This Week in Monster Truck Racing - April 24-26, 2026

=== This Week in Monster Truck Racing ===

* Armando Castro dominates in Huntsville

** John Gordon wins big in Glendale

*** Kory Kinal gains 10 spots with win in Kansas City

CURRENT STANDINGS and WEEKEND RESULTS (PDF): https://tinyurl.com/mtroc260429

BLOG POST RECAP: https://www.mtroc.com/blog

===== WEEKEND RECAP FOR APRIL 24^th – 26^th, 2026 =====

Armando Castro has won 6 consecutive Arena West racing brackets and 11 of the last 14! That insane run has him up to 13^th now and within 330 points of his career best.

Reigning Open Champion Coty Saucier was the biggest points earner in Greenville where he split the weekend with the usual rivals in Triton Robbins and Jon Zimmer Jr. Saucier has moved closer to the top spot following Tyler Menninga’s early exit in Glendale.

John Gordon was the winner in Glendale and posted 3 of the 4 fastest laps of the night as he dominated the field on a finesse track. Gordon was in his 4^th Stadium final and grabbed his 2^nd win. Dalton Widner was in his 2^nd Stadium final, but has been runner-up both times.

Up in Ontario, the All Out Tour welcomed the T-Rex truck to their tour, but Canada’s own Bucking Bronco driving by Kevin Lubsen took both of the wins.

Kory Kinal was our biggest improver of the weekend as his 2 final rounds in Kansas City has him up 10 spots in the rankings.

Thank you to everyone who has helped us with reporting events this week: Mark Werner, Kory Kinal, Stanley Hernandez, John Brown, Colton Fowler, Sean Green, Dillon Fenley and everyone who posted videos and photos online!

See the bottom of this post for links to YouTube coverage from this weekend.

===== CURRENT STANDINGS =====

RANK : DRIVER : PTS/AVG : SCORE : RACES/WINS

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1 ) Tyler Menninga - 7229/301.21 : 6+1=7 : 24/11

2 ) Coty Saucier - 8826/210.14 : 3+5=8 : 42/17

3 ) Jon Zimmer Jr - 9958/191.5 : 2+8=10 : 52/20

4 ) Ryan Anderson - 5036/218.96 : 13+4=17 : 23/4

5 ) Blake Granger - 11411/158.49 : 1+16=17 : 72/23

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6 ) David Olfert - 4521/237.95 : 17+2=19 : 19/13

7 ) Weston Anderson - 5768/180.25 : 9+11=20 : 32/14

8 ) Bill Payne - 6047/177.85 : 8+12=20 : 34/16

9 ) Zack Garner - 4796/208.52 : 15+6=21 : 23/2

10) Adam Anderson - 5309/183.07 : 11+10=21 : 29/7

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11) Camden Murphy - 4738/206.00 : 16+7=23 : 23/8

12) Colt Stephens - 4953/183.44 : 14+9=23 : 27/6

13) Armando Castro - 8385/142.12 : 5+19=24 : 59/16

14) Alex Bardin - 8624/136.89 : 4+20=24 : 63/13

15) Donald Epidendio - 3905/229.71 : 25+3=28 : 17/11

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16) Tristan England - 4435/177.4 : 19+13=32 : 25/4

17) Triton Robbins - 5643/128.25 : 10+22=32 : 44/6

18) Dalton Widner - 4192/167.68 : 22+15=37 : 25/1

19) Matt Cody - 6746/108.81 : 7+30=37 : 62/8

20) Jimmy Creten - 3790/172.27 : 26+14=40 : 22/15

===== BIGGEST IMPROVEMENTS =====

+10 - Kory Kinal (Jekyll & Hyde) - 46th

+6 - Preston Collins (Jurassic Attack) – 30^th 

+3 - John Gordon (Megalodon) – 24^th 

+3 - Kaley Engstrom (Shark Attack) – 32^nd 

+3 - Bryce Kenny (Tech Deck Wreck Deck) – 39^th 

+3 - Colton Fowler (T-Rex) – 64^th 

+3 - Mike Nugent (Roarin' Rex) – 79^th 

===== NEWLY RANKED =====

77^th - Zach Winchenbach (High Tide)

===== BARRIE, ON =====

4/25 Sat Mrn: KEVIN LUBSEN [Bucking Bronco] defeated Mike Worsley [T-Rex]

4/25 Sat Aft: KEVIN LUBSEN [Bucking Bronco] defeated Mike Worsley [T-Rex]

Mike Worsley debuted Harper’s T-Rex body for the Canadian All Out Tour in Barrie but it was the Canada’s own Bucking Bronco driven by Kevin Lubsen winning both days of muddy, flat track drag racing.

===== BATON ROUGE, LA =====

This Hot Wheels Live event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded

===== BISHOP, CA =====

This Monster Truck Thunder event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded

===== CANTON, OH =====

4/25 Sat Aft: KALEY ENGSTROM [Shark Attack] defeated Colton Fowler [T-Rex]

4/25 Sat Ngt: COLTON FOWLER [T-Rex] defeated Kaley Engstrom [Shark Attack]

4/26 Sun Aft: NO POINTS; The racing bracket was not completed

Kaley Engstrom continues to see the record for most Open Championship wins in a single season by a female driver as she split the weekend with Colton Fowler in Canton. The tight two-jump drag race made for close racing in more than one way. The Sunday race was suspended after one race when Loco Motive and T-Rex touched tires mid-air over the finish line, sending T-Rex off track and skidding into a power pole.

===== EVANSVILLE, IN =====

This Monster Jam Arena event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded

===== GAITHERSBURG, MD =====

4/25 Sat Aft: DANIEL DONNELLY [Illuminator] defeated Cory Snyder [Toxic]

4/25 Sat Ngt: CORY SNYDER [Toxic] defeated Preston Collins [Jurassic Attack]

The Renegade Tour returned to Gaithersburg for another year of two-jump drag racing. The starting line jump was loose and sandy and really tested the drivers’ ability to set-up for the run towards the finish. On Saturday afternoon, Daniel Donnelly picked up his 4^th win of the season, beating out teammate Cory Snyder in the finals. Later that night, Donnelly and Illuminator were out with breakage, and Snyder misjudged the first jump and lost his opening round race to Preston Collins in Jurassic Attack. However, Snyder was able to return as fast loser and learned from his first round loss when he met Collins in the finals and this time took the win. The Renegade Tour is in Crownsville, Maryland this weekend.

===== GLENDALE, AZ =====

4/25 Sat Aft: JOHN GORDON [Megalodon] defeated Dalton Widner [Shell Shock'ed]

The Monster Jam Stadium West racers had to face a slick final turn in Glendale that required a gentle throttle to get set-up for the final jump. Plenty of drivers lost their heat by running into the center hill prior to the finish line. One surprising victim of the challenging track conditions was current World #1 Tyler Menninga who was taken out by Mike Christensen, who had the fastest round 1 time at 18.837.

Dalton Widner was in three of the closest races of the day, first beating Zack Garner in the quarters by a slim 0.206 and then best Bari Musawwir in the semis by 0.171. That got him back into the finals for the first time since February 1^st in Anaheim.

On the other side of the bracket, John Gordon was the smoothest and fastest of the day and posted 3 of the 4 quickest laps of the event. The only other person in his company for Dalton Widner during the final round, where Widner’s 18.273 came up short to Gordon’s 18.044. That was Gordon’s first Monster Jam Stadium win in January 18^th in Anaheim.

With those points, Gordon gained 3 spots in the Open Championship and Widner gained 2.

===== GREENSVILLE, SC =====

4/25 Sat Aft: COTY SAUCIER [Dragon] defeated Triton Robbins [Krazy Train]

4/25 Sat Ngt: JON ZIMMER JR [Terminal Velocity] defeated Coty Saucier [Dragon]

4/26 Sun Aft: TRITON ROBBINS [Krazy Train] defeated Jon Zimmer Jr [Terminal Velocity]

The usual suspects in Greensville with Coty Saucier, Jon Zimmer Jr, and Triton Robbins all coming out of the Bon Secours Wellness Arena with a win and runner-up finish. Saucier wins the weekend in points, however, with 780 earned through the three days of racing. With Tyler Menninga’s early loss in Glendale, Saucier has also closed the gap for the #1 spot in the Open Championship as he seeks to defending his world championship from last year.

===== GUADALAJARA, MEXICO =====

This Hot Wheels Live event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded

===== HUNTSVILLE, AL =====

4/24 Fri Ngt: ARMANDO CASTRO [El Toro Loco] defeated Matt Cody [Grave Digger]

4/25 Sat Aft: ARMANDO CASTRO [El Toro Loco] defeated Blake Granger [Monster Mutt Dalmatian]

4/25 Sat Ngt: ARMANDO CASTRO [El Toro Loco] defeated Cliff Turner [Velociraptor]

4/26 Sun Aft: ARMANDO CASTRO [El Toro Loco] defeated Carson Williams [ThunderROARus]

For the past month the Monster Jam Arena West tour has been all Armando Castro and quite literally this weekend in Huntsville! He has now won 6 consecutive Arena Series brackets and 11 of the last 14. The only other person this season to sweep a 4-race Arena Series weekend was reigning Open Champion Coty Saucier during the first weekend of the season in Kansas City.

Armando has risen up 7 spots in the Open Championship since his streak began and he now has the 5^th most points of all drivers in the sport with 8385. His 16 wins are 5^th most in the sport right now. That ties his Open career best for wins in a single season and is only 329 points away from his career best of 8714, both of which he did 2024 season when he finished 5^th overall in the Open Championship.

===== KANSAS CITY, KS =====

4/25 Sat Aft: KORY KINAL [Jekyll & Hyde] defeated Dawn Creten [Scarlet Bandit]

4/26 Sun Aft: JIMMY CRETEN [Bounty Hunter] defeated Kory Kinal [Jekyll & Hyde]

Kory Kinal nearly extended his winning streak to three races on Sunday afternoon in Kansas City but lost the race on a red-light violation running against Jimmy Creten. Kinal was the winner the day before on the large St Louis style course and has gained 10-spots in the Open Championship this week to reach the Top 50.

===== LEESVILLE, LA =====

The Mayhem Monster Trucks burned the house down in Leesville but at the cost of multiple engine problems. As a result, the racing bracket could not be completed and so could not be scored.

===== MARYSVILLE, CA =====

4/24 Fri Ngt: We do not have results from this Malicious Monster Truck Tour event

4/25 Sat Ngt: We do not have results from this Malicious Monster Truck Tour event

===== MEMPHIS, TN =====

4/25 Sat Aft: We do not have results from this Monster Truck Wars event

4/25 Sat Ngt: We do not have results from this Monster Truck Wars event

4/26 Sun Aft: We do not have results from this Monster Truck Wars event

===== MONA, UT =====

This Insanity Tour event had only two trucks and so there was no bracket to score.

===== SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA =====

4/25 Sat Aft: We do not have results from this event

4/26 Sun Aft: We do not have results from this event

===== TAPPAHANNOCK, VA =====

This Wind Vineyards event did not include side-by-side racing and so points were not awarded

===== EVENTS THIS WEEKEND =====

Allegan, MI (Monster Truck Wars)

Bridgeport, CT (Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow-n-Fire Event)

Chicagoland, IL (Monster Truck Wars)

Cleveland, OH (Monster Jam Stadium Series East)

Crownsville, MD (Renegade Monster Truck Tour)

Dawson Creek, BC (Monster Madness)

Hartford, MI (Monster Truck Throwdown)

Jackson, MS (Monster Truck Insanity Tour)

Kissimmee, FL (Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow-n-Fire Event)

Lake Havasu City, AZ (Monster Truck Insanity Tour)

Lincoln, NE (Monster Jam Arena Series West)

Macon, GA (Monster Jam Arena Series East)

Marietta, OH (Monster Truck Bash)

Markham, ON (Monster Trucks All Out Tour)

Monterrey, Mexico (Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live: Glow-n-Fire Event)

Petaluma, CA (Malicious Monster Truck Tour)

Pottsville, PA (2X Monster Trucks Live)

Sedalia, MO (Monster Trucks Maniac)

Tulare, CA (Monster X Tour)

Victorville, CA (Monster Truck Thunder)

===== VIDEO LINKS =====

Monster Jam Races: https://www.youtube.com/@MonsterJam (Monster Jam)

Gaithersburg, MD Races 1 and 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OogX83jRz_I (SamsonMTfan)

Kansas City, KS Race 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMGa6TZge54 (will)

Sydney, Australia : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWWz5J8WMMo (Kermit Motorsports)