Son of grave digger

Grave Digger (monster truck)

Racing team in Monster Jam

Grave Digger #23, in , Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri

OwnerFeld Entertainment[1][2]
Driver(s)
  • Adam Anderson (Stadium Championship Series West)
  • Krysten Anderson (Arena Championship Series East)
  • Weston Anderson (Arena Championship Series West)
  • Tyler Menninga (Stadium Championship Series East)
  • Matt Cody (Arena Championship Series Central)
  • Charlie Pauken (international)
Home cityKill Devil Hills, North Carolina, U.S.
Year created
No.

built

43
Body style Chevrolet Panel Van
ChassisPatrick Enterprises, Inc. (PEI), Cohen-designed ("in-house built"), Carroll Racing Development (CRD), and Racesource
Engine cubic inch Merlin hp
TransmissionCoan 2-speed transmission
TiresBKT/66" Terra

Grave Digger is a monster truck racing team in the Feld EntertainmentMonster Jam series founded by original driver Dennis Anderson.

Considered one of the most famous and recognized monster trucks of all time, Grave Digger serves as the flagship team of the Monster Jam series, with seven active Grave Digger trucks being driven by different drivers to allow a truck to appear at every Monster Jam event.

History

Grave Digger was originally built in by Dennis Anderson as a mud bogger.

This first truck was assembled from salvaged parts, including the body of a red Ford pickup truck. The truck received its name when Anderson, amicably retorting trash talking from his fellow racers about the truck's salvaged parts, said, "I'll take this old junk and dig you a grave with it." Anderson gained a reputation for an all-or-nothing driving style and quickly became popular at local events.

At one show, a scheduled monster truck failed to show up and Anderson, who already had large tractor tires on the truck, offered to crush cars in the absence of the full-size monster. The promoter accepted and Grave Digger was an instant success as a car crusher and led Anderson to leave mud bogging and pursue monster trucks instead.

In Anderson rebuilt the truck as a true monster truck using a Ford panel van body originally sporting a silver and blue paint scheme.

In Grave Digger first received its famous black graveyard paint scheme. In and Anderson drove the truck primarily at TNT Motorsports races and became a crowd favorite for driving hard despite lacking major funding that better-known teams, like Bigfoot, had.

In , Anderson beat Bigfoot in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on a show taped for ESPN. It was the first major victory for Grave Digger.

Anderson moved to Grave Digger 2 in , with a new Chevy panel van body, while his brother Leslie Anderson drove Grave Digger 1.

Grave digger monster truck ushra Grave Digger. Hidden categories: Webarchive template wayback links Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from August All articles needing additional references Articles needing additional references from February He recovered and beat Jack Willman Jr. In , Dennis' daughter Krysten started driving Grave Digger and the truck celebrated its 35th anniversary.

It was during this time that the reputation for wild passes was developed, and the popularity of the truck increased. It was also during this time that "Bad To The Bone" began to be used as the truck's theme song. TNT recognized his rising popularity and began promoting Grave Digger heavily, especially for races on the Tuff Trax syndicated television series.

This was helped by Bigfoot not racing for points in the championship, leaving Grave Digger as the most popular truck on the tour.

When TNT became a part of the United States Hot Rod Association in , Anderson began running on the USHRA tour and debuted his first four-link truck, Grave Digger 3. Throughout the s, the popularity of the truck grew and forced Anderson to hire other drivers to run other Grave Digger trucks.

Grave Diggers 4, 5 and 8 were built to suit this purpose, and were never driven in any major capacity by Anderson. Anderson drove Grave Digger 7, a direct successor to 3, for most of the decade. It was replaced by Grave Digger 12, well known as the "long wheelbase Digger", which was also the first Grave Digger with purple in the paint job.

In , Dennis Anderson and Grave Digger #7 were heavily featured on the TV series Monster Wars. Anderson led the beginning of the season until breakages and disqualifications; he finished 5th. That year, Anderson won the 2nd USHRA wreck of the year title after he won and rolled over in Lebanon Valley Speedway, racing UFO. There was footage inside the cab of Anderson uttering his famous catch-saying “Yea we turned er over, she’s over, that’s what the people want, that’s what they got, I got a torn up truck!”

In late , Anderson sold the Grave Digger team to Pace Motorsports (now Feld Entertainment).

Anderson continued to drive, being the most visible member of the team, and remained in charge of drivers and of training team members.

In , Anderson became the second driver to attempt the LeDuc Leap, but he damaged the front axle of the truck and attempting to save it, thus ending his run early with a score of in the World Finals at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Anderson competed in his final event on January 14, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. On September 18, , Dennis announced his full retirement from Monster Jam, stating however that he would still be behind the scenes and in the pits.

  • Grave digger monster truck crashes
  • Grave digger monster truck cartoon
  • Grave digger monster truck freestyle
  • Accomplishments

    • Monster Jam Points Champion (Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger #12)
    • Monster Jam World Freestyle Champion (Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger #7)
    • Monster Jam Points Champion (Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger #14)
    • Monster Jam Points Champion (Randy Brown – Grave Digger #18)
    • Monster Jam Points Champion (Gary Porter – Grave Digger #12)
    • Monster Jam World Racing Champion (Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger #19)
    • World Monster Truck Racing League Championship (Gary Porter – Grave Digger #12)
    • Monster Jam World Racing Champion (Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger #20)
    • Monster Jam World Racing Champion (Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger #20)
    • Monster Jam Points Champion (Dennis Anderson – Grave Digger #20)
    • Monster Jam Amsoil Series East Champion (Cole Venard – Grave Digger #31)
    • Monster Jam Amsoil Series West Champion (Morgan Kane – Grave Digger #25)
    • Monster Jam FS1 Series Champion (Adam Anderson – Grave Digger #32)
    • Monster Jam World Racing Champion (Morgan Kane – Grave Digger #25)
    • Monster Jam World Freestyle Champion (Adam Anderson – Grave Digger #32)
    • Monster Jam Triple Threat Series East Champion (Tyler Menninga – Grave Digger #23)
    • Monster Jam Triple Threat Series West Champion (Cole Venard – Grave Digger #31)
    • Monster Jam Stadium Tour Champion (Charlie Pauken – Grave Digger #27)
    • Monster Jam Arena Tour Champion (Pablo Huffaker – Grave Digger #28)
    • Monster Jam Arena Tour Champion (Randy Brown – Grave Digger #29)
    • Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 2 Champion (Charlie Pauken – Grave Digger #27)
    • Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 3 Champion (Morgan Kane – Grave Digger #33)
    • Monster Jam Triple Threat Series Central Champion (Tyler Menninga – Grave Digger #32)
    • Monster Jam World Racing Champion (Adam Anderson – Grave Digger #35)
    • Monster Jam Triple Threat Series West Champion (Tyler Menninga – Grave Digger #36)
    • Monster Jam Triple Threat Series Central Champion (Brandon Vinson – Grave Digger #31)
    • Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 2 Champion (Adam Anderson – Grave Digger #35)
    • Monster Jam Arena Championship Series Champion (Randy Brown – Grave Digger #39)
    • Monster Jam Stadium Series Yellow Champion (Charlie Pauken – Grave Digger #27)
    • Monster Jam Triple Threat Series East Champion (Tyler Menninga – Grave Digger #36)
    • Monster Jam Triple Threat Series West Champion (Brandon Vinson – Grave Digger #31)
    • Monster Jam Arena Championship Series Champion (Randy Brown – Grave Digger #39)
    • Momster Jam Arena Championship Series Central Champion (Krysten Anderson - Grave Digger #41)
    • Monster Jam Arena Championship Series East Champion (Weston Anderson - Grave Digger #37)
    • Monster Jam Arena Championship Series West Champion (Brandon Vinson - Grave Digger #36)
    • Monster Jam Stadium Series Blue Champion (Tyler Menninga - Grave Digger #39)
    • Monster Jam Stadium Series Red Champion (Adam Anderson - Grave Digger #35)
    • Monster Jam World Finals XXIII Freestyle Champion (Tyler Meninga - Grave Digger #39)

    Trucks

    There have been a total of 43 Grave Digger monster trucks built.

    There are Five trucks currently competing.

    • Grave Digger #1 – The original truck was first built as a mud racing truck from a Ford pickup, then rebuilt as a true monster truck in using a Ford panel van body. The rebuilt version, nicknamed "Grandma", is on display at the Digger's Dungeon shop. A replica of the original configuration using parts saved from the rebuild was assembled to make an appearance at World Finals 8 in as part of a 25th anniversary celebration of Grave Digger.

      It is also on display at Digger's Dungeon.

    • Grave Digger #2 – Built in from a Chevrolet panel van, which became the model for all subsequent Grave Digger bodies. The steel body was soon replaced by a fiberglass replica.

    • All grave digger trucks
    • Original grave digger
    • Grave digger driver dies
    • Grave digger 41
    • It was heavily damaged in a crash that snapped its frame in late , and retired from full-time competition. In , parts, including the original steel body, were used to construct a special truck to allow Dennis Anderson to perform a stunt where he drove across Currituck Sound for charity. Fully restored in by Adam Anderson using the original body, it is on display at Digger's Dungeon.

    • Grave Digger #3 – Debuted in First truck to use a steel-tube-framed, four-link-suspension chassis.

      It was sold in late The truck is currently owned by Jimmy Durr and known as "Slag Hag".

    • Grave Digger #4 – This truck was operated from to by Jack Koberna as part of a franchise agreement for West Coast events. It was built with a traditional frame and leaf-spring suspension chassis with a fiberglass body.

      After Koberna's franchise ended, Pablo Huffaker signed a similar deal, and used his second Jus' Show'N Off truck (a tube-framed truck built in ) with the body from #4.

      Grave digger monster truck biography of donald February Learn how and when to remove this message. Read Edit View history. This was helped by Bigfoot not racing for points in the championship, leaving Grave Digger as the most popular truck on the tour. In late he broke his kneecap when he hit a wall at the Rosemont Horizon in Chicago , forcing him to sit out the winter season.

      Huffaker drove it as Grave Digger from to

    • Grave Digger #5 – Built in using a new frame with parts salvaged from #2, including the fiberglass replica body and leaf-spring suspension. It was only used until , and it became a display truck. Parts were removed for the restoration of #2, and the frame was sold.
    • Grave Digger #6 – Built in as the "Street Digger", a street-legal display truck.

      Parts were later used to build a mega truck that is now known as "Old Number Six".

    • Grave Digger #7 – Debuted in , extensively rebuilt in , and retired in Currently on permanent display at Digger's Dungeon.
    • Grave Digger #8 – Debuted in , retired in Used as a display truck as part of Cedar Fair amusement parks' "Monster Jam Thunder Alley" experience in
    • Grave Digger #9 – Built in as a ride truck, it was sold and is now the ride truck Extinguisher.
    • Grave Digger #10 – Built in by Pablo Huffaker.

      Became Radical Rescue in before being retired in

    • Grave Digger #11 – Built in as a ride truck. It was rebuilt in and currently runs as a Grave Digger ride truck.
    • Grave Digger #12 – Debuted in Originally retired in as a Grave Digger after a crash in Wildwood, New Jersey, the truck was refurbished and ran as Grave Digger the Legend in as a backup truck before being finally retired that year.
    • Grave Digger #13 – Skipped per superstitions regarding the number 13, but used as a nickname for Grave Digger #7 after its substantial rebuild.
    • Grave Digger #14 – Debuted in Retired in following a crash in Philadelphia.
    • Grave Digger #15 – Debuted , retired in Currently on display at Digger's Dungeon.
    • Grave Digger #16 – Built by Pablo Huffaker, retired in
    • Grave Digger #17 – Pro Modifieddrag racer sponsored by the team.

      (The IHRA and USHRA were previously under the same ownership.) No longer racing.

    • Grave Digger #18 – Debuted , retired in
    • Grave Digger #19 – Debuted , retired in
    • Grave Digger #20 – Debuted , retired in
    • Grave Digger #21 – Display truck.

      Grave digger monster truck nc The truck received its name when Anderson, amicably retorting trash talking from his fellow racers about the truck's salvaged parts, said, "I'll take this old junk and dig you a grave with it. Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface. According to the archived Monster Jam website, Dennis stated that his actual favorite food was seafood. American monster truck driver born

      The truck is mounted in a trailer where fans can sit in the cab of the truck.

    • Grave Digger #22 – Originally ran as the Batman monster truck from to before becoming Grave Digger # Retired in
    • Grave Digger #23 – Debuted , retired in
    • Grave Digger #24 – Debuted , retired in
    • Grave Digger #25 – Debuted , retired in
    • Grave Digger #26 – Debuted , retired in
    • Grave Digger #27 – Debuted , retired in
    • Grave Digger #28 – Built by Pablo Huffaker in Retired from competition in May when Huffaker retired as a driver.

      Now a display truck.

    • Grave Digger #29 – Debuted Currently serves as a back-up truck, used mostly for international shows.
    • Grave Digger #30 – Debuted Retired in when Dennis Anderson retired, as this was the last truck he personally drove.
    • Grave Digger #31 – Debuted Retired in
    • Grave Digger #32 – Originally built in as "Grave Digger: The Legend", a retro-themed truck driven by Adam Anderson through the season, it was renamed and numbered in when Adam Anderson joined the Grave Digger team full time.

      Retired in

    • Grave Digger #33 – Debuted Driven by Morgan Kane until Was driven by Weston Anderson until its retirement in after a crash in Hampton, Virginia.
    • Grave Digger #34 – Debuted Was driven by Krysten Anderson until Was retired after crash in Glendale, Arizona. It was repaired in and used at World Finals XXI for freestyle by Adam Anderson.

      It is used as a backup truck.

    • Grave Digger #35 – Debuted Retired in
    • Grave Digger #36 – Debuted Currently driven by Matt Cody.
    • Grave Digger #37 – Debuted Currently driven by Weston Anderson.
    • Grave Digger #38 – Debuted Backup truck. Was featured in the music video "Miles on it" sung by Kane Brown and Marshmello
    • Grave Digger #39 – Debuted retired
    • Grave Digger #40 – Built as a ride truck for Cedar Fair amusement parks' "Monster Jam Thunder Alley" experience.
    • Grave Digger #41 – Debuted late Retired in
    • Grave Digger # Debuted in Glendale, Arizona, in late Driven by Adam Anderson
    • Grave Digger #43 Will debut in early Will be driven by Krysten Anderson.
    • Grave Digger #44 Will debut in early Will be driven by Tyler Menninga.

    Hallmarks

    Grave Digger's origins, the imagery associated with the truck, and the truck's wild reputation, are all considered part of the mystique of the truck and have contributed to its continued popularity.

    The paint scheme, which combines green flames, letters dripping blood, a foggy graveyard scene with tombstones bearing names of competitors, a haunted house silhouetted by a full moon, and a giant skull-shaped ghost, has not strayed far from the first incarnation of the paintwork from

    Perhaps the most visible trademark is the red headlights which glow menacingly whenever the truck is in competition.

    The lights were first used when Anderson was building a transporter out of a school bus and removed the red stop lights. After realizing they would fit in the headlights of the van, he installed them and the truck has had them ever since.

    Anderson became known for destructive qualifying passes which entertained the crowd but on many occasions put the truck out of competition for the rest of the event.

    With the advent of freestyle, Anderson gained a means by which he could entertain the crowd with wild stunts while also focusing on winning races.

    Grave digger monster truck museum He was invited to the inaugural Monster Jam World Finals , he beat Prowler in the first round but lost in the second round to King Krunch. The truck is a favorite exhibition vehicle at mud bogs as it is a combination of monster mud vehicle with the monster mud driver. According to one quote from the video, his favorite drink is implied to be Mountain Dew. Sign In Don't have an account?

    Today, Grave Digger, no matter which driver is appearing, is traditionally the last truck to freestyle at most events, providing the "grand finale" which caps off the show.

    The immense popularity of Grave Digger has made it the flagship truck of Monster Jam, and in some cases monster trucks in general.

    There is much debate over whether Grave Digger has taken over the title of "Most Popular Monster Truck" from Bigfoot. As a result, the Grave Digger vs. Bigfoot rivalry is one of the strongest in the sport, despite the fact that the teams have not raced each other regularly since the late s.

    Drivers

    Current drivers

    • Adam Anderson – Currently driving Grave Digger #42 (–present)
    • Krysten Anderson – Currently driving Grave Digger #43 (–present)
    • Weston Anderson – Currently driving Grave Digger #37 (–present)
    • Tyler Menninga – Currently driving Grave Digger #44 (–present)
    • Matt Cody – Currently driving Grave Digger #36 (–present)

    Digger's Dungeon

    Digger’s Dungeon located in Poplar Branch, North Carolina,[3] is the official home of Grave Digger.

    Besides the usual gift shop, there are several Grave Diggers located outside on display, including Grave Digger 1.

    Grave digger monster truck crashes: In freestyle, he scored a 36, tying Wrenchead. Grave Digger. As for Dennis himself, he had trouble in the turns in qualifying and had to start in the first round. He debuted Grave Digger 20 in Minneapolis.

    There are also various pieces of other Grave Diggers hanging throughout the store, all of which have been damaged from various accidents.

    Digger’s Dungeon hosted the No Limit R/C Monster Truck World Finals, taking place from May 28 to May The RC World Finals is the largest RC Monster Truck event in the world.

    See also

    References

    External links