{"id":27821,"date":"2024-05-21T18:07:16","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T18:07:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/?p=27821"},"modified":"2024-05-21T18:07:33","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T18:07:33","slug":"kayla-blood-on-bringing-her-fierce-attitude-to-sparkle-smash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/en-us\/news\/kayla-blood-on-bringing-her-fierce-attitude-to-sparkle-smash\/","title":{"rendered":"Kayla Blood on Bringing Her Fierce Attitude to Sparkle Smash"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<section \n  id=\"main-custom-content-block\"\n  style=\"padding-top:px;padding-bottom:px;background-color:;color:;\"\n>\n  <div class=\"container container-c\">\n    <div class=\"split\" style=\"gap:px;\">\n                        <div class=\"side \">\n\n                                          <p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/en-us\/driver\/kayla-blood\/\"><strong>Kayla Blood<\/strong><\/a> will be the first Monster Jam athlete to pilot the Sparkle Smash Monster Jam truck when it makes its competitive debut in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/en-us\/events\/east-rutherford-nj\/jun-01-2024-jun-01-2024\/\"><strong>East Rutherford<\/strong><\/a> in June.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Sparkle Smash Stunt | World Finals XXIII (2024) | Monster Jam\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/5gscuh5e6nk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Blood has been competing in Monster Jam for eight years. But prior to her established career behind the wheel, she ran track, competed in boxing and MMA, did six years in the LA National Guard, and raced ATVs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>She started her Monster Jam career behind the wheel of the yellow El Toro Loco in Council Bluffs, IA, in 2016. But the Soldier Fortune Monster Jam truck seemed like a natural fit for her tough, persevering attitude, and it is the truck that Monster Jam fans have come to associate her with in recent years.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>But as Blood notes, the move over to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/en-us\/truck\/sparkle-smash\/\"><strong>Sparkle Smash<\/strong><\/a> doesn\u2019t change her approach to the sport, and she intends to continue representing the military and bring her fierce demeanor to the new Monster Jam truck.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know a lot of people are gonna think \u2013 \u2018well, that\u2019s different,\u2019 \u2013 you know, for me, because people think about me and driving Soldier Fortune,\u201d admitted Blood. \u201cI have such an aggressive driving style and just fierceness about me.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I don\u2019t look at this like the end of me driving Soldier Fortune. I\u2019m going to look at this as the beginning of something new. Anytime that you\u2019re going to be great at something, you\u2019re going to grow in something, you have to adapt and you have to do something new. Change is inevitable and we have to adapt to it, and I think this is going to be a great move.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor me, honestly, I love the Sparkle Smash Monster Jam truck. It\u2019s a beautiful truck that\u2019s already got an amazing fan base and I look forward to pushing that fan base with a beautiful Monster Jam truck, and being able to go out there and show this aggressive side of a beautiful Monster Jam truck.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know there are going to be those fans that might be a little upset that I\u2019m not in Soldier Fortune. But no matter what Monster Jam truck I\u2019m in, I\u2019m going to be supporting the military. I\u2019m a veteran myself, first and foremost, you know? So I\u2019m always going to support the military.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Blood was in the Louisiana National Guard for six years, serving in the 244<sup>th<\/sup> Aviation while working on base at Camp Boulevard as force protection, before later moving on to work within her unit. With having her son Austin, she missed out on the opportunity to go overseas with her unit, but says that driving Soldier Fortune gave her the opportunity to represent the National Guard in front of everyone who has attended a Monster Jam event.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Blood placed ninth overall in the Stadium Series West standings this year, not helped by the fact that her truck was fighting fuel issues in the opening rounds of the season that saw her briefly drop to last in the standings. She was able to claw back a few positions, but having the likes of Ryan Anderson and Adam Anderson on her tour certainly made that task more difficult. Nevertheless, she was able to pick up a spectacular Freestyle win in Anaheim.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Her next task will be building a strong reputation for the Sparkle Smash Monster Jam truck. In 2023, ThunderROARus entered Monster Jam as a brand-new truck to identify with. It looked awesome, but drivers Colt Stephens and Tony Ochs knew that it was their job to prove that it was not just a cool-looking truck, but also a force to be reckoned with. Now, Blood faces a similar challenge with Sparkle Smash, and she is ready for the task.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that I can climb into any Monster Jam truck and drive it the same exact way, and that\u2019s the exact way that I\u2019m going to drive Sparkle Smash,\u201d reasons Blood. \u201cWe\u2019re gonna have those crazy \u2018Wow!\u2019 moments.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey know when I go out there for Freestyle, I\u2019m not gonna lay it down, I\u2019m not going to go slow. I\u2019m gonna get it just as wild and crazy as these boys.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a pretty sparkly Sparkle Smash unicorn Monster Jam truck, but our driving style is definitely gonna be aggressive.\u201d<\/p>\n                          \n          <\/div>\n                  <\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kayla Blood on Bringing Her Fierce Attitude to Sparkle Smash | News | Monster Jam\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kayla 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