Kayla Blood (Born on July 19th, 1990) is a monster truck driver out of Lafayette, Louisiana. She is the former driver of Soldier Fortune and has driven the truck from 2019-2024. Before then, she drove El Toro Loco from 2016-2018. She is one of the current drivers of Sparkle Smash.
Career[]
Kayla made her driving debut in 2016, in Council Bluffs, Iowa in the yellow El Toro Loco for the AMSOIL Monster Jam Series. She would finish 6th in the series and would receive an invite to the Young Guns Shootdown at Monster Jam World Finals XVII where she would lose in round 1. She was later planned to drive a burned version of Zombie in Mexico City and Puerto Rico in the fall of 2016, but it never happened.
From 2017-2018, Kayla continued to drive El Toro Loco on the Triple Threat Series, competing on the East Series in 2017 and the Central Series in 2018. She would be invited to the Showdown both years, but would not win any of them.
In 2019, rookie driver Jackie Carrizosa was slated to drive Soldier Fortune after Chad Fortune retired, but would be let go from FELD Motorsports after just a couple days, causing FELD to move Kayla into Soldier Fortune instead. She would compete on Triple Threat Series Central and finish in 3rd. She would receive an invite to compete at the first (and only) ATV championships at World Finals XX. For the Fire & Ice racing encore, she debuted Soldier Fortune Ice. She would win the Donut of the Year award.
In 2020, Kayla would continue to drive Soldier Fortune, competing on Triple Threat Series East, where she would have a rivalry with Tyler Menninga and her husband Blake Granger, where she would finish in third to them. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all events after in March and afterwards were cancelled, including the World Finals.
In 2021, Kayla and the truck would be on hiatus for the first half of the year. Blood and the truck would eventually return to competition in July at East Rutherford where she would surprise the field by winning racing. They would later compete in select events throughout the rest of the year. She drove Scooby-Doo! in Spokane, Washington.
In 2022, following her stadium success in 2021, Kayla would make her first quarter stadium debut on Stadium Series Yellow. During the series, she would win freestyle at show 3 in Anaheim. She would compete well during the series, would finish 7th in points. and would be invited to Monster Jam World Finals XXI in the main field, where she would struggle in racing, but would do well in freestyle. Kayla won the Donut of the Year award. She later drove Whiplash on the Australian tour to fill-in for Brianna Mahon, due to her going on maternity leave.
In 2023, Kayla continued to compete in stadiums with Soldier Fortune, this time on the Red Stadium Tour. She would win freestyle in Anaheim again. She would also win freestyle in Philadelphia. Kayla finished 5th in the final standings & be invited to World Finals XXII. She would win the Extreme Air of the Year award. She competed on Team Nitro for the Superstar Challenge in Anaheim on November 11th.
In 2024, Kayla competes on the West Stadium Tour, finishing 9th. She suffered from fuel issues early in the tour & was last in points. Kayla eventually had better luck & was able to move a couple spots in the final standings. She gets invited to World Finals XXlll in Los Angeles & competed against her former husband, Blake Granger. She debuted the new Sparkle Smash at the same event for the encore stunt. She drove the truck for its competition debut in East Rutherford in June. Soldier Fortune was put on hiatus. She appeared on Inside Monster Jam to talk about the new Sparkle Smash.
In 2025, she competes on the West stadium tour again, this time in Sparkle Smash, which marked the truck's first quarter debut. She would finish 9th in the final standings. Her team also expanded with former Monster Mutt Dalmatian driver Jamie Sullivan debuting a second truck for Arena Series Central. She drove a yellow Sparkle Smash for the World Finals, but only in freestyle & the high jump. She would win the Extreme Air award.
World Finals appearances[]
- 2016 - El Toro Loco (YGS only)
- 2017 - El Toro Loco (DDS only)
- 2018 - El Toro Loco (DDS only)
- 2019 - Soldier Fortune (ATV's only) (Soldier Fortune Ice - racing encore)
- 2022 - Soldier Fortune (Main field)
- 2023 - Soldier Fortune (Main field & high jump)
- 2024 - Soldier Fortune (Main field), Sparkle Smash (Stunt)
- 2025 - Sparkle Smash (Yellow) (Freestyle/high jump)
Trivia[]
- Prior to driving, fittingly, she served with the Louisiana National Guard for 6 years in the 244th aviation at Camp Boulevard as force protection.
- She was married to fellow driver Blake Granger. However, they have recently split.
- For Ontario 2021, Monster Jam's first shows outside the of the United States, Kayla was slated to temporarily return to El Toro Loco for said shows, but the shows would eventually be canceled.
- During qualifying at World Finals XXI on the new over-under racing track, Kayla came dangerously close to missing the over-jump, but would instead be kicked up by the rear tires, sliding off the ramp and onto the ground.
- In 2022, she appeared with Jay Leno on CNBC in Anaheim, where Kayla taught Jay how to drive a monster truck.
- She would do push-ups on top of Soldier Fortune after a successful performance.
- Kayla has stated that she would like to drive Max-D if not in Soldier Fortune. Max-D would be retired at the end of 2024.
- Sparkle Smash features a confetti canon in the horn that Kayla Blood activates at every show.
- She used to ride ATV's before monster trucks.
Gallery[]
