HALF MOON BAY, Calif. – A California engineer and gardening enthusiast won the top prize at an annual pumpkin-weighing contest in Northern California after growing a giant jack-o’-lantern gourd weighing 2,346 pounds.

Brandon Dawson, of Santa Rosa, California, clinched the victory Monday at the 52nd World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco.

Dawson pumped his arms in the air and sat his two children on top of the giant pumpkin – roughly the same weight as a small sedan or a large bison – after being crowned this year’s winner.

“My mind is kind of racing because I was in this position last year when I lost by 6 pounds,” he said in an interview.

Dawson, a manufacturing engineer at electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive, said he has been growing massiv

See Full Page