| Dennis Anderson | |
|---|---|
 Dennis Anderson | |
|
Name |
Dennis Anderson |
|
Date of Birth |
October 14, 1960 |
|
Competing Since |
1982 |
|
Trucks Driven |
Grave Digger (1982-), Mr. Destruction (Stunt in 2001) |
Dennis Anderson is the charismatic driver of Grave Digger, which is the most well known monster truck on the Monster Jam circuit. He has been driving since 1982 and has built more 20 versions of the legendary vehicle with the glowing red headlights.
History
In 1982, Dennis Anderson created his mud racer, Grave Digger. The name came from a with his rivals ("I'll take this old junk and dig you a grave with it"). In 1986 he started racing monster trucks full time. The truck became super popular, despite lack of sponsorship that trucks like Bigfoot (Which was sponsored by Ford.) had. His first major victory was in Saint Paul, Minnesota, against the popular Bigfoot. In 1989 he switched from a 1951 Ford Panel truck to a 1950 Chevrolet Panel truck. Two years later, he debuted Grave Digger (III), the first four-link suspension Grave Digger. In 1988, he sold parts of his interest in the Digger's Dungeon (His shop in Poplar Branch, North Carolina.) to co-owner FELD Motorsports. The shop now also houses trucks like Captain's Curse, Taz, and Madusa. The number one driver ever.
World Finals History
In 2000, Dennis Anderson beat Prowler in the first round, but lost in the second round to King Krunch. In freestyle, he posted the first and only perfect 40, winning the freestyle championship.
In 2001, he lost in the first round to his own teammate, Pablo Huffaker (who was driving Black Smith.). In freestyle, he posted a 36 tying Wrenchead.com for second. After the freestyle competition, he brought out two more Grave Diggers for the encore, followed by a performance by rival Tom Meents in Goldberg.
In 2002, (His twentieth year in the sport.) he made it to the third round for the first time, defeating Black Stallion in Round 1 and Bulldozer in Round 2, but was eliminated by Team Meents in the third round. In freestyle, he posted another 36, finishing second.
In 2003, he was unable to compete due to a hand injury prior to the show in the Wachovia Spetrum, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, so Pablo Huffaker filled in for the World Finals. He got Grave Digger's first pole, but was eliminated by Tom Meents in the first round. He got a 20 in freestyle, finishing 11th.
In 2004, he returned, and with a bang, by winning the racing championship by defeating Team Suzuki in Round 1, King Krunch in Round 2, Bounty Hunter in Round 3, and Black Smith in the finals. He got a 30 in freestyle, tying Bounty Hunter for second.
In 2005, when the field was expanded to 20 trucks, he was put in the second round. He beat Escalade in Round 2, Black Smith in Round 3, Bounty Hunter in Round 4, but was beat by Madusa in the finals. He got a 23 in freestyle, finishing 12th Tied With Power Forward
In 2006, he got the pole, and then beat Maximum Destruction in Round 2, Safe Auto Minimizer in Round 3, Hot Wheels in Round 4 and Bounty Hunter for the championship race. In freestyle, he got a 33, finishing second.
In 2007, after sitting out most of the season due to a shoulder injury, he debuted a 25th Anniversary Grave Digger and beat Escalade in Round 2, Safe Auto Minimizer in Round 3, and Captain's Curse in Round 4, but lost to Batman in the finals. He got a 30 in freestyle, finishing second to teammate Pablo Huffaker in Captain's Curse. After the competition, Dennis Anderson, Randy Brown, Charlie Pauken, Chad Tingler, and Rod Schmidt got behind the wheels of their five Grave Digger trucks and hit the field at the same time for the show's encore.
In 2008, he had trouble in the turns in qualifying and had to start in the first round. He beat Donkey Kong but was eliminated by King Krunch due to a 5 second penalty. He finished fourth in freestyle.
In 2009, he was eliminated in the first round by Air Force Afterburner. He got a 23 in freestyle.
In 2010, he won the World Championship Racing 2010 in the first Grave Digger versus Maximum Destruction final.
In 2011, he had lost in round 3 with bounty hunter. He got a 21 in freestyle.
In 2012 he over turned bye round 2 by Monster Energy. He got a 25 in freestyle.
In 2013 he beat Bad Habit in Round 1 and got a 24 in Freestyle.
In 2014 Grave got defeated in the semi-finals by his son, Adam. In freestyle he got aIn 2005, his son Adam Anderson began his career driving Vette King. At the second show of the 2006 season at the Minneapolis Metrodome, he ran his first show in Taz. At the second show in Minneapolis that same year, he won his first freestyle event. At the inaugural show at Ford Field in Detroit, Adam won freestyle driving 106.7 The Drive (Ironically, Grave Digger broke down and was unable to freestyle at that show). That same year, he qualified for the Monster Jam World Finals and was the only driver starting in the first round to make it to the third round. That same year, Dennis Anderson won the World Racing championship. In 2007 when he was filling in for his injured father in Grave Digger, he had a huge freestyle winning streak. He returned to Taz at the World Finals when Dennis Anderson was ready to drive. In 2008, he won his first freestyle championship ("I'm the World Champion Scott, what am I gonna do?"). In 2009, he qualified fourth, but flipped over coming into the stadium and received a concussion. Chad Tingler filled in and said he hoped he would be on the Yearbook cover again.
In 2010, Ryan Anderson (Adam Anderson his former crew chief.) was going to be driving Son Uva Digger (Which, like Grave Digger, was originally a mud racer), but it turned out he would drive Monster Mutt. Finally, in 2011, Ryan debuted Son-Uva Digger as an encore performance.