Monster Jam Comes to Bridgeport CT, and Elvis Was King
by Warren Rosenberg, MetroSports Magazine November 14, 2022
Monster Jam made a 3-day stop at the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on the weekend of November 11-13, in front of sold-out crowds for each of its’ five shows.
The event opened on Friday afternoon, November 11th, for an ear-splitting, dirt-throwing extravaganza of monster trucks and motocross motorcycles. In the afternoon’s ‘BTK Tires Free Style Competition’, ‘Donut Competition’, ‘Great Clips Skills Challenge’, and ‘Timed Racing’, the monster truck Grave Digger driven by Krysten Anderson came away as the overall event winner by total points.
Above (left) Krysten Anderson (photo courtesy of Monster Jam) and, (right) Gave Digger (photo credit Warren Rosenberg)
Winning individual events were monster trucks Miss Get Er Done, Rammunition, and El Toro Loco. In each of the events, Krysten's Grave Digger finished second, running up her points total to capture the event.
Krysten Anderson, has put women on the map – and the winner’s podium – in the Monster Jam truck series as the first female to drive Grave Digger, the first female to be point series champion, and the world record holder of the high jump in the Monster Truck series. This young lady, born into a Monster Truck family, states that she is “blonde to bone and runnin’ on methanol”.
As she notes on her social media site, “Not many people can say they made history not once, but twice. I’m going to the Monster Jam World Finals as the FIRST female to drive Grave Digger and the FIRST female Point Series Champion in history!!! All the blood, sweat, and tears of the closest points battle ever.. led to this moment. I couldn’t be more grateful to share this accomplishment with my team. Kenn, Harley, & Lauren. Or be more honored to have battled with the biggest pain in my neck, a class act driver, and my good friend Tony Ochs”, a U.S. Army veteran and driver of the ‘Soldier Fortune Black Ops’ Monster Truck which wasn’t in this weekend’s competition.
As the weekend continued with a second event on Friday evening, and both an afternoon and evening event on Saturday and finishing up with a final event on Sunday afternoon, it became clear that “Elvis was in the house”. Claiming the points championship in each of those events was the Monster Truck ‘El Toro Loco’ driven by Elvis Lainez.
In addressing the crowd after his first win on Saturday afternoon Elvis encouraged them to “never give up and always persevere no matter the circumstance. It doesn’t matter what you want to be in life, as long as you have an immense passion for it, you’ll get there”. He directed this message to the young fans who were there in large number and it was a message he has lived himself.
In speaking with MetroSports Magazine after the event, Elvis went on to tell us some of his personal story. “I was someone who went from a fan in the stands to wanting to be around these trucks because I wanted to pursue a career with them. I messaged a driver at the time, Morgan Kane, on Facebook just asking if I could get an opportunity to help him and his team out and he did. After that instance, me and a few friends traveled all over the country, on our own dime, following these events and helping out trying to get our name out there. Fast forward a few years, and all of my friends and myself now have a career within Monster Jam.” And, Elvis, based on this past weekend’s performance, it seems that your career with Monster Jam is flourishing.
Full results of the Monster Jam and Bridgeport's Total Mortgage Arena can be seen at:
Comentários