan. 11. Having previously driven another animated pop cultural icon (Tasmanian Devil), as well as spending some time behind the wheel of Advance Auto Parts Grinder, Johnson and her cartoon canine are looking for more than just some Scooby Snacks in one of the season’s most crucial events. As she prepares for this challenge, Johnson talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about her career, her trucks and the possibility of following a mud-strewn yellow brick road with the monster truck of her dreams.
You’re the driver of the new Scooby-Doo truck, but you previously drove a truck based on another animated pop cultural icon, Tasmanian Devil. Do you just have a thing for wacky cartoon character trucks?
I started driving the Tasmanian Devil in 2011 and part of 2012. Then I drove Advance Auto Parts Grinder for about half the season in 2012, filling in for an injured driver. That was great because at the time Advance Auto Parts was our title sponsor and it was a really fun truck with a pretty high profile. At the beginning of last year we introduced Scooby-Doo. This will be Scooby’s second year, but the first time the truck or I have been to Atlanta to compete at the Dome.
How did you end up behind the wheel of Scooby-Doo? Was that something you were you asked to do or did you want to do it?
It’s a partnership with Warner Bros., it’s their officially licensed Scooby-Doo truck. Through Monster Jam I was asked to drive that truck and it’s been a really fun experience so far because I find that adults and kids all know Scooby-Doo and we all grew up watching Scooby-Doo. It’s still relevant because they’ve got new shows on now, which I didn’t realize before. I thought it was just from the ’70s. I thought, “Do kids even know who Scooby-Doo is?” Oh, yeah! They totally do. It’s pretty popular.
The Monster Jam season began last weekend, and you did fairly well in your first event of the season. What are your goals for Atlanta?
Last Saturday we were in Houston. I live in Las Vegas and I’m lucky enough to get to fly home for the shows. My crew will be on the road for three months with the trucks. It was fun [in Houston]. My goal was to not destroy the truck. Fans probably want to see the truck destroyed every single time. But it was my first weekend back after not being behind the wheel since July and zero practice or seat time. So my whole goal was to hold it together. I didn’t break anything and I didn’t roll, which makes my crew very happy because they have to do a lot less to prepare for Atlanta and keep it entertaining.
You come from a four-wheeling background prior to driving a monster truck. What was the transition like for you, especially considering that the only practice you get driving a monster truck is during actual Monster Jam competitions?
My background is rock crawling competitions and extreme four-wheel drive vehicles. I’ve also done some off-road racing, so I’m used to being in the dirt and on rocks and gnarly terrain where sometimes you’re completely vertical and can only see sky or you’re doing a completely vertical drop-off where you’re side-hilling. In rock crawling competitions it’s about finesse. It’s not necessarily about how fast you get through the course, it’s about getting trough the obstacle course without hitting a cone. Sometimes we’d be down on time and my husband is my spotter and I’d look at him and say, “Move out of my way. I’m going to monster truck it!” Then I would just jump off the rocks because I had no other choice. There was no finesse. I think it was a great background for moving into Monster Jam trucks because you’re often not completely on stable ground. In monster trucks you’re either jumping up in the air or you’re on two wheels and I learned a long time ago how to save it on two wheels in my rock crawler. So it seems like a really seamless transition, truthfully. There’s just a lot more height involved, but the components are very similar. I feel like it’s one of the more natural backgrounds to have come from as opposed to something where you’ve never left the ground and you’ve never been sideways.
Part of the reason you got into Monster Jam was simply that they were looking for more female drivers. There has been a bit of an influx of female monster truck drivers in recent years. Why do you think Monster Jam is looking for female drivers and why are more women becoming interested in it?
I think there’s probably a stereotype out there that women can’t drive. This is a pretty male-dominated sport, motorsports in general are male dominated. You can see what kind of attention Danica Patrick has gotten in NASCAR and Indy, and I think fans like to see something different and want to root for the underdog. Women and girls can relate in that I’m showing them you can do anything you want to do, regardless of whether or not there’s a gender stereotype in that profession.
When I met the folks at Monster Jam and heard they were looking for females, I hadn’t really paid much attention to it before. I had never been to a show and I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. About two weeks after meeting the folks at Monster Jam, I was test driving Grave Digger in North Carolina and after two days of driving they offered me the job. Six weeks later was my very first show. It was funny because after they offered me the job I was like, “What does that mean?” They said, “Well, you go on tour every single weekend and we start in six weeks.” Then I said, “OK. When will I get to practice again?” They go, “Oh, you won’t. Your first show will be the next time you drive.” I’m just glad to have been able to fill the position. You’re right, there are a lot of women coming in lately. You’re going to see more and more and I think the goal is if we can get a female at every show, there’s that representation across the board every weekend.
During your time in Monster Jam, have you developed rivalries with particular drivers or do rivalries emerge based on the trucks you drive?
No, not really. I think everybody takes a big team approach. Even though we’re out there racing against each other and trying to get the best freestyle scores, there really is a huge camaraderie among all of the drivers and crew. We are collectively focused on trying to make sure the show is fun for everybody and that everybody leaves there having had a good time. I don’t have any rivalries. I’m actually touring with Dennis Anderson this year. My truck and his truck share a crew, so we’re going to be at all the same shows together. For me, this is probably the biggest opportunity to learn. So I’m not looking at it as, “I’m going to go out there and crush the competition,” although that sounds really cool to say. I’m really going into it thinking, “I want to absorb as much as I can from Dennis. I want to learn.” He’s got 32 or 33 years of experience doing this. This’ll be my fourth season, so I’m definitely still feeling like a rookie compared to a lot of these guys.
I heard that your favorite movie is The Wizard of Oz. Has there ever been talk of having Wizard of Oz-themed monster trucks in Monster Jam? If so, I’m guessing you’d be happy to drive one of them.
I would be that Wicked Witch in a heartbeat! Man, I’ve never even thought of there being a Wizard of Oz Monster Jam truck. But I would be all over that. I would be a huge nerd. I can recite every line from the movie. We were doing the Path of Destruction tour over the summer and we were in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which is right across from New York City, and I had a chance to go into the city and see Wicked on Broadway and that was a huge treat. Yep, I am a nerd. I love it.
So you’d want to drive the Wicked Witch truck, if there was one?
Oh, I would be Glinda, I would be the Wicked Witch, I’d be a Munchkin, I’d be the Cowardly Lion, I’d be anything.
After your stop in Atlanta this weekend, where are you competing next?
After Atlanta, Dennis and I are going to Tampa, then Orlando, then back to Tampa. So I get to spend three winter weekends in a row in Florida, which isn’t too shabby. After Tampa we head out west for Anaheim. I’m from Southern California, so I’m excited for that show because I’ll have lots of family and friends there.