Adam Anderson (Born December 5th, 1985) is a monster truck driver out of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. He is the driver of Grave Digger and is the eldest child of Dennis Anderson. Adam is also known for driving Taz and Grave Digger the Legend. He is also the most decorated driver in the Anderson family, having a total of five world championships (3 racing and 2 freestyle).
Career[]
Adam got his start in monster trucks by serving as a crew member for Lupe Soza.
In 2005, Adam began crewing for Bobby Zee and Lee O'Donnell, travelling to various events throughout the season. This would lead to him making his driving debut at the age of 19 behind the wheel of Vette King in Uniondale. The following week in Salt Lake City, Adam would clean sweep racing on all the shows, his first victory being shown in an Around the USHRA segment. At the end of the year, Adam got his first full-time ride for the 2006 season, that being Taz. He made his official television debut in Minneapolis just two days before his 20th birthday; this was also his first stadium event. Unfortunately, he rolled over before hitting an obstacle in his first stadium freestyle performance.
In 2006, Adam entered his first full-time season behind the wheel of Taz. He would redeem himself in the second Minneapolis show by winning freestyle in his very first stadium victory. Adam would pick up another freestyle victory at the first ever event in Detroit driving 106.7 The Drive. At the end of the season, Adam made his World Finals debut at World Finals VII, the first appearance of many to come. During that year's European Tour, he picked up his first racing victory in the stadiums in Arnhem, later going three for three in all the racing competitions at the event.
In 2007 during the Grave Digger 25th Anniversary tour, his father Dennis would suffer a harsh injury during the first event of the season, causing him to have to sit out for the whole season. Adam would fill-in for his father, winning freestyle in Houston, Atlanta, Tampa and Jacksonville, racing in Phoenix, and a double down in Minneapolis.
In 2008, Adam debuted a new chassis for Taz, which was designed after Grave Digger 20 and in many ways was a precursor to the CRD chassis of today. Later that year, Adam would become the youngest driver to win a World Finals championship by winning freestyle at World Finals IX at the age of 22, which is still the record today.
After winning the title, however, Adam would go through what is dubbed his "World Finals curse", as for three World Finals appearances after winning the title, Adam would have very horrible luck at said event.
- At World Finals X, he clipped the Jersey barrier and crashing during racing, making unable to defend his title.
- At World Finals XI, he would win a race, but would crash at the end. He would be able to freestyle though, but crashed after his first hit. For the encore, he drove Grave Digger the Legend on a spare Grave Digger chassis. He was supposed to crash into his dad & Ryan in mid air, but flipped before this could happen.
- At World Finals XII, which notably was the year that Adam had debuted the new Grave Digger the Legend truck, Adam would lose his first race after a steering issue, and would score low in freestyle after pulling off a save, breaking the truck in the process.
In 2012, Adam drove Grave Digger the Legend at the 30th anniversary encore at World Finals XIII. Although not winning anything at said event, it would be as unlucky of an event as the previous three World Finals. Later, in Arnhem, Holland, he drove Thor for the Team Marvel vs. Team Destruction show.
In 2013, Adam would break through and win the world racing title at World Finals XIV.
In 2014, Adam drove Doom’s Day for an encore in Tampa, Florida, before he would defend his racing championship at World Finals XV.
In 2015, Adam drove Grave Digger the Legend for its final year of competition before being retired. In October, he would drive Grave Digger for the Australian tour, which would foreshadow his move to the Grave Digger team.
In 2016, Adam would drive Grave Digger 32, which was converted from his Grave Digger the Legend chassis, on the FS1 Championship Series and won it with a total of 24 points, where he would be very dominant during the series. He later, though very controversial, won the freestyle title at World Finals XVII with 33 points.
In 2017, Adam drove Grave Digger 32 on the FS1 Championship West Series. This year, however, he finished third in the points standings. He was invited to World Finals XVIII, but would not win any titles however, he drove Grave Digger the Legend again for the 35th anniversary encore. In December, he would debut Grave Digger 35 at the final stadium event of the year, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In 2018, Adam competed on Stadium Championship Series 1, where he finished in second place behind Neil Elliott. He would later receive an invite to World Finals XIX, where he would go on to win the racing title, beating Tyler Menninga, ironically in Grave Digger as well. He would win his fifth title, becoming the most decorated Anderson in the family, and second most decorated overall, behind Tom Meents.
In 2019, Adam competed on Stadium Championship Series 2, where he would eventually win the series. Notably though, for the last event of the series in Philadelphia, Ryan Anderson, his brother, would fill-in for Adam, where Ryan would officially clinch the series for Adam, which gave him an invite to compete at World Finals XX.
In 2020, Adam competed on Stadium Series Red and finished 3rd in the series, which was cut short due to complications onset by the COVID-19 pandemic. In June, he broke the record for the longest Wheelie in a monster truck at 624 ft. 10.44 in, breaking the previous record of 550 ft. 6.61 in.
In 2021, Adam temporarily moved to Megalodon in the lone Stadium Championship Series, as his sister Krysten Anderson piloted Grave Digger 34 in the same series. After Glendale, Adam would return to the Grave Digger team driving Grave Digger 35 in Indianapolis and winning an overall event championship.
In 2022, Adam competed on Stadium Series Red. Throughout the year, Adam had a rivalry with Tom Meents and Todd LeDuc for the series win, which would eventually come down to the final event at Salt Lake City. Adam would finish 2nd in the standings, beating Todd LeDuc, but losing to the eventual champion Tom Meents, and would receive an invite to World Finals XXI. Adam would notably borrow his sister's old chassis for freestyle to preserve #35 for the 40th anniversary encore. He was also scheduled to compete in Nashville and Kansas City but had others fill-in for him due to him feeling under the weather. At the October Houston show, Adam attempted the new "Tombstone" move, created by Brandon Vinson.
In 2023, Adam competes on Stadium Series Red again & wins it, giving him an invite to World Finals XXII. He competed on Team Neon for the Superstar Challenge in Anaheim on November 11. In the best trick competition, he completed a reverse backflip.
In 2024, Adam competes with his brother Ryan for the first time during the first quarter season since 2021 on Stadium Championship Series West. Following the event in Detroit, he would fall ill, leading to Charlie Pauken to return to the team to fill-in for him in Arlington, El Paso and Birmingham. His brother Ryan drove his truck in Albuquerque, New Mexico, making his first arena appearance in years and Tyler Menninga drives Adam's truck in Seattle. Adam returns to competition in Nampa, Idaho after his sickness in Detroit. He would be invited to World Finals XXlll in Los Angeles. Adam finished 2nd in the final standings. In Kansas City, Adam was involved in a tie with his brother Ryan his score of 9.651 for the win in freestyle. Ryan would get the tie breaker win by going to the 4th number after the decimal point. In October, Adam would debut Grave Digger 42, where he would win the overall in Glendale despite not winning a competition in said event.
In 2025, Adam once again competed with his brother Ryan, once again on Stadium Championship Series West. He would finish 4th in the final standings. Adam was invited to compete at the World Finals, where he brought back Grave Digger the Legend. However, this was not the body style that Adam used to run, with the 1950 Chevrolet panel van mold used instead.
Trivia[]
- In 2022, a picture of Adam would be used for his former crew chief Cole Venard's truck, The Black Pearl. It was used on the truck's tailgate.
- Adam's biggest rival on the track is his brother, Ryan.
- Adam Anderson became the first second-generation Anderson to match his father's four world championship titles in 2016. Two years later, he would become the most successful driver in the Anderson family by World Finals titles, earning his fifth in 2018.
- Ryan Anderson would also accomplish this feat in 2025, winning his fifth title overall.
World Finals appearances[]
- 2006 - Taz
- 2007 - Taz
- 2008 - Taz (Won freestyle)
- 2009 - Taz (Racing only)
- 2010 - Taz; Grave Digger 12 (Encore only)
- 2011 - Grave Digger the Legend
- 2012 - Grave Digger the Legend
- 2013 - Grave Digger the Legend (Won racing)
- 2014 - Grave Digger the Legend (Won racing)
- 2015 - Grave Digger the Legend
- 2016 - Grave Digger 32 (Won freestyle)
- 2017 - Grave Digger 32
- 2018 - Grave Digger 35 (Won racing)
- 2019 - Grave Digger 35
- 2022 - Grave Digger 35 (Racing only); Grave Digger 34 (Freestyle only)
- 2023 - Grave Digger 35 (Main field)
- 2024 - Grave Digger 35 (Main field)
- 2025 - Grave Digger the Legend (Main field)
All-Star Challenge appearances[]
- 2019 - Grave Digger 35 (Team Fire)
- 2023 - Grave Digger 35 (Neon) (Team Neon)
Accomplishments[]
- 2006 Monster Jam Upset of the Year award.
- 2007 Monster Jam Stadium Freestyle of the Year award.
- 2008 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion.
- Youngest driver to win a Monster Jam world championship. (World Finals IX; 2008, 22 years old)
- 2010 Monster Jam Save of the Year award.
- 2011 Monster Jam Extreme Air of the Year award.
- 2011 Arena Freestyle of the Year.
- 2013 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion.
- 2014 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion.
- 2014 Monster Jam Stadium Wheelie of the Year award.
- 2015 Monster Jam WOW Factor of the Year award.
- 2016 Fox Sports 1 Championship Series champion.
- 2016 Monster Jam World Finals freestyle champion.
- 2018 Monster Jam World Finals racing champion.
- 2019 Monster Jam Stadium Championship Series 2 champion.
- Longest wheelie in a monster truck. (624 ft.)
- Most monster trucks jumped over in another monster truck. (8 trucks) This would be broken by Colton Eichelberger in ThunderROARus at World Finals XXII.
- 2023 Stadium Tour Red champion.
- 2024 Donut of the Year.
Gallery[]
