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 Anderson at his first ever competition.
Adam got his start by crewing for Lupe Soza. Adam would debut in 2005 at age 19, driving Vette King in Uniondale and would compete in smaller and untelevised arena events throughout the year. One of these show appearances was featured in an Around the USHRA segment during the 2005 season. At the end of 2005, Adam was made the driver of the new Taz truck for the 2006 season, making his television debut in Minneapolis, just two days before his 20th birthday. Unfortunately for Adam, he rolled over before hitting an obstacle during his first stadium freestyle performance.
He would make up for his Minneapolis performance by winning freestyle in Detroit in 2006, driving the 106.7 The Drive sponsored truck. He later made his first World Finals appearance at World Finals VII.
During the 2007 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 a majority of the tour. Adam would fill-in for his dad during the tour, winning a multitude of events along the way.
2008 saw the debut of a new chassis underneath 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 Monster Jam World Finals IX at the age of 22. The run is considered ahead of its time by many fans and is nostalgically remembered by fans, being considered one of the greatest World Finals freestyles in history.
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. The following year 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. Finally 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, following the end of Adam's World Finals curse, Adam would break through and win the world racing title at World Finals XIV.
In 2014, he would later impressively defend the title at World Finals XV. Adam also drove Doom's Day for an encore in Tampa 2014.
In Orlando & Ocala, Florida in 2015, Cole Venard drove the Grave Digger the Legend. By the end of the year, Grave Digger the Legend was retired.
Grave Digger would win Adam his second World Freestyle Championship, his first FS1 Championship Series and his third World Finals racing championship.
In 2016, he would drive Grave Digger 32 at 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, he drove Grave Digger 32 at 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 2018, he debuted Grave Digger 35 for Stadium Championship Series 1, where he finished in second place behind Neil Elliot. He would later receive an invite to World Finals XIX. He would go on to win the racing title, beating Tyler Menninga, ironically in Grave Digger as well. However, he would later finish 26th in freestyle. 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. Adam then received an invite to World Finals XX. He would lose in the semi-finals, ending his championship reign.
In 2020, he piloted Grave Digger 35 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, he piloted Megalodon in the 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. He 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 22. 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 the west stadium tour. Adam wins racing at show 1 in San Francisco & the truck catches fire. The track crew would take way too long to put out the fire. He would suffer being sick after Detroit, so Charlie Pauken returns to the team to fill in for him in Arlington, El Paso & Birmingham. In Albuquerque, his brother Ryan drove his truck, making his first arena appearance in years. 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, his brother Ryan tied 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. This is the first time a tiebreaker was used since the JudgesZone scoring system was introduced. He would soon drive Grave Digger 42.
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.
World Finals appearances[]
- 2006 - Taz
- 2007 - Taz
- 2008 - Taz (won freestyle)
- 2009 - Taz (racing only)
- 2010 - Taz; Retro Grave Digger (Blue) (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)
All-Star Challenge appearances[]
- 2019 - Grave Digger 35 (Team Fire)
- 2023 - Grave Digger 35 (Neon) (Team Neon)
Accomplishments[]
- 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 22.
- 2023 Stadium Tour Red champion.
- 2024 - Donut of the Year.
Gallery[]
