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

Local News Minnesota man drives hauls giant pumpkin over 2,000 miles to California competition By Nicholas Lentz, Drew Andre October 12, 2026 / 2:26 PM CDT / CBS Minnesota Add CBS News on Google 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 Monday's event, with his pumpkin weighing in at 2,389 pounds, though it fell short of the personal competition record he set in 2023 with a 2,749-pound entry.Around 45 people entered into this year's competition. Gienger said the city, the event and Safeway are what keep him coming back each year. Half Moon Bay is around 29 miles south of San Francisco. In: Minnesota California Featured Local Savings Protesters storm Minnesota GOP event, disrupting Lisa Demuth speech At least 1 dead after wrong-way crash in central Minnesota Businesses near Osceola brace as Highway 243 bridge set to close Minnesota woman breaks Guinness World Record for rucking half marathon White Sox fall to Guardians 2-0, ending unexpected postseason run New Yorkers part of growing population struggling to fill estrogen patch prescriptions Dearborn residents raise reckless driving concerns Southern California's coastal communities deal with dangerous flooding, damage to homes as Rachel moved through region