Cold weather did not keep the faithful from coming to see their favorite trucks in competition. The superstars were indeed in the house with veterans Mike Vaters bringing Black Stallion, George Balhan with An Escalade, Linsey Weenk driving Blue Thunder and Dennis Anderson with Grave Digger.
The entire Anderson clan came to New York from North Carolina daddy Dennis, son Adam driving Taz and bother Ryan as a crew member for his brother. The lineup also included Dave Rappach with Rap Attack, Trey Meyers driving Iron Warrior and Damon Bradshaw with the Air Force Afterburner. The field was impressive and so was the crowd.
FMX riders and BMX rounded out the lineup for the first of the four events and the action began fast and furious.
Highlights for the evening included a side competition between father and son. Dennis Anderson and Adam Anderson both came out ready to do win in freestyle. Daddy Dennis, while proud of Adam, was determined to go one better than the double down as he roared to victory in racing, cyclone and freestyle competitions.
Another great moment was after his cyclone, George Balhan driver of An Escalade was awarded his qualifier flag to the World Finals in Vegas.
Results:
Truck Cyclone Freestyle
Rap Attack 16 15
Iron Warrior 18 11
Air Force 24 18
Black Stallion 19 20
Blue Thunder 21 19
An Escalade 25 21
Taz 24 23
Grave Digger 26 26
Racing Results:
Round One:
Blue Thunder beat Rap Attack
Escalade over Taz
Grave Digger beat Black Stallion
Air Force downed Iron Warrior
Semi-Finals
Escalade defeated Blue Thunder
Grave Digger beat Air Force
Finals:
Grave Digger defeated Escalade
Saturday begins at 11am with the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits. Showtimes area at 2 and 7:30pm
Saturday 2:00PM
If Friday was the night for Grave Digger, Saturday was the payback as Dennis Anderson could not get a single break failing to pick up a single win. In fact the afternoon belonged to Adam Anderson driving World Champion Taz to a win in the Cyclone and Freestyle competitions. Veteran driver Michael Vaters drove his Black Stallion truck to a race win defeating Taz in roundy round racing.
The afternoon began with the Built Ford Tough party in the pits going right into action with a low-rider demo, a hopper car demo, and BMX flatland.
To add insult to injury Dennis Andersons Grave Digger blew a motor in the semi-finals of racing and was unable to come back for the rest of the afternoon. Dennis came out for an interview explaining the problem and making a plea for someone from his engine builders company to come help them with parts for the evening event. Dennis stayed to cheer his son on in the Cyclone and Freestyle competitions.
Results:
Truck Cyclone UTI Freestyle
Rap Attack 9 20
Iron Warrior 3 12
Air Force 24 19
Black Stallion 17 21
Blue Thunder 21 22
An Escalade 23 25
Taz 26 27
Grave Digger Broke Broke
Racing Results:
Round One:
Escalade beat Blue Thunder
Black Stallion over Iron Warrior
Grave Digger defeated Rap Attack
Taz over Air Force
Semi-Finals:
Black Stallion wins over Escalade
Taz beat Grave Digger
Finals:
Black Stallion edges out Taz.
As of this writing the Grave Digger crew is working to get the truck ready for the Saturday Night event.
Saturday 7:30PM
Never count Dennis Anderson or Grave Digger out. Anderson’s team was facing a bad motor at the end of Saturday Afternoons event and three hours later roared out to double and triple down. It was an incredible night of sacrifice and success as the Grave Digger was able to perform a miracle with a little help from Team Escalade.
During the time between events the Escalade team gave Grave Digger the parts needed to get running again. As driver George Belhan said, “This is Dennis’ house, the fans here love him and I am just now gaining my fan base. If there is something I can do to help the man who gave me so many house of entertainment when I was a fan then I am going to.” The fans showed their support too as they gave George Belhan a standing ovation.
The night featured a race final pitting Taz driven by Adam Anderson against Big Daddy Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger. Try as he might Adam just could not catch Dennis. He drove hard into the last turn but spunout as he approached the stack of cars.
Dave Rappach and his Rap Attack was another victim to the concrete and steel track. His truck suffered front end damage in the Cyclone Contest and was done for the night.
Results:
Truck: Cyclone UTI Freestyle
Rap Attack 11 Broke
Iron Warrior 11 16
Air Force 23 21
Black Stallion 3 16
Blue Thunder 16 18
An Escalade 13 21
Taz 20 23
Grave Digger 26 26
Race Results:
Round One:
Black Stallion bye run
Taz defeated Air Force
Rap Attack over Blue Thunder
Grave Digger beat Iron Warrior
Semi-Finals:
Taz over Black Stallion
Grave Digger beat Rap Attack
Finals:
Grave Digger over Taz
Sunday:
Sunday began early for the Superstars of Monster Jam as the annual Soapbox Derby contestants came out for their championship race. The morning was spent with Dennis Anderson as flagman, Mike Vaters and Adam Anderson as starters, Linsey Weenk, Damon Bradshaw, Dave Rappach, Trey Myers, and George Belhan all acting as official track crew. For the first time ever girls teams won both age divisions.
A team from Selden New York awarded Grave Digger driver Dennis Anderson the car they used in competition. It was named Lil Digger and was designed to look just like Dennis’ race vehicle. Anderson said it would hand in the museum at Diggers Dungeon and invited the crowd to come down and see it.
As the afternoon began it was again Grave Digger and Taz facing off. This time Taz won and unfortunately for Dennis and Team Grave Digger the it was the end of his afternoon as he blew the motor.
George Belhan had a great driving his Escalade to a win in Cyclone, and a semi-finals place in racing.
The big winner was Taz with a double down afternoon winning racing and Freestyle. A proud Daddy Dennis watched as his son earned the win in freestyle. Anderson told the crowd earlier in the day that an Anderson would win the event he just wasn’t sure who.
Race Results:
Truck: Cyclone UTI Freestyle
Rap Attack 6 20
Iron Warrior 7 16
Air Force 20 17
Black Stallion 8 16
Blue Thunder 22 21
An Escalade 27 17
Taz 25 26
Grave Digger Broke Broke
Race Results:
Round One:
Blue Thunder defeated Iron Warrior
Taz over Rap Attack
Grave Digger beat Air Force
Escalade downed Black Stallion
Semi Finals
Taz took out Blue Thunder
Grave Digger beat Escalade
Finals: Taz over Grave Digger
An incredible weekend of action ended as the drivers signed autographs until the last person was taken care of.
