Ashley Sanford is racing through life, achieving her full-throttle dreams behind the wheels of dragsters and monster trucks.
The fun-loving, 30-year-old native of Fullerton, Calif., is one of the competitors in Monster Jam, which returns to the Vibrant Arena at The MARK on Saturday, May 4 for two shows.
Sanford tames the mighty Megalodon truck. Of her shark-themed behemoth, she said Wednesday morning: “I know for me, Megalodon is just such a beautiful fit. I am a beach girl. I’m a southern California girl. I grew up just being absolutely entranced by sharks. We celebrate Shark Week in my house; blue is my favorite color, the list just goes on.”
Her favorite Megalodon maneuvers are getting on the truck’s back wheels and pointing up, jumping in the air, and turning over while airborne.
“I love doing sky wheelies, something about getting the shark, like breaching the water,” Sanford said. “I think it looks good for that reason and it’s really fun to do.”
She was also honored last year as Monster Jam’s Rookie of the Year.
“I pulled that off last year, my very first year competing,” Sanford said. “I had a handful of other rookies I was up against who all really brought it. So for me personally winning, it was a huge achievement because I was up against some really incredible drivers and I knew it wasn’t gonna be easy to claim the win over them.
“So it just really shows the blood, sweat and tears were worth it and getting that award showed that year, I’m doing all right, kid,” she said.
Though the majority of Monster Jam drivers are male, Sanford loves to see the progress of women in the field.
“It’s exciting to see that it is growing and we welcome all the ladies who are interested,” she said.
Sanford is especially proud to have succeeded as a woman in the male-dominated fields of drag racing and monster trucks.
“It is such an honor. I grew up with my dad competing and watching men compete, but I also grew up not feeling any different and being told I wasn’t any different for being a female in a male-dominated world,” she said. “I was always encouraged to just chase my dreams and these goals I had and so getting into this world and really see I am the minority here.
“I have always been one to embrace it. And it is exciting too. We have so many little girls coming out to Monster Jam shows now that they can look up and see girls can do anything.”
Her father was always supportive when she grew up drag racing.
“He saw the drive inside of me. He saw the fire in my eyes and, I mean, it spoke for itself,” she said. “And so he was always encouraging.”
Thrill of 300+ mph
Sanford used to compete in Top Fuel Dragsters, and the fastest she’s raced is 323 miles an hour.
She was eight years old when she tried her first dragster. At 18, Sanford was competing as a Top Fuel Dragster, and by the time she was 25, she was competing in Australia and all over the U.S., “just an absolute dream come true,” she said.
Sanford got hooked on really high speeds, because “I’ve got screws loose, once again for me, that was an exciting opportunity and something I was called to that just felt so right. And it was, it was a great opportunity I had and learned a ton and definitely one of the coolest race cars I’ll ever get to compete in.”
“I’ve always been a fan, going to Anaheim stadium, my home track, to watch some of the best growing up,” she said of Monster Jam. “I reached out to former Monster Jam driver Becca McDonough a few years back and asked how she got started because I just knew I needed to find a way behind the wheel. She led me in the right direction to fill out an application that got me on a call with Keith Speller. I tried out right before the pandemic.”
“I was fan of all females who competed in the male-dominated motorsports industry,” Sanford said. “And so I had started following her for years and years and was a fan of her clothing company and reached out to her and she was the person who helped me point me in the right direction to be a Monster Jam driver.”
“Dreams do come true as long as you don’t give up on them,” she said.
Going to Monster Jam University
Sanford first tried out for Monster Jam in December 2019, shortly before the world shut down due to COVID in March 2020.
“The tryouts are intense and I mean, it’s a blast,” she recalled. “Your very first audition, you actually go out and you do just mock interviews and this is just really a personality interview more than anything…
“Then you get to go do the fun stuff, you get to go do the driving style interview, it’s just getting behind the wheel and seeing if you’re comfortable and confident in a monster truck,” Sanford said. “Going over the basics and we do a two-foot jump, that feels like it’s 20 feet because you have never been in a monster truck before.”
“It’s so cool and exciting. And if you’re lucky enough after that, then you get to go to Monster Jam University.”
“It was more fun than intimidating. I’ve always just been in awe of any kind of race vehicle,” she said. “That’s just the way I’m wired. So for me, it was just kind of getting in that seat was just one of those, this is meant to be like, let’s go see what we can do.”
The Monster Jam University training program is for a few weeks.
“It is a very fun but intense. Once again, a training program where you really get to know everything about these Monster Jam trucks and getting to know them inside and out and really pushing the confidence of how you are behind the wheel and going over, you’re a Monster Jam driver. What’s the whole event look like for you? You have to drive a whole show. We do run-throughs and run-throughs.”
Monster Jam University (powered by University of Northwestern Ohio) is a dirt field in Paxton, Ill. (a half hour north of Champaign) has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of Monster Jam. Under the watchful eye of “The Professor,” 12-time World Champion Tom Meents, athletes hone their skills and abilities in hopes of following along in the footsteps of those who have built Monster Jam into the pinnacle of competition excellence.
Starting there with Meents (on his property), “that was my first weekend that I really felt all the excitement and anxious nerves building up but at the same time, we are lucky as new drivers,” Sanford recalled. “I had Tom and at my very first event and he very much held my hand to get through it and I’d say looking back now, the rest of history because I am just having too much fun on my own now.”
Doing what she loves
She turned 30 this past January, while on tour.
“So I got to ring in my birthday doing what I love and it was pretty epic, because on my 29th birthday I got my very first event overall win,” Sanford said Wednesday. “So it was a really epic birthday weekend.”
Before the 1 p.m. Moline event on May 4 is a Pit Party, 10:30 a.m. to noon, where you can see the massive trucks up close, meet your favorite drivers and crews, get autographs and take pictures. This fun-filled experience is the only place to get an insider’s look at how these 12,000-pound trucks are built to stand up to the competition.
There is also a 7 p.m. show, and tickets for Monster Jam are $22 and $27 (Pit Party passes are $20 each), available HERE.
