Minnesota man drives hauls giant pumpkin over 2,000 miles to California competition

A Minnesota man drove a giant pumpkin more than 2,000 miles to Half Moon Bay, California, to enter it in a competition dubbed the Super Bowl of weigh-offs on Monday.The Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off draws the world's premier pumpkin growers eager to claim glory and possibly break a world record. Minnesota resident Travis Gienger, who had won the competition four times before this year, said he drove his giant piece of produce 2,150 miles to participate."It was stressful, you know. You're white-knuckling it and then going through Tahoe. You got all the trucker bumps, and yeah, it's an incredible journey," Gienger said.Travis Gienger from Anoka, Minnesota won with his giant pumpkin weighted 2,389 pound during the 53rd annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off is held at the I.D.E.S. Grounds in Half Moon Bay, California, United States on October 12, 2026. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images Gienger won Mon