THE PHREED FAMILY
Kid: FAITH PHREED, 13 Years old
Parent: SHANE
NORTH FORT MEYERS, FL
Shane Phreed has been in the Monster Truck business for over 25 years as a professional driver both independently and for Monster Jam. He has driven over 60 different Monster Trucks, traveled to over 17 countries and has even won a few championships along the way. He’s even dabbled in WWE wrestling on the bed of a monster truck! Now, on the verge of retirement, Shane is hoping to carry on his legacy and career through his daughter Faith.
Since the day she was born, Faith has been right alongside her father. Her earliest memories were driving trucks, sitting on her dad’s lap helping him steer the over-sized rig. Faith has been taught by the best and has been trained in the mini as well as the full-size monster truck. Shane has his own HVAC business and has been driving trucks for over two decades. He’s tried several times to retire, but he’s always been sucked back in. Now that his daughter is in her teen years, he’s finally ready to retire from the sport.
With retirement on the horizon, Shane is grooming his daughter to take over the reins of his career. They hope to get her in his full size monster truck by this upcoming summer to perform in front of a live audience. His plan is to take her on the road, showing her the ropes of his career, before she begins her career. Naturally, he’ll be her coach and guide for years to come, but this is his last year driving professionally.
Shane hopes in the next six months they get Faith comfortable again behind the wheel and help her through the safety mechanics of driving such a powerful truck. While Shane’s ex-wife has many concerns about Faith being behind the wheel, Shane says Faith is a natural and is ready for the next step. Faith is homeschooled to allow her enough time to prepare for her first show this coming summer.
As next summer quickly approaches, Shane and Faith are also going to have to navigate the many challenges that come their way. One primarily being Shane’s temper when Faith misses her mark. He has to remind himself that she is still a kid and has a lot to learn. He also has to remind himself to be sensitive to his daughter, and be a good role-model to her in such a male-dominated field. He’ll have to act as both father and mother much of the time, to give his daughter a balanced upbringing.
The next few months for Shane and Faith will definitely be filled with many highs and lows as they start their transition. While Shane has extremely high expectations of Faith, he wants more than anything for her to just give it her all and see what happens. Nothing would make him more proud than being able to cheer her on as her biggest fan in the crowd and Faith says she is “so ready” for that challenge.