 |
Monster JaM Tickets
Grave Digger Information Online.
|
| Grave 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. |
Monster Jam : Grave Digger > Grave Digger • Monster Jam Tickets - Grave Diggerat Front Row King |
|
|
Grave Digger Monster Truck
|
Monster Jam - Grave Digger
Everybody young and old loves to go out to see Grave Digger. Tickets for Monster Jam can be purchased by clicking on Monster Jam tickets anywhere on the site. If you looking for other tickets besides Monster Jam, click the links below.
Grave Digger at Monster Jam
Monster Jam Schedule
Bangor, ME - Cumberland County Civic Center
Syracuse, NY - NY State Fairgrounds
Halifax, NS - Scotia Speedworld
Sioux Falls, SD - Huset's Spedway
Bradford, VT - Bear Ridge Speedway
Quincy, IL - Quincy Raceways
Mechanicsburg, PA - Williams Grove Speedway
Hagerstown, MD - Hagerstown Speedway
West Lebanon, NY - Lebanon Valley Speedway
Corpus Christi, TX - American Bank Center
Sunrise, FL - Bank Atlantic Center
Columbus, OH - Nationwide Arena
Atlanta, GA - Georga Dome
Toronto, ON - Rogers Centre
Tampa, FL - Raymond James Stadium
San Diego, CA - Qualcomm Stadium
Greenville, SC - Bi-Lo Center
Orlando, FL - Citrus Bowl
Indianapolis, IN - RCA Dome
Charleston, WV - Charleston Civic Center
Fargo, ND - Fargodome
Peoria, IL - Peoria Civic Center
Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre
Portland, OR - Rose Garden
Roanoke, VA - Roanoke Civic Center
Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Spokane, WA - Spokane Arena
St. Louis, MO - Edward Jones Dome
Baltimore, MD - 1st Mariner Arena
Jacksonville, FL - Alltel Stadium
London, ON - John Labatt Centre
Charlottesville, VA - John Paul Jones Arena
Wikes-Barre, PA - Wachovia Arena
Las Vegas, NV - Sam Boyd Stadium |
Monster Jam Grave Digger
Grave 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.
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.
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.
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.
|
|
|
|
Grave Digger :
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.
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.
Monster Jam:
Because of the large number of events and massive popularity of the series, the list of trucks competing in the series is the longest of any promoter. The most popular trucks, which are usually featured on the television show, come from three primary groups: Trucks (or names) which are owned by Live Nation (such as Grave Digger and Madusa), independents or "privateers" (such as Gun Slinger and Avenger), and "corporate privateers" Monster Jam Tickets which are independently owned but sponsored by major companies (such as Bounty Hunter, sponsored by CSK Auto, and T-Maxx, sponsored by Traxxas). As some trucks are owned by Live Nation, a constant criticism is that events have the deck stacked in favor of their trucks, if not completely rigged. There is little evidence to Monster Jam Tickets support the claim, however, and Live Nation maintains that events are run fairly.
Fabricators at Digger's Dungeon recently finished the latest in the fleet of Grave Digger trucks: Grave Digger XXI. But this brand new race-ready vehicle won't be driven by Dennis, nor Pablo, nor any of the other Grave Digger drivers. In fact, it will be driven by the most important people in the nearly quarter century history of the team: its fans.
|
About Us l Contact Us l Site Map l Policies
1-866-226-6811
|
|