{"id":26535,"date":"2024-04-26T17:40:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T17:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/?p=26535"},"modified":"2024-04-30T14:20:58","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T14:20:58","slug":"dalton-widner-the-peoples-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/en-us\/news\/dalton-widner-the-peoples-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Dalton Widner: The People\u2019s Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section id=\"custom-wysiwyg\" style=\"padding-top:px;padding-bottom:px;\">\n  <div class=\"container container-c\">\n    <p>The online Monster Jam community erupted with praise for two drivers as Arena Championship Series West came to an exciting conclusion. Matt Cody was crowned the series champion as he admirably strapped into Grave Digger over seven weekends and kept the points lead with the black and green wrecking machine. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The former World Finals Speedster Obstacle Course Champion was one of four drivers to pilot Grave Digger on the West series along with Brandon Vinson, Tyler Menninga, and Coty Saucier. Matt is an accomplished veteran driver who has proven himself on the International Series and no matter the scenario, he can add \u201cSeries Champion\u201d to his resume. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I am not positive that there will be a Sportsmanship Award this year at the World Finals Awards Ceremony but if there is the winner should absolutely be the Williamsport, Maryland native. When Matt accepted his series championship trophy, he unselfishly passed the automatic bid to the driver who finished in second, and competed each weekend during a very tough series, and that driver is Dalton Widner. If you have yet to watch this incredible show of sportsmanship, head to Monster Jam\u2019s Instagram page. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Dalton has been referred to online as the People\u2019s Champion, a name he happily embraces. Over the last three seasons, Widner has earned the respect of fans, drivers, and officials in Monster Jam with his tireless work ethic and willingness to get better. His hard work paid off big this year as he is the highest placing independent driver on any series in the sport and will compete in the Main Field at World Finals for the first time in his career. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Even with the excitement and hype that surrounds both Dalton and Jurassic Attack heading to SoFi Stadium, he has remained humbled and focused with his sights set on bringing a world title to Team Throttle Monster. <\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>We are less than a month away from the biggest event of the year and with more competitors set to be announced soon it remains to be seen who will stand in the way of Dalton holding a World Finals trophy but rest assured if it happens, everyone from the fans in the stands, to the ones at home watching the live stream, and even the guys in the broadcast booth will erupt with joy if the People\u2019s Champion becomes a World Finals Champion.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I will break down how the west was won with Matt and Dalton on an upcoming episode of Inside Monster Jam Powered By Lucas Oil which airs every Saturday night at 9PM Eastern on MAVTV!<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":26538,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drivers","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Dalton Widner: The People\u2019s Champion | News | Monster Jam\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The online Monster Jam community erupted with praise for two drivers as Arena Championship Series West came to an exciting conclusion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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