Bodies range from vans such as Anderson’s, or muscle cars, but most feature pickup truck bodies.Īnderson’s brothers, Adam and Ryan, compete in Monster Jam events but it is Krysten who continues in her father’s footsteps with the lead truck. Totally hand-built, the vehicles weigh in at 12,000 pounds, are powered by a 1,500-horsepower supercharged methanol-fueled engine, and feature tires 66 inches tall and 43 inches wide. She said building a Monster truck will cost about $250,000 US to $400,000 US. A small crew travels with the hauler from venue to venue with the drivers flying into the shows. Wheelies, backflips, and length of time in the air are some of the stunts performed and judged accordingly.Īnderson said she took part in 27 events last year with four to five shows each weekend. Dennis Anderson retired from driving Grave Digger in 2017 and daughter Krysten took over the driving.Įvents in a Monster Jam program consist of two trucks racing together in a tournament-style competition, a single truck performing stunts such as rollovers and driving on two wheels, and another single truck competition where the truck will perform “doughnuts” or rotate as quickly as possible. “I am very proud to be the first female to represent my family and all females with driving the Grave Digger.” Her father Dennis Anderson created the first Grave Digger in 1982 and competed with a succession of trucks with that name.Įarly trucks built for this type of competition such as Bigfoot and King Kong were popular in their day, but Grave Digger, which is a high-powered caricature of an early 1950s Chevy panel van, has been a fan favourite since its inception in 1982. “This is a most iconic monster truck,” said Anderson. With its roots in tractor-pulling and car-crushing events at county fairs, vehicles in the Monster Jam world have morphed from modified pickup trucks of the 1980s to special-built, high-powered, large-tired trucks and has been in operation since 1992.Īnderson is a 24-year-old North Carolina native who drives the latest in the decades-old line of Grave Digger trucks. She will also be competing in Grave Digger, one of the best-known trucks in the Monster Jam series which travels across North America in arena-based demonstrations of racing and freestyle events. When Krysten Anderson dons her fire suit, gloves, and helmet this weekend at FirstOntario Centre, she will be competing before sold-out crowds.

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