Stadium Championship Series East will be stacked with talent in 2024, featuring drivers such as Tom Meents (Max-D), Tyler Menninga (Grave Digger), Todd LeDuc (Megalodon) and Bryce Kenny (Great Clips Mohawk Warrior).
Linsey Read (Lucas Stabilizer), along with Tristan England (JCB DIGatron), will face the challenge of not only being moved from arenas to stadiums to take on these drivers, but also being moved into sponsored Monster Jam trucks.
For Read, it was 2019 when she raced her way into Monster Jam World Finals through the Showdown, and then backed that up by winning the Freestyle World Title. Following the pandemic and a break for maternity leave, Linsey returned for a full season in Arena Series East in 2022 where she placed fourth behind the wheel of Scooby-Doo.
In 2023, the seat at the Lucas Stabilizer became vacant for the 2024 season as Cynthia Gauthier announced that she was expecting, meaning Read will be back on stadiums in a truck that has earned a reputation for extreme performances in the hands of Gauthier.
All this may seem like a lot to take in, but Read is up for the challenge.
“I’m very excited about being in a sponsored Monster Jam truck with Lucas Stabilizer,” said Read. “It does mean there’s more pressure, but you know, I go out there and I want to do the best I can for the fans no matter what truck I’m in. I want to go and just put on a great show, and just show all the girls out there that we can do it. So it’s going to be a great time.”
Regarding the challenge of switching back from arenas to stadiums, Read looks back fondly on her 2019 World Finals success, and aims to bring more of that back.
“You have to be very controlled in arenas. So, when you get to a stadium, sometimes it bites you because you’re trying to be overly controlled.
“But I’ve done stadiums quite a bit. 2019, when I won World Finals, that was a great year. So I think I just want to try to be that Linsey Read going into this year.”
But what about the challenges of competing in a different truck?
“This one is a big difference. It’s a different chassis than Scooby-Doo, so I’m sitting up a lot higher than I was in that. So the vision point is different. But I drove Lucas Stabilizer for Superstar Challenge. I struggled during practice, I did not have the best practice, but I think I worked all the bugs out, because the event itself turned out really great. I’m really going to fit well in this truck with this new personality that I’m going to do, so I can’t wait to get 2024 started.”
While Read was eliminated in the first round of Racing at the Superstar Challenge, she wrapped up the night with a solid 7.146 in Freestyle, placing ahead of Tom Meents and Ryan Anderson (Son-uva Digger), helping Team Neon score points for the overall win.
And, if she does need any extra help, Read knows she has Cynthia Gauthier for support.
“We talk all the time, she really is my friend outside of this as well. So she’s constantly calling me, giving me advice on what to do. She’s going to be at some of the events, so that way she can be my cheerleader out there helping me out. So it’s going to be a great time.
“She’s really helped me a lot with key things. How I should set up the inside of the truck to be able to see better. You know, things that she had to figure out the hard way. So now I get to go into it with an upper hand.”
With all this in mind and with the level of competition in Stadium Championship Series East, what would Read consider a success in 2024?
“I want to be competitive. I want to be consistent. I want to stay in the top part of the bracket for sure. But otherwise, I just want to go out there and have a good time. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.
“Win some competitions at each event, and if I can win an overall at one of them, that would be great. But I have a lot of really tough competitors on my tour, so it’s going to be hard. But I think we can do it.”
Stadium Championship Series East kicks off January 13 in San Antonio.
