All in the family: It's Weston Anderson's turn to drive iconic, now 40-year-old Grave Digger as Monster Jam returns to the DCU Center

WORCESTER — Weston Anderson knew his destiny from an early age:

Grave Digger.

"Ever since a young age I grew up around it and it kind of seemed normal to me," Anderson said of the famous green and black monster truck with ghoulish images including a graveyard and a prominent skull.

Grave Digger was created by Anderson's father, Dennis Anderson, 40 years ago before there was even a Monster Jam competition circuit. Weston's brothers, Adam and Ryan, and sister, Krysten, have followed in dad's tracks and trucks.

Now it's Weston's turn as Monster Jam's Arena Championship Series East vrooms into the DCU Center Feb. 18, 19 and 20 for an action-packed 12,000-pound monster truck spectacle including speed, skill and plenty of boom boom.

The big trucks are capable of big speeds, up to 70 mph, but they have a relatively small space to operate in as the drivers wow the crowd demonstrating their dexterity and control doing maneuvers such as backflips and vertical two-wheel skills.

"The fans will definitely leave the show with a smile on their face and a bunch of memories," Weston Anderson said.

Grave Digger 40 years young

As Grave Digger celebrates 40 years, Monster Jam is celebrating 30.

The DCU Center has been a popular Monster Jam stop, but the Feb. 18-20 visit will be its first since the pandemic hit.

Monster Jam, which kept trucking in 2021 despite the pandemic but now has more of its traditional stops back, has different categories of competition and regional tours running simultaneously.

Weston, 19, had been behind the wheel of Grave Digger in his first Monster Jam season in the Arena Championship East series for about a month and a half when he was interviewed recently.

"I'm the youngest monster truck driver in Monster Jam," he said.

But regarding the Anderson clan driving Grave Digger, "I'm the last one. The rookie," he said.

Adam Anderson drives Grave Digger on the Monster Jam Stadium Championship circuit, while Ryan Anderson has had his own truck created for him, Son-Uva Digger, and also drives in the Stadium Championship tour. Sister Krysten Anderson (who was at the DCU Center in 2019) drives Grave Digger in the Arena Championship Central series. All the family takes it very seriously. Adam Anderson is a five-time Monster Jam world champion.

So Weston Anderson knows there's a lot riding on the family name.

"I get a little bit nervous before each of the events. I don't want to let any of the family down," he said.

Series set for DCU Center

The Arena Championship Series East consists of eight trucks and drivers mainly touring arenas in the Eastern U.S. in competitive events in which they vie for points with the top point earner at the end of the tour going on the Monster Jam World Championships, which will be held May 21-22 in Orlando, Florida.

There will be four separate competitive events when Monster Jam is in Worcester — at 7 p.m. Feb. 18; 1 and 7 p.m. Feb. 19; and 1 p.m. Feb. 20.

There will also be two pit parties where fans can see the monster trucks up close, meet their favorite drivers and crews, and take pictures from 10:30 a.m. to noon Feb. 19 and 20.

Within each event there are four competitions: speed; two-wheel skills; donut style (where drivers spin the monster trucks in circles to create a donut-like impression on the dirt); and free-style. The latter is "75 seconds to do whatever to wow everybody," Weston said. The audience gets to do the judging for the two-wheel skills, donut and free-style. The top overall point winner from the four competitions wins the event.

"I've been doing pretty good for a rookie," Weston said of his season so far. "I'm third in points right now."

Among his competitors in Arena Championship Series East are Chad Tyler driving Stone Crusher and Brianna Mahon driving Whiplash.

What's in a name?

In a 2012 interview with the Telegram & Gazette when he was still driving Grave Digger, Dennis Anderson recalled the Grave Digger name came about when he had responded to some "choice words" from a competitor at an impromptu truck race in 1982.

With his attitude and a flair for driving, he and Grave Digger rode to success when professional Monster Jam established a professional truck circuit. Dennis Anderson retired from driving in 2017.

There have been more than 40 Grave Digger trucks assembled over time

Dennis Anderson eventually sold the Grave Digger team to PACE Motorsports, which in turn was acquired by Feld Entertainment. Feld Motor Sports Inc. owns and operates Monster Jam.

However, "It's still all family that drives it though," Weston said of the Anderson Grave Digger driving tradition.

He did have to audition before Feld selected him.

"I got a call from Monster Jam," he said. Then, "I jumped in and started the tour."

He had been well-trained for such an eventuality/inevitability by his father at the family home in Kill Devil Hills in rural North Carolina.

"He trained me when I was growing up," Weston said.

Got his start on go-karts

When he was younger he raced go-karts, and then Mega Tucks for nearly a decade before joining Monster Trucks.

The first weekend he won a competition on the Monster Truck tour he called his father.

"We cried together on the phone. It was a very emotional moment. He's very proud and all my siblings are," he said.

But nerves and emotions to one side, they key to being a successful monster truck driver is "staying calm and having fun with it. You have to have fun with it. If not, you mess up," Weston said.

He recalled being close to home for one competition weekend and really wanting to make a good impression for the family and friends in attendance. But he was so keyed up, "I went out there and didn't do great all weekend."

The next weekend, not putting any extra pressure on himself, "I won three of the events," he said.

Weston doesn't see any final graveyard for driving Grave Digger.

"I would like to do it as long as I could. My dad did it until 55. It would be awesome if I could do it that long," he said.

Anderson hasn't had any accidents to speak of.

"It does wear and tear. You get bruised up. But I'd like to ride the truck as long as I could," he said.

Monster Jam

When: 7 p.m. Feb. 18; 1 and 7 p.m. Feb. 19 (Pit Party 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.); 1 p.m. Feb. 20 (Pit Party 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.)

Where: DCU Center, 50 Foster St., Worcester

How much: Starting at $15, available at ticketmaster.com

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: It's Weston's turn for Grave Digger as Monster Jam returns to the DCU Center