When it comes to testosterone, Monster Jam superstar Dennis Anderson has more than his share. It was his fiery, lionhearted attitude that helped him create a legend in motor sports – Grave Digger.
It all started in 1981 when Anderson was working at Currituck Grain in North Carolina and running a hand-built truck at mud bogs. He took pieces from vehicles that had been discarded and used tires from a combine to create his legendary machine. “I built the truck from some junk,” Anderson says, noting that he picked up his handyman skills from his father. “My dad made me skillful in trouble-shooting and fixing things.”
Anderson came up with the Grave Digger name after his vehicle was badmouthed by a competitor with a fancier truck. “I said I will take this junk and I’ll dig you a grave,” Anderson recalls. “I took a can of spray paint and painted Grave Digger on the side of the truck.”
The next Sunday Anderson ran a grudge match with about 10 other racers. “I whipped every one of those wealthy farm boys,” he says. “I had an old tough piece of junk that was geared right for moving through the mud.”
Today, Anderson and Grave Digger are legendary in the world of motor sports. He was the United States Hot Road Association (USHRA) Racing Champion in 1999, World Finals Freestyle Champion in 2000 and World Finals Racing Champion in 2004 and 2006.  He continues to thrill audiences during Monster Jam competitions.
Formerly part of Live Nation Motor Sports, Monster Jam is now part of Feld Entertainment, producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Disney On Ice, Disney Live! and Doodlebops Live! The Virginia-based company acquired Live Nation Motor Sports in September. Feld Motor Sports is now the premier producer and promoter of specialized motor sports, which include the Monster Jam Series, Monster Energy AMA Supercross, AMA Arenacross Series, Freestyle Motocross and International Hot Rod Association-sanctioned events.
“We were interested in the motor-sports business because it’s something I had been looking at for a while,” says Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment. “It’s thrilling when you go to a Monster Jam. It’s an absolute adrenaline rush.”
Feld was introduced to motor sports when he went with his family to the Indiana State Fair as a child. “All I cared about was the daredevil drivers,” he recalls. “I watched that show four times a day. It was something subliminal for me; something I really liked.”
The purchase of Live Nation Motor Sports marked the largest expansion of Feld Entertainment in more than 40 years. “Our business is family entertainment and this is great for families,” says Feld, who hopes to grow the motor sports part of the business by expanding it into international arenas. “We think it will have great appeal in Asia, for instance, where it hasn’t had exposure. We hope to have major events throughout Asia, Europe and Latin America. When you talk about Monster Jam it will be a Two-Headed Monster Jam. We are going to make the events bigger than they are.”
Anderson feels secure working with Feld. “When the Feld family gets hold of something they make it right and they keep it right. I honestly believe we are going to get to another level; that we are going to step it up a notch.”
Even though he was born and raised in the Chesapeake area of Virginia, Anderson has been romping and stomping in North Carolina since his boyhood days. He won his first mud bog in Newlands, N.C. “It had a water hole up to your chest,” he recalls. “It was deep.”
Two years after building his first Grave Digger, an intimidating blue-and-gray machine made from the chassis of a 1951 Ford pickup, Anderson built a second truck and added 66-inch Goodyear “terra tires” that weighed 800 pounds each.
In his early days, he earned the reputation of “One Run Anderson” because he would tear up his trucks during a race. “I drove the thing like a wild man, “says the gutsy competitor. “All anybody had to do was dare me and I would run it into the ground.”
Anderson’s wide-open, reckless attitude had crowds flocking in for the entertainment value. “I was a nut in the truck,” he says, laughing. “I ran freestyle. I’d run over cars.” By 1986, Anderson was touring with Monster on Wheels. “I was crushing cars and doing tugs-of-war,” he says. “I was making $700 a week and that was huge money.”
He sunk the money he saved into a hot new paint job for his beloved truck. He hired artist Fred Bumann, whom he had seen painting a Harley-Davidson during a visit to Virginia Beach, Va. After looking at Grave Digger, Bumann told Anderson he wanted to add something creative to the front end of the truck. When he suggested flames, Anderson flinched, said no and then finally conceded. “He told me he was going to make spooky green flames. They made the truck so awesome that I got an internal tear when I saw it.”
Anderson added red headlights from an old bus that he had converted into a custom motor home for his family. Since then the menacing lights have become synonymous with his truck, thanks to his fans. Some would write in letters to Anderson that they saw him at the speedway running only one headlight. “They would ask if I was only running 50 percent,” he says. “We made a big joke out of it. Now we say Grave Digger is running 100 percent when both red headlights are on.”
Anderson is currently riding in Grave Digger XX. The devilish ear-splitting vehicle has nitrogen shock absorbers to absorb the shock of a 100-foot jump along with a 540-cubic-inch blown alcohol-injected Chevrolet Big Block engine with up to 1,500 horsepower. This new version of Grave Digger can crush just about any competitor in its way but back in 1985 there was only one truck Anderson wanted to crush: Big Foot. “He had the truck to beat,” Anderson says, adding that he conquered Big Foot in 1986 in St. Paul, Minn. “I did it on national television. That was one of my proudest moments.”
By 2000, Anderson had multiple teams and trucks. The popularity of Monster Jam was “off the hook.” It wasn’t just down-home blue-collar fans filling stadiums. People from all walks of life were cheering the drivers on. “Before in the parking lot it was mostly Mustangs and Monte Carlos; now there are Mercedes-Benzes,” he observes.
This year marks Anderson’s 27th year of “chasing a dream.” His racing career hasn’t always been lucrative. “We went broke a couple of times,” he says. What saved him were his fans and promoters. “Corporate money never made the truck go. It was the fans. They would buy T-shirts and hats. I want to truly thank them from the bottom of my heart.”
Anderson feels that the sport is something children and families can relate to easily. Feld agrees. “The motor-sports business rounds out a lot of what we do, like Disney on Ice and Disney Live!,” Feld says. “Those two events appeal a little more to moms and daughters. Motor-sports events appeal more to dads and sons. It allows us to have a broader spectrum of family entertainment than any other entity in the world.”
He believes that people of all ages are fascinated with cars and speed and that they enjoy the affordability of the events, as well as the excitement. “They give people a chance to escape,” Feld says.
Feld couldn’t bring this type of entertainment to the public without the trucking industry. Each of the vehicles in Monster Jam is transported by an 18-wheeler. “We have about 60 to 80 trucks that become the support for everything,” Feld says.
Before each move, the monster trucks’ mammoth tires have to be removed before being packed into the trailer. “We have trucks that come with the events that are absolute mechanic shops,” Feld says. “The cars get damaged doing what they do. They have to repair them on the spot.”
Running a truck like Grave Digger is an expensive proposition. Anderson says the cost of one truck can range around $250,000, which includes more than $100,000 in spare parts. “The engine alone costs $50,000,” he says.
Anderson transports his vehicles using Freightliner tractor trailers. “At our facility in North Carolina we maintain a fleet of trucks,” he says. “In the shop we also build 95 percent of the motors used by our competitors throughout the U.S. We transport them in 53-foot, double-drop 102 trailers. We usually put two monster trucks and eight terra tires in each tractor-trailer.”
Anderson is handing down his love of motor sports to his 22-year-old son, Adam, who drives the Tazmanian Devil (Taz). He is the reigning freestyle champion of the world. “He’s the youngest to conquer the world,” Anderson says. “He also drives for Monster Jam.”
The two share their love of the business. “I live and breathe Grave Digger,” Anderson says. “I just want people to keep on keeping on with us.”

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January 2nd, 2009 | Category: Featured
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