At the tender age of 20, Morgan Kane landed his dream job: driving a monster truck in Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam. A lifelong friend of Ryan and Adam Anderson, Kane spent his teen years hanging around the Grave Digger shop in North Carolina and began driving a ride truck. Kane was eventually hired to drive a monster truck in competition when he was tapped by owner Steve Sims to drive Mopar Magic. A former college soccer player who always dreamed of being a professional athlete either on the soccer field or behind the wheel of a monster truck, Kane has now grabbed the opportunity of a lifetime. He gets to travel the world and compete at the highest level of monster competition, starting out in a truck with a history that dates back to the origins of the sport when Gary Wiggins first created Mopar Magic back in the 1980’s. After a successful debut season in Mopar Magic, Kane burst on to the national stage in the sport when that same truck, with the name changed to Monster Magic, became the vehicle that Morgan drove to the racing championship in the tradition rich Minneapolis Metrodome December 10, 2011. That magical night saw Morgan come out on top of a star-studded 16 truck racing line-up and he defeated his best friend, Ryan Anderson in Son-uva Digger to win the Championship Race that was televised by Speed. From there Kane entered 2012 on the same team but with a new ride when he was tabbed to pilot the second Stone Crusher.

Q&A with Morgan Kane

MonsterJam.com: How did you get started competing on the Monster Jam circuit?

Morgan Kane :  I grew up around monster trucks over at the Grave Digger shop. I’ve been good friends with Ryan and Adam all my life and Adam got me involved driving his ride truck over at the Grave Digger shop. I did that for a few years and then got the opportunity to get into a truck for Steve Sims in the summer of 2010 and I’ve just gone with it from there.

MonsterJam.com : What do you enjoy doing while on the road with Monster Jam?

Morgan Kane :  It’s a dream job for me, one that I’ve wanted for years. I’ve seen the travelling the world that all of my friends at the shop do and that’s what I want to do, just to be able to travel and see the world. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do so I figured that this is a good job for me.

MonsterJam.com : What do you do with your free time?

Morgan Kane :  There really is no free time. I’m spending all my time working with Steve and the team. I live with Ryan Anderson and Cole Venard and Coty Saucier, they are all in the sport too, so we’re pretty much always doing monster truck stuff. If we’re not doing that we’re riding four wheelers or playing around out back at home and making videos and stuff like that.

MonsterJam.com : As a new driver, what did it feel like the first time you got to drive a monster truck in competition?

Morgan Kane :  I was trying to imagine what it was going to be like, to get a grasp on what it was going to feel like to get in the truck and run it in front of all the fans, but you can’t imagine how nervous you get the first time you actually get in the truck. I mean once you hear that intro call and they want you to come out on to the floor, it’s just an indescribable feeling that you can’t compare to anything else.  

MonsterJam.com : Do you have any pre-show rituals that you run though?

Morgan Kane :  No not really. Just strap in and adjust my belts a few times before I take off, and I’m not really superstitious.

MonsterJam.com : If you were not competing on the Monster Jam tour, what career path would you follow?

Morgan Kane :  The first big dream that I ever had when I was little, I mean I grew up playing soccer and I got a scholarship to Campbell University to go play. I played there for a semester and then I transferred to Wilmington, North Carolina, and played for Cape Fear Community College. In the fall of 2010 I was supposed to go to the University of North Carolina-Wilmington, and I was going to try and walk on and make that team. I had been talking to the coach about it but the chance to drive for Steve Sims came up. Before that my dream was to play professional soccer. For me it was always between monster trucks and professional soccer, but I really didn’t think that it was going to turn out this way, but monster trucks were right there in my hometown so I didn’t have to travel that much to get started, just five minutes to the shop, so I chose monster trucks.

MonsterJam.com : What’s your favorite food?

Morgan Kane : I did like pizza but living with three other guys from the shop we have pizza every night! We go get Tombstone pizza, bring it home and cook it about every night.

MonsterJam.com : What’s your favorite movie?

Morgan Kane :  The Hangover

MonsterJam.com : What’s your favorite television show?

Morgan Kane :  Monster Jam, pretty much anything on Speed, and I watch Sportscenter a lot.

MonsterJam.com : What’s your favorite color?

Morgan Kane :  Purple started to grow on me when I was driving Mopar Magic, other than that I’d say red or blue.

TRUCK INFO

Truck Name : Stone Crusher

Body :  Ford Super Duty

Chassis : Patrick

Engine size :  540

Transmission : Coan

Shocks :Patrick

Sponsors :  Custom Stone Company, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Kalbones, Nitro Radios, MSD Ignition, Holley, Hooker Headers, Coan Racing, Beach Radio & Air Conditioning, Pit Boxes, Bank of Hampton Roads, Fel-Pro, Earl’s Performance Plumbing, Auto Meter, K & N Filters, JE Pistons, Fastenal, Turbo Action, Beard Seats