Jamie Sullivan is proving that women belong in monster trucks with Sparkle Smash: ‘It’s about girl power’

Before each Monster Jam show, Jamie Sullivan puts on her pink cowgirl hat and her sparkly black flares for the Pit Party — an event where fans can meet the drivers and see the massive trucks up close and in person.

Her bright pink-and-purple Unicorn-themed truck with its rainbow mane, known as Sparkle Smash, has become a fan-favorite on the monster truck circuit. It started out as a popular toy in 2019, before eventually making it’s Monster Jam debut in 2024.

Sullivan and Sparkle Smash have continued to pave the way for female representation in motorsports. During each Pit Party, young girls dress up in similar outfits, give her special drawings, and share friendship bracelets they’ve made.

But some of the most wholesome interactions for Sullivan have been with their fathers.

“I get so many dads coming through my Pit Party line being like, ‘Hey, thank you for giving us a chance to be able to take the whole family to Monster Jam,’” Sullivan, a 25-year-old Florida native, said. ”It’s really cool to see that it’s shaping into being not just a male-dominated field. Now, there’s more women getting involved.

“Sometimes you just got to sit down and pinch yourself. Just know you’re living your dream and you’re proving that these little girls can do it as well. I see little girls coming through my lines every week wearing the same outfit as me. It’s amazing to be able to inspire them to do it too. Being that person that others can look up to, it’s really surreal.”

Monster Jam returns to Philadelphia this weekend for its annual stop at Lincoln Financial Field (Saturday, 1 p.m.). But for Sullivan — and Sparkle Smash — it will be a Linc debut.

Sullivan’s motorsports career started with racing go-karts at just 9 years old. Eventually, she moved up to oval-track racing, and to professional asphalt truck racing. It wasn’t until 2019, when she attended the University of Northwestern Ohio, that she was introduced to monster trucks.

As part of the school’s partnership with Monster Jam, she learned how to work on monster trucks and race cars, earning her degree in automotive high performance motorsports in 2022. During her time in school, she was part of the school’s motorsports team, competing in school-owned race cars, and was a crew member of Razin Kane Monster Trucks (2020-2022). She also learned that all cars — or trucks — are not created the same.

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“It was fun to be part of that and get hands-on experience,” Sullivan said. “It definitely helped pave the way to Monster Jam. But, it is quite different driving a race car compared to a monster truck. here’s some things that can kind of piece together that are the same. But, all four wheels on a Monster Jam truck turn. So, we actually have to control our front wheels with a regular steering wheel with our left hand. And then on the right side, we have a toggle switch and we have to turn either left or right to turn the rear tires. So, it’s very complicated, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Sullivan auditioned for Monster Jam in 2022 before attending Monster Jam University, a training facility in Paxton, Ill., where drivers learn how to operate the 12,000-pound trucks, training on truck simulators and learning new tricks, as well as going through media training.

“We had to go through media interviews and that was actually one of the toughest things for me,” Sullivan said. “I can drive. I can go out there and wheel something, but when it comes to talking to people, I was not there. Then we did the simulator and I kind of blew everyone else out of the water because I had driven in a monster trick before. Then we were sent home wondering if we were going to the next level.”

And after going back for more media training, Sullivan was ready to start her Monster Jam career.

“I just tried to teach myself how to do the moonwalks, the reverse poppers, whatever I could do,” Sullivan said. “And you know, I started doing that my first year. After that, I did go back to MJU for a week to get some more training. I’m super competitive and I want to go out there and prove that girls can do it too.”

Sullivan made her Monster Jam debut in January 2023. For her first two years, she drove Monster Mutt Dalmatian, which was formerly driven by another female driver — and Sullivan’s idol — Cynthia Gauthier, who has been with Monster Jam since 2015.

“I looked up to her when I was a kid and trying to get into it,” Sullivan said. “We’ve driven like three trucks that are similar, which is cool. But it was definitely a fun truck. The kids loved it, but I think this unicorn, Sparkle Smash, has really thrown that one out the window because these kids, especially little girls, love this truck.”

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When it comes to who drives each truck, Monster Jam takes each driver’s personality into consideration. And the match with Sullivan has been perfect, as her truck has joined the likes of Grave Digger, Monster Jam’s most iconic name, as one of the tour’s biggest draws.

“With Sparkle Smash, it’s about girl power,” Sullivan said. “We’re trying to get women involved and so now we actually have five Sparkle Smash [trucks] on tour, which is incredible. It’s just like Grave Digger. We had one Grave Digger on every single tour. Now, it’s become Sparkle Smash as well.

“So, it’s really cool to see that the girls are shaping the sport as well.”