If you’ve made any of the stops on the Monster Truck Nationals Tour featuring the E3 Spark Plugs Bigfoot, you might literally have seen the next generation of monster trucking. A few years ago, Kaid Jaret Olson-Weston, a.k.a. Kid KJ, made his historic debut as the world’s youngest Monster Truck Driver, driving his pint-sized Monster Bear truck and wowing the crowds with his seasoned moves despite being just six years old at the time.
Today, at the ripe old age of eight, Olson-Weston leads his own team of drivers dubbed Lil’ Mighty Monsters and made of up of his brother Jake Royce Olson-Weston, 7, driving Sir Crush A Lot, and friend Cassie Berry, 14, driving Demolition Diva. Together, they travel the show circuit performing crowd-pleasing aggressive freestyles over jumps, around tight turns and through obstacles.
Kaid Jaret Olson-Weston has always been a bit of a daredevil, skateboarding at a year old, snow skiing and driving ATVs at two, snowmobiling and dirt biking since three, jet skiing and go karting since four, according to his booker, Uncle Tod Motorsports. But mom Nancy and dad Tod, who also is the team’s manager and crew chief, have always made sure their wild-child brood was safe. Before suiting up and climbing behind the wheel, the three Lil’ Monsters underwent specialized training to learn the driving skills and mechanics for their half-scale monster trucks. The kids wear fire suits and safety helmets and communicate with adults via a driver-to-crew radio system installed in their trucks.
“They’re driving in a controlled environment,” says said Emily Boden, marketing manager for Family Events, the producer of Monster Truck Nationals. “They understand the ins and outs of a truck better than you or I would. They’re very knowledgeable and they do it every weekend, so they get a lot of practice.”
E3 Spark Plugs congratulates Kid KJ and his Lil’ Monsters team and looks forward to watching them take over the Monster Truck scene in the coming years.
Want to take a spin of your own in a racing truck? Enter to win a three-day driving adventure at the E3 Spark Plugs-sponsored Utah Off Road Nationals Presented by Toyota. Among the prizes are rides in racer Jerry Daugherty’s E3 Spark Plugs off-road truck, a Ford Racing GT Mustang and a Baja Challenge car. Enter by visiting the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page and clicking the Off Road Contest tab. Good luck!