Grave Digger
Grave Digger 19 racing in Arizona
Owner	Live Nation
Driver	Dennis Anderson, Gary Porter, Randy Brown, Charlie Pauken, Pablo Huffaker, Rod Schmidt, Chad Tingler, Adam Anderson
Style	1950 Chevy Panel truck
Engine	540 CI Merlin
Home city	Kill Devil Hills, NC
Year created	1982

Grave Digger (often referred to as simply Digger) is the name of a team of monster trucks currently racing in the USHRA Monster Jam series. There are several Grave Diggers being driven by different drivers to allow them to make appearances at more events, but their flagship driver is creator Dennis Anderson. Arguably the most popular truck currently running, Grave Digger is considered to be one of the most influential monster trucks of all time. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1488x1009, 1308 KB) Taken by Jot Powers, 1/2006 File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Grave Digger (truck) Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from... Chevrolet, or Chevy, is a brand of automobile that is now part of the General Motors group. ... Kill Devil Hills is a town located in Dare County, North Carolina. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ... 2005 Bigfoot monster truck racing in Arizona A monster truck is an automobile, typically a pickup truck, which has been modified or purposely built with extremely large wheels and suspension. ... The United States Hot Rod Association is an organization owned by Clear Channel Communications and it markets various motorsports. ... Monster Jam is a television show and live event created by Live Nation (formerly Clear Channel Entertainment). ... Dennis Anderson (born October 10, 1960) is a professor at Moorpark College, he freaking sucks at teaching. ...

History

Grave Digger was originally conceived by Anderson as a mud bogger. This first truck was a red 1952 Ford pickup truck, which was later converted to a silver and blue 1951 Ford Panel Truck. The truck received its name when Anderson, amicably trash talking with his fellow racers, said the now famous line, "I'll take this old junk and dig you a grave with it", a reference to the age of his old pickup in comparison to their relatively modern trucks. 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 1986 Grave Digger underwent a transformation to complete monster truck and first received its famous black graveyard paint scheme. In 1987 and 1988 Anderson drove the truck primarily at TNT Motorsports races and became a crowd favorite for driving hard despite lacking major funding that more well known teams, like Bigfoot, had. In 1987, Anderson beat Bigfoot in St. Paul, MN on a show taped for ESPN. It was the first major victory for Grave Digger. Bigfoot is known as the original monster truck and remains the most popular truck in the United States. ... State capitol building in Saint Paul Saint Paul is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Minnesota in the United States of America. ... ESPN/ESPN-DT, formerly an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an [[United States|Amer<nowiki>Insert non-formatted text here--68. ...

With a points championship now in place, Anderson moved to Grave Digger 2 in 1989, with a new 1950 Chevy panel van body. It was during this time that the reputation for wild passes was developed, and the popularity of the truck increased. TNT recognised 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 1989 championship, leaving Grave Digger as the most popular truck on the tour. Chevrolet, or Chevy, is a brand of automobile that is now part of the General Motors group. ...

When TNT became a part of the USHRA in 1991, Anderson began running on the USHRA tour and debuted his first four-link truck, Grave Digger 3. Throughout the 1990s, 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 paintjob.

In late 1998, Anderson sold the Grave Digger team to Clear Channel (now Live Nation). Anderson continues to drive and still is the most visible member of the team. However, the Grave Digger shop in Grandy, NC now also houses the other trucks which Live Nation owns. A clear channel, in the general sense, is a communications channel (such as a radio frequency) on which only one transmitter operates at a time. ... Live Nation NYSE: LYV is a concert company based in the United States of America. ... Grandy is an unincorporated community in Currituck County, North Carolina, USA. It is located along US 158 on Buck Island between the Currituck Sound (on the east) and the North River (on the west). ...

Accomplishments

• 1999 Monster Jam Points Champion (Dennis Anderson)
• 2000 Monster Jam Freestyle champion (Dennis Anderson)
• 2002 Monster Jam Points Champion (Dennis Anderson)
• 2003 Monster Jam Points Champion (Gary Porter)
• 2004 Monster Jam Points Champion (Randy Brown)
• 2004 Monster Jam World Racing Champion (Dennis Anderson)
• 2006 Monster Jam World Racing Champion (Dennis Anderson)

Gary Porter also won the WMTRL Championship in 2004 driving Grave Digger #12. (Link to final points standings http://webpages.atlanticbb.net/~bmvwmtrl/standings2004.gif )

Regular Grave Digger driver Pablo Huffaker also won the 2007 Monster Jam Freestyle Championship driving Captain's Curse. Captains Curse is a monster truck that races on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit, where it is the defending Monster Jam World Freestyle Champion. ...

Trucks

There have been a total of 21 Grave Digger trucks built. The numbering scheme skips 13 because of superstition. For other uses, see Superstition (disambiguation). ...

• Grave Digger 1 - Original truck. Truck has been taken apart and sits in back of the shop. (Recently made an appearance at World Finals 8 (2007)
• Grave Digger 2 - Leaf-sprung race truck. Currently rebuilt and out front of the shop to draw in visitors
• Grave Digger 3 - 4-link race truck. Recently retired after a rebuild to Inferno in 1999.
• Grave Digger 4 - Leaf-sprung race truck, only run for a few months. Sold, running now as "Mr. Big".
• Grave Digger 5 - Race truck, only run for a few months. Chassis sold, body sits in the team store for children to climb on.
• Grave Digger 6 - Rebuilt as Son Of A Digger mud bogger.
• Grave Digger 7 - 4-link race truck. Retired.
• Grave Digger 8 - 4-link race truck. Retired from competition, currently on display as part of a touring museum exhibit on monster trucks.
• Grave Digger 9 - Ride truck, sold and is now the "Extinguisher" ride truck.
• Grave Digger 10 - 4-link race truck. Run by Pablo Huffaker, has been retired and scrapped.
• Grave Digger 11 - Ride truck, sold and is now the War Wizard ride truck.
• Grave Digger 12 - 4-link race truck. Currently driven by Gary Porter.
• Grave Digger 14 - 4-link race truck. Currently driven by Chad Tingler.
• Grave Digger 15 - 4-link race truck. Currently driven by Charlie Pauken.
• Grave Digger 16 - 4-link race truck. Currently driven by Pablo Huffaker.
• Grave Digger 17 - Pro Modified drag racer sponsored by the team. (The IHRA and USHRA are under the same ownership.) No longer racing.
• Grave Digger 18 - 4-link race truck. Currently driven by Rod Schmidt.
• Grave Digger 19 - 4-link race truck. Currently driven by Randy Brown.
• Grave Digger 20 - 4-link race truck. Currently driven by Dennis Anderson.
• Grave Digger 21 - "Advance Auto Parts Grave Digger Experience" truck, a custom built 4-link truck which allows people to climb into the cab, where there is a video presentation. This truck is used as a display truck for Advance, and is unique in that it is trailered with the monster tires on, thus needing narrowed axles and other components.

The Monster Jam World Finals is an annual monster truck event held in late March at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, NV. It is the championship event of the USHRA Monster Jam series. ... Inferno is a monster truck that races on the USHRA Monster Jam circuit, and is owned by Live Nation. ... Gary Porter is a monster truck driver that races on the USHRA circuit. ... Pro Modified, also known as Pro Mod, is a class or division in the sport of drag racing which began in the IHRA sanctioning body. ... Drag racing is a sport in which cars race down a track with a set distance as fast as possible. ... A typical Advance Auto Parts store. ...

Trademarks

Grave Digger is well known for its many crashes.

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. Although originally a Ford, the 1950 Chevy Panel Van body is now considered the traditional Grave Digger body style and is not likely to be changed in the foreseeable future. Likewise, the paint scheme, combining 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 mountainside, is considered a part of what Grave Digger is and, although being tweaked over the years, has not strayed far from the first incarnation of the paintwork from 1986. Image File history File linksMetadata Diggercrash. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Diggercrash. ... Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. ... Tombstone most commonly means a headstone marking the grave of a deceased person. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Full Moon. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ...

Perhaps the most visible trademarks are 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. During the TNT days, announcer Army Armstrong started telling fans that when the red lights were turned on, the truck was 100% ready to run and Anderson was going to go all out. Fans began to take notice and Anderson, who would keep the lights off if one was not working properly, began receiving letters saying that he was not at 100% at certain shows because the lights were not on. To this day, the lights are turned on for every run. A SAAB headlight with combination projector/reflector optics A headlight or headlamp is a lamp, usually attached to the front of a vehicle such as a car, with the purpose of illuminating the road ahead during periods of low visibility, such as night or precipitation. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Grave Digger 7 with part of its body missing

The reputation Grave Digger gained shot the truck to superstardom in the 1980s and continues to draw fans today. In the late 1980s Anderson gained the nickname "One Run Anderson" for his spectacular but often destructive qualifying passes which entertained the crowd but 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. 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. These freestyles often end up in rollover crashes, at much higher rates than other trucks. The crowd typically loves to see the wrecks but some criticise the team for what they feel is the glorification of crashing. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1913x1253, 1344 KB) Monster Truck: Grave Digger - Taken by Tammy Powers 1/2005 File links The following pages link to this file: Grave Digger (truck) ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1913x1253, 1344 KB) Monster Truck: Grave Digger - Taken by Tammy Powers 1/2005 File links The following pages link to this file: Grave Digger (truck) ... Freestyle, in Monster Truck competition, is an event where the goal is to perform tricks and stunts with the truck in order to demonstrate driver skill and truck capability. ...

The immense popularity of Grave Digger has made it the poster child for 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 the trucks only race each other a few times each year. The phrase poster child originally referred to a child afflicted by some disease or deformity whose picture is used on posters to raise money for charitable purposes; she was the poster child for muscular dystrophy. However, the term is usually used metaphorically, meaning a shining example or model of its...

World Finals Scores

2000:40,2001:36,2002:36,2003:20,2004:30,2005:23,2006:33,2007:30

Images

Drivers

Rod Schmidt in Phoenix, January, 2006. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1579x1491, 1741 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Grave Digger (truck) Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used...

 and dennis anderson 

See also

• List of monster trucks

Aces High - Shell-Camino==A== Aftershock Air Force Airborne Ranger American Dream American Guardian Annihilator Arachnaphobia Avenger Awesome Kong Backdraft Bad News Batman Big Dawg Bigfoot Black Stallion Blacksmith Blue Thunder Bob & Tom Boogey Van Bounty Hunter Broker, The Brutus Bulldozer Bustin Loose Carolina Crusher Captains Curse Clydesdale Cowboy...

External links

• Official Website
• USHRA entry