{"id":6755,"date":"2023-06-21T17:49:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T17:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.monsterjam.com\/from-super-fan-to-super-star-armando-castros-rise-to-monster-jam-world-finals\/"},"modified":"2023-12-12T17:59:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T17:59:39","slug":"from-super-fan-to-super-star-armando-castros-rise-to-monster-jam-world-finals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/en-us\/news\/from-super-fan-to-super-star-armando-castros-rise-to-monster-jam-world-finals\/","title":{"rendered":"From Super Fan to Super Star: Armando Castro\u2019s Rise to Monster Jam World Finals"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Twelve competitors in this year\u2019s Monster Jam World Finals were also competing at Sam Boyd Stadium in 2016 as part of Monster Jam World Finals XVII and the Young Guns Shootout.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A thirteenth future competitor was up in the stands as a super fan, attending his first Monster Jam World Finals event. He had no idea that by this time next year, he would join the ranks as a Monster Jam athlete.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI met Bill Easterly at World Finals, just kind of stumbled across him, and we started talking and I ended up getting my foot in the door that way and got a chance to audition right there and then,\u201d recalls Armando Castro, now a driver of El Toro Loco. \u201cI didn\u2019t think it was going to take just a year to make that a reality. It was just so surreal to be able to audition, to go down to Paxton, IL, and drive a truck, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But getting behind the wheel of a Monster Jam truck is one thing. Staking your claim and proving you belong is another.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s everybody\u2019s goal is to be able to get invited to Monster Jam World Finals,\u201d explains Castro, who has competed at Monster Jam World Finals in 2019 and 2022, but not in the full field. \u201cI was invited to compete in the Speedsters \u2013 there was Racing and an Obstacle Course, and we ended up winning the Racing aspect of the Speedster. Forever in the books, 2019 Speedster Racing World Champion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-embed-field-provider-youtube video-embed-field-responsive-video\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"854\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/oQ-AOCF_lkY?autoplay=0&amp;start=0&amp;rel=0\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Last year, Castro placed fifth in the 2-Wheel Skills Championship, hindered by a mechanical issue on his truck.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had a hiccup last year when I competed at World Finals. My truck ended up shutting off. It\u2019s motor sports, you know.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe the challenging one this year will probably be 2-Wheel Skills, only because we have eight drivers and it is literally the top eight drivers that I feel are skilled at the 2-Wheel Skills aspect of it. You have Ryan Anderson, Tyler Menninga, Tristan England, and Jon Zimmer Jr. in there now and he\u2019s up and coming, it\u2019s just anybody\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While many El Toro Loco fans will be excited to see if Castro can get the win in the Great Clips 2-Wheel Skills Challenge, it is the Racing and Freestyle competitions in which he will be making his first Monster Jam World Finals appearance.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeith Speller from operations at Monster Jam, he called me telling me the great news that I\u2019d been invited to Monster Jam World Finals to compete and, you know, I just kind of tried to hold back tears but it was such an emotional feeling. If people can really understand, just that invitation itself, how much weight that has behind it. I\u2019m doing something right to get invited to the Monster Jam World Finals. And to be one of the few Latinos in the industry behind such a powerful, big name like El Toro Loco, it\u2019s just an honor and a privilege to be out there and representing that truck and my culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Castro has a job to do when he gets behind the wheel of El Toro Loco, and he admits that sometimes he is hard on himself and has to remind himself to go out there and just have fun. However, he adds that he never takes his position as a Monster Jam athlete for granted.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would never forget where I came from, you know, from a super fan and now becoming a pilot, it\u2019s just incredible. It took a lot of years, a lot of focus, a lot of sweat, blood and tears\u2026 there\u2019s always a kid watching in the stands wishing they were in my seat, and I just hope to inspire anybody that has a dream.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust being able to compete with all these guys and get invited to Monster Jam World Finals, that kind of speaks for itself. So I gotta give myself more credit, and I\u2019m just looking forward to Monster Jam World Finals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Momentum will be on Castro\u2019s side as he enters Monster Jam World Finals XXII on July 1, as he placed second in the Monster Jam Arena Championship East standings this year behind Weston Anderson in Grave Digger, winning 10 Overall Event Championships at points events throughout the season.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\">\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Armando Castro celebrates an Overall Event Championship\" data-entity-type=\"file\" data-entity-uuid=\"6f36c1a9-2e03-4571-9452-abcaccc3661d\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/062123-mj-armando-1.jpg\" \/><figcaption>Armando Castro celebrates an Overall Event Championship<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twelve competitors in this year\u2019s Monster Jam World Finals were also competing at Sam Boyd Stadium in 2016 as part of Monster Jam World Finals XVII and the Young Guns Shootout. \u00a0 A thirteenth future competitor was up in the stands as a super fan, attending his first Monster Jam World Finals event. He had [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,12,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drivers","category-monster-jam-world-finals","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>From Super Fan to Super Star: Armando Castro\u2019s Rise to Monster Jam World Finals | Monster Jam\u00ae<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/en-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Super Fan to Super Star: Armando Castro\u2019s Rise to Monster Jam World Finals | Monster Jam\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Twelve competitors in this year\u2019s Monster Jam World Finals were also competing at Sam Boyd Stadium in 2016 as part of Monster Jam World Finals XVII and the Young Guns Shootout. \u00a0 A thirteenth future competitor was up in the stands as a super fan, attending his first Monster Jam World Finals event. He had [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/en-us\/news\/from-super-fan-to-super-star-armando-castros-rise-to-monster-jam-world-finals\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Monster Jam\u00ae\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-06-21T17:49:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-12T17:59:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.monsterjam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/img_8437.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Samuel Reiman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samuel Reiman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" 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