Trucks In The 252 - Morgan Kane

By: Robert Heikens

Morgan Kane is a young man on a mission. This Currituck native has his sights set on dominating the Monster Jam series this season in his Max D monster truck. Morgan has driven many monster trucks already but now sits in the seat of the famous Maximum Destruction truck and has plans on winning more races and freestyle events than ever before!

Morgan, aka "Korgan Mane", a high school nickname, is a 24 year old, 2008 graduate of Currituck High School where he was a soccer player with a ton of talent. The years of 1998-2000, Morgan raced go karts in the junior sportsman division 1&2 placing third in the points! After graduating, Morgan received a scholarship for soccer and went to Campbell University for a semester where he became the first person ever in Northeast North Carolina to play for a division 1 University that was ranked 23rd in the nation in 2008. Morgan, a forward for the team transferred to Cape Fear in Wilmington, N.C. in 2009 to continue his education and love for soccer.

Morgan started driving his good friend, Adam Andersons ride truck at the Digger shop in the spring for college money and would even come home on weekends to drive the truck while also taking summer classes and being a full time student! He knew he needed a good education and worked hard with the help of his parents, Robin Kane and Susie Harris to make his dream come true. The fall of 2009 and the spring of 2010, Morgan was a full time student athlete training with the soccer team!

June of 2010, Steve Sims of Stonecrusher racing asked Adam Anderson at a show about a driver position and wanted a young but knowledgeable person to hire and Adam knew Morgan would be a good person for Steve to hire! Morgan got the call on a Sunday afternoon sitting in the ride truck shed to drive Monster Mopar. Morgan, who knew the creator of the truck, Gary Wiggins, jumped at the opportunity and Gary Wiggins even later became a crew chief and mentor for Morgan. In the 2010-2011 season, Morgan's first show driving Monster Mopar was in Louisville, Kentucky at Freedom Hall. Morgan not only drove the Monster Truck for Steve but also worked at his business, Custom Stone, operating equipment and racing on the weekends. Trained by veteran crew chief Tommy Powers, Morgan got his CDL license at the age of 20 and his full permit at 21 and helped drive the hauler to and from shows while also driving heavy equipment for Custom Stone December of 2012, Monster Mopar was changed to Monster Magic. Morgan raced it in Minneapolis at the Metrodome beating out 16 trucks including Gravedigger, Max D, Avenger, and Son Uva Digger for the racing win ! Morgan also received the "Rising star of the year award in 2012 driving a second Stonecrusher truck when Bryan Wright was hired to drive the Monster Magic truck .
May, 2012, Morgan left the team and returned to drive Adam's ride truck until he received a call from Keith Speller of Feld Motorsports to drive the "HULK" monster truck in Holland and Sweden in huge soccer stadiums filled to capacity! Next came the "IRON MAN" truck where Morgan would crew and drive the truck, compete in his first "Young Guns" shootout in Vegas, and come back the following year and barely got edged out in the final race by "Bad Habit"!

Morgan again went overseas but this time to the middle east to Dubai for the first ever monster truck show there. He also went back to Holland and Sweden to packed stadiums!  In June of 2013, he again was called to drive but as a fill in driver for Max D in Quincy, Illinois! The show went so well, the following month Tom Meents called him to join the Max D team as a full time driver/crew chief. This was a dream come true but he also talked extensively to his role model and friend, Adam Anderson for guidance. Adam assured him that this was the opportunity of a lifetime and Morgan joined the team! Team member and co-crew chief Josh Dyche pushed him to become a better driver and Morgan listened.

Monster Jam started a new series for the "Young Guns" to compete in with the series winner getting a spot in Vegas at the World Finals! These up and coming drivers all trained at IMG academies in Bradenton, Florida where Morgan felt right at home training again.The new series includes Monster Trucks, ATV, and UTV racing at each show. The points series starts in January in Des Moines, Iowa but fans got a glimpse in Hampton,Va. last month and was received well by the fans! The format will consist of Monster truck racing, Razors (speedsters) next, Monster Trucks again, ATV heats 1&2 and main, Monster Truck donut competition, Razors (obstacle course), and finishing with Monster truck freestyle. The drivers are looking forward to the new format and the chance to compete in Vegas!

Morgan donates time and makes appearances for the ALS association as a spokesman for raising money and awareness for the organization. He also created and launched his own line of hats to get his message out to work hard, stay humble, be honest, and "Swing at every curve ball", his philosophy of life! These things were instilled in him by his parents and remains his driving force in life.Pride and a strong work ethic will keep this young man at the top of his game, he enjoys working on the truck, always keeping it ready to go, looking great for the fans! He likes things organized and in its place and works hard to keep things that way.

Morgan wants to thank everyone for the support, his parents for all of their help and guidance, Adam Anderson for believing in him and being a great Boss, Ryan Anderson for helping him become better, Gary Wiggins, Josh Dyche, Steve Sims, Tommy Powers, and his new co-crew chief Wes Costamire! It's been a long journey for Morgan but I have no doubt his ability, drive, and perseverance will take this young man to the top of the sport and maybe even this superstar will build his own truck design one day, time will tell! Morgan has a bright future ahead and I believe he will be in this sport for decades to come, "SWINGING AT EVERY CURVE BALL"!