A massive pumpkin grin by Leonardo Urena of Napa, Calif., is lowered on a scale with a forklift on Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in Half Moon Bay, Calif. The pumpkin weighed in at 2,175 lbs., a new California weight record. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

A massive pumpkin grin by Leonardo Urena of Napa, Calif., is lowered on a scale with a forklift on Monday, Oct. 14, 2019, in Half Moon Bay, Calif. The pumpkin weighed in at 2,175 lbs., a new California weight record. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California pumpkin hobbyist has won first place at the 46th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh Off, setting a record for the largest in California.

Leonardo Urena of Napa won $15,000 Monday when his pumpkin logged 2,175 pounds (986 kilograms).

Weigh-off spokesman Timothy Beeman says Urena’s pumpkin is the second largest in the contest’s history. A pumpkin from Washington state weighed nearly 2,400 pounds (1,088 kilograms) and won in Half Moon Bay in 2017.

The 51-year-old says he took up the hobby in 2000 and says he enjoys the pumpkin growing community. He also won the Half Moon Bay contest in 2011.

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Urena says he always tells his pumpkins he’s proud of them and he encourages them to keep growing.