Consistency & dedication: Kayla Blood holds 'it down for the women' in Monster Jam

Kayla Blood knows that anything in life is an uphill battle.

She’s proven herself in the military.

Now she’s on a journey in the monster truck world as she’s the lone woman to compete in Monster Jam at Tingley Coliseum.

The three-day event kicks off Friday, March 15, and runs through Sunday, March 17.

Consistency & dedication: Kayla Blood holds 'it down for the women' in Monster Jam

“The name of the game is being consistent,” Blood says. “It’s a competition and we earn points with every competition. I have to get those points back from missing a few events because my truck was down.”

During the event, there will be less than a dozen trucks and drivers competing in the series.

“When we come to Albuquerque, we won’t have all 12 trucks because of the space,” Blood says. “But the competition will be high.”

The drivers will show off massive stunts, big air, backflips, crazy skills and all-out racing in fierce head-to-head battles for the event championship.

Engineered to perfection, the 12,000-pound Monster Jam trucks push all limits in freestyle, skills and racing competitions. Blood is behind the wheel of Soldier Fortune.

The 2024 Monster Jam World Finals will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on May 18.

Blood’s been touring for years and finds traveling the most difficult.

“Being able to go to all the different cities makes up for it,” she says with a laugh. “I do take time for myself when I’m on tour to make sure that I’m giving myself enough time to reset. You have to have time to recharge your batteries, that’s how I start to mentally prepare myself.”

Blood and her crew work together the majority of the week to ensure that they are ready for the weekend events.

Before the event, there is a pit party and it’s when guests have the opportunity to get an up-close look at the monster trucks and the drivers.

“We have to be sure not to over exert ourselves during this time,” she says. “That’s a big obstacle because we want to make it fun for the people in the pit party. We also have to realize that we’re going to be competing a few hours later.”

Blood finds her day job surreal.

“I didn’t have much growing up,” she says. “I knew I was going to have to put in hard work in anything that I did. I changed my attitude and worked hard and I’ve been given these opportunities to thrive.”

Blood is competing with legendary monster truck drivers – all of them men.

She’s used to being the only woman in the current group competition and works extra hard to make ground up in the monster truck arena.

“I’m driving against the likes of Ryan Anderson and all these world finals champions,” she says. “I have an 11-year-old boy at home and he thinks what I do is amazing. I have to hold it down for the women every day. I compete against 11 guys. I’ve said it before, being a woman in this sport, I have to work 10 times harder to gain credibility and respect. We can have the same mistakes as men, but people will see it worse for me. I put more pressure on myself each time I’m driving.”