Weston Anderson, youngest son of Grave Digger creator Dennis Anderson, can make the 12,000-pound race over large piles of dirt, sail through the air and balance on two wheels.
Submitted photo
Monster Jam coming to arena May 5-7
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“The best way I can describe it, it’s like riding a roller coaster for every single jump,” monster truck driver Weston Anderson said. “Or very severe turbulence on a plane.”
Anderson, who recently turned 21, is the youngest son of Dennis Anderson, who built the first Grave Digger monster truck back in 1981.
The young driver has followed his dad and older siblings Adam, Ryan and Krysta into the world of motorsports and if you attend Monster Jam when it comes to Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza May 5 through May 7 you’ll see him driving the 12,000-pound Grave Digger, making it roar over large piles of dirt, sail through the air and balance on two wheels.
Anderson had a successful rookie season last year, when he became 2022 Arena Series East Champion and also was named 2022 Rookie of the Year.
Growing up around motorsports in his “cool hometown” of Kill Devil Hills, N.C., he said he starting doing stunts in a go-kart at a local motor sports park as a kid.
“The only time I didn’t want to drive a monster truck was when I was about 5 years old and wanted to be a zookeeper.”
By the time he was 11 his dad had built a mega truck — smaller and lighter than a monster truck — called Bog Hog, and Weston Anderson drove it from age 11 to 19. Later, in the mega truck King Sling, he would set a world record jump of 225 feet, besting the previous record of 175 feet.
But the trucks you’ll see at Monster Jam are the larger, heavier monster trucks.
“I got hired on with Monster Jam at the end of the 2021 season,” Anderson recalled. “It was a pleasant Christmas present for me. I trained in Palmetto, Fla., at Monster Jam University and 10 days after I trained I went on the Championship Tour East.”
If safety concerns cross your mind when you think about driving monster trucks, Anderson wants to reassure you.
“They’re relatively safe,” he said, talking about “full head and neck restraints; we pull our shoulder strap down so we don’t get whiplash” and “if it gets above 175 degrees in the truck, the fire system goes off and douses us with a fluid.”
One of the best parts of Monster Jam are the pit parties, he added.
“All the fans come up. It’s a big meet and greet. The kids can see the trucks, and everybody from 80-year-old men down to little kids want to see them. It’s brought so many households together.”
“When I was a kid, I was in the autograph line with my dad and I didn’t get the gist of what was going on. But now I get to live it, and it’s an amazing feeling. you honestly can’t beat it.”
Monster Jam Pit Parties will be held at the arena from 10:30 a.m. to noon both May 6 and May 7. New-for-2023 activities include a Sand Box play area, coloring and temporary tattoo station and a chance to take a photo with the Series trophy.
The Monster Jam trucks will compete in Freestyle, Skills, Donuts and Racing competitions.
Show times are 7 p.m. May 5; 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. May 6 and 1 p.m. May 7. Ticket information is available at MonsterJam.com/.