Advance became the primary sponsor of the brand new monster truck, Grinder™ in 2009, the first Grinder driven by Lupe Soza, the 2004 Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Champion. Previously, Soza drove El Toro Loco®, of which Advance Auto Parts was an associate sponsor. The Advance Auto Parts Grinder Race Team, piloted by Soza, made its Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam debut at the Minneapolis Metrodome Saturday, December 5 2009. Called “The People’s Truck” by Soza the new team found immediate success. The following December Advance Auto Parts unveiled a second Grinder truck with another World Champion driver joining the team, two-time World Racing Champion John Seasock, and then to start the 2011 season a third Advance Auto Parts Grinder arrived on the scene with another top level talent behind the wheel, World Finals veteran Frank Krmel. It was Krmel who would power Grinder to one of the highest profile wins in the sport’s history, Krmel and Grinder being the team to snap Grave Digger and Dennis Anderson’s amazing nine event stadium racing winning streak as Grinder beat Grave Digger in the Championship race at Atlanta’s Georgia Dome in February of 2011. At the start of the 2012 season Krmel was briefly sidelined with an injury and the team brought popular newcomer Nicole Johnson aboard. Johnson did a great job driving for the Advance Auto Parts Grinder team and she was rewarded with an invitation to the first ever Young Guns Shootout at Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam World Finals XIII presented by NGK Spark Plugs.