California Engineer Wins Giant Pumpkin Championship After Near Miss Last Year

In a thrilling conclusion to the 52nd World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, Brandon Dawson of Santa Rosa emerged victorious with a colossal pumpkin weighing an astonishing 2,346 pounds – roughly the same weight as a small sedan or large bison. The manufacturing engineer at Rivian Automotive celebrated his win by triumphantly pumping his arms in the air before placing his two young children atop the massive gourd for a memorable photo opportunity. The victory was especially sweet for Dawson, who narrowly missed the top prize last year, losing by a mere six pounds to Minnesota horticulture teacher Travis Gienger. “My mind is kind of racing because I was in this position last year when I lost by 6 pounds,” Dawson shared after his win, the emotion of redemption evident in his voice. The competition, held just south of San Francisco, awarded him a substantial $20,000 prize for his horticultural achievement.

Dawson’s journey into the world of competitive giant pumpkin growing began just five years ago, but his professional background as an engineer has proven invaluable to his success in this unique agricultural pursuit. He attributes his winning strategy to the precision skills he’s developed in his manufacturing career, which he applies to the meticulous process of growing championship gourds. The engineering mindset helps him calculate the exact watering schedules and optimal sunlight exposure needed to maximize growth. This technical approach, combined with patience and dedication, created the perfect conditions for his pumpkin to thrive in the competitive world of giant produce. The fact that his enormous pumpkin could gain between 50 to 70 pounds daily during peak growing periods demonstrates the remarkable biological process that Dawson has learned to nurture and optimize.

What makes Dawson’s accomplishment particularly meaningful is how he’s transformed the solitary pursuit of growing giant pumpkins into a family activity that creates lasting memories with his children. His 2-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter have become enthusiastic participants in the pumpkin-growing process, spending quality time with their father in the patch and watching with wonder as the gourd grows to extraordinary proportions. “We like to spend time out in the patch and watch the thing grow,” Dawson explained, noting that his 4-year-old daughter has developed a particular fascination with observing the remarkable daily growth rates. Through this unique hobby, he’s not only cultivating championship pumpkins but also nurturing his children’s curiosity about science, nature, and the rewards of patience and persistent effort – valuable life lessons wrapped in an extraordinary family activity.

The competitive landscape of giant pumpkin growing demonstrates just how remarkable Dawson’s achievement truly is. Last year’s champion, Travis Gienger, had previously set a world record at the 2023 Half Moon Bay competition with a pumpkin weighing an incredible 2,749 pounds. Gienger, who teaches horticulture in Anoka, Minnesota, was unable to defend his title this year due to damage to his competition pumpkin earlier in the growing season. The absence of the defending champion opened the door for Dawson to claim the top spot he had so narrowly missed the previous year. The competitive nature of giant pumpkin growing extends beyond American shores, with two brothers from England recently breaking Gienger’s world record earlier this month with a truly massive specimen weighing 2,819 pounds – demonstrating the global appeal and increasingly competitive nature of this unique agricultural pursuit.

The Half Moon Bay competition, now in its 52nd year, has evolved into a significant agricultural event that celebrates the extraordinary achievements of dedicated growers who push the boundaries of what’s possible in pumpkin cultivation. What began as a quirky regional contest has transformed into a world championship that attracts top growers and media attention from across the globe. The substantial prize money reflects the growing popularity and prestige of the competition, while also acknowledging the immense time, expertise, and resources required to successfully grow these botanical behemoths. For participants like Dawson, the competition represents the culmination of months of intensive care, monitoring, and adjustment – a process that begins with seed selection in winter and continues through the critical growing months of summer.

Dawson’s victory story resonates beyond the niche community of giant pumpkin enthusiasts because it embodies timeless themes of perseverance, the marriage of technical expertise with passion, and finding joy in unusual pursuits. After coming so close to victory last year only to be disappointed by the slimmest of margins, Dawson returned with renewed determination and improved techniques to claim the championship. His success highlights how specialized knowledge from one field – in his case, engineering – can be creatively applied to seemingly unrelated pursuits with remarkable results. Most importantly, by involving his young children in his passion, Dawson demonstrates how even the most unusual hobbies can become vehicles for family bonding and creating lasting memories. As his massive pumpkin takes its place in the championship records, the true harvest may be the shared experiences and sense of accomplishment that Dawson and his family will cherish long after this year’s growing season has ended.