Grave Digger 12 was the twelfth Grave Digger truck, built by Dennis Anderson. The chassis was very different from any previous Grave Digger chassis built before it, having a much longer wheelbase than any of the previous chassis, as well as a more slim body design. The truck was also Anderson's first chassis to be equipped with nitrogen shocks as opposed to coil-over shocks. It was also the first Grave Digger to run the paint template used by all other Grave Digger trucks today, featuring the signature purple mist. Anderson drove the truck until moving to Grave Digger 14 in 2001, with Gary Porter driving the truck until its retirement by the end of 2010.
History[]
Grave Digger 12 was originally constructed in 1996, and began competition the following year with Dennis Anderson behind the wheel. At the time of its construction, the truck served as Anderson's primary truck. Two years later, Anderson and the truck would win the 1999 USHRA Points Championship.
Around the start of the 1999 season, Anderson suffered a back injury following a crash in New Orleans during the freestyle competition. While he would complete the season, he would end up taking time off afterward to recover from the injury. Todd Frolik would drive Grave Digger 12 in his place until late February of 2000, when Norm Miller would take over as the driver in his place. During this time, slight changes would be made to the truck, including a new body mold and the fuel cell being moved to the rear of the truck. Sky Hartley drove the truck in Bangor Maine. Anderson eventually returned to driving Grave Digger 12 in late 2000, for the start of the 2001 season, as Grave Digger 14 was still under construction.
After Anderson transitioned to Grave Digger 14 in 2001, Gary Porter took over the driving duties of 12, until its initial retirement by the end of 2010, with its last show under Porter being held in Wildwood, New Jersey. He would later move to Grave Digger 25 the following year. However, Grave Digger 12 was then converted into a second Grave Digger the Legend for the 2011 season, with Tony Farrell driving. After Farrell retired at the end of the first quarter, Grave Digger 12 was finally retired from competition. The current whereabouts of the chassis are unclear, with it most likely having been scrapped.
World Finals Appearances[]
- 1999 - Dennis Anderson
Trivia[]
- Although this truck was numbered 12, it was actually the thirteenth truck to run under the Grave Digger name. When Pablo Huffaker first began using the Grave Digger name in 1993, he used his existing second Jus' Show N Off chassis with a Grave Digger body, but that truck is not numbered as a Grave Digger chassis.
- Tom Meents once drove Grave Digger 12 at a show in Englishtown, New Jersey in 1999, as a fill-in for Dennis Anderson.
- Grave Digger 12 was brought to Monster Jam World Finals I as a backup truck, in case Dennis Anderson had problems with Grave Digger 7, but it was never used.
Gallery[]
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