Janey Lee and Kylie Walton will go from Monster Energy Girls to desert racers when they enter this weekend’s NORRA 500. They will race a Can-Am Maverick R in the Evolution Production Turbo UTV category.
Monster Energy Girls serve as promotional representatives for the energy drink, meaning they are present at virtually every sporting event sponsored by Monster in a capacity similar to race queens. Their responsibilities typically have them working a variety of roles, though there is some specialisation based on their interests. For example, Lee is primarily assigned to Professional Fighters League matches as an octagon girl while Walton does so for motocross and Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship races, though there is overlap.
Lee’s first exposure to off-road racing came when she appeared in RECOIL, a video series by Monster Energy-sponsored truck racer BJ Baldwin. Since then, she has become an ambassador for Can-Am who assisted in promoting the Maverick R’s launch in 2023. Her husband Eric Lee has competed in races like the Mint 400, and will be an additional driver for Lee and Walton.
She revealed her interest in NORRA on an episode of the High Octane Hustle podcast in April, calling it “a great intro for me. It’s very much my style also.” Much of this stems from its fairly relaxed atmosphere compared to other desert races; its sister event Mexican 1000 is dubbed the “The Happiest Race on Earth” for the same reason.
“[Kylie] and I started as Monster Energy Girls in 2015 and she’s been next to me since the first time I took a ride in a SXS,” wrote Lee. “We’ve spent years starting racers off. Come Saturday, we take off the line together in Baja!”
Their Maverick R was prepared by Rodrigo Ampudia, a Can-Am UTV driver in SCORE International.
The NORRA 500 begins with UTV qualifying on Friday, followed by racing on Saturday and Sunday from Santo Tomás to Ensenada.
