Grave Digger vs Bigfoot: Full Circle Part 1

To the fans that have been following this sport since its inception in the mid 1980’s, there is perhaps no greater rivalry than Bob Chandler’s Bigfoot and Dennis Anderson’s Grave Digger. What made this rivalry? The simple fact that each time the trucks lined up, you knew it was going to be not just a good race, but a special one. Each driver, whether it be Andy Brass, Rich Hooser, Jim Kramer, John Piant, or Gene Patterson, knew that they had their hands plenty full when lining up against Dennis Anderson, Pablo Huffaker, Lyle Hancock, and so on. Over the years it seems as though the two teams have flip-flopped their position in the sport. Back in 1980’s through the early to mid 1990’s, the Bigfoot team had big time sponsors, had been in movies, countless TV shows, had the best equipment money could buy, and unquestionably was the most popular truck within the sport. Sometime though, around the mid 90’s, the flip-flop began, and just looking at today’s sport, it’s clear that Grave Digger as well as its creator and driver, Dennis Anderson, have taken over the popularity polls by a large margin. Grave Digger is owned now by Feld Motorsports, a company that has all the big time sponsors, the absolute best technicians working on trucks, and placing the best parts money can buy. Dennis even has his own reality TV show! I’m going to dive in and take a look at this rivalry as its occurred over the years. Starting with the 1980’s and early 1990’s, I’ll be analyzing all these races from start to finish as well as talking about the industry in that time period. I hope you all enjoy reading about and watching some clips of the greatest rivalry in monster truck history.

Back in 1988 Rich Hooser drove Bigfoot 4 into the St. Paul Civic Center with corporate backing from Ford and the best equipment money could buy at the time. Bigfoot was virtually untouchable in the 1980’s, only losing a handful of races that entire decade to top quality trucks like Excaliber, Hot Stuff, USA-1, and King Kong. Rolling into St. Paul that weekend was someone on the other side of the spectrum, Dennis Anderson. Dennis had a 1951 Ford Panel Van with the heart of a Chevrolet beating inside. At the time, people knew who Dennis was, but Anderson had yet to pull off a major victory against three trucks who were also booked to appear in St. Paul–Awesome Kong driven by Jeff Dane, King Kong driven by Steve Dane, and of course Bigfoot.

Over the course of the weekend, Anderson would beat the “Kong Brothers,” but the biggest win of his career up to that point came as he defeated Rich Hoosier in Bigfoot. As i watched this race again for probably the 30th time, i realized that i never really sat back and analyzed it. Questions formed in my head like, “Just where did Bigfoot lose it?” or “What was so different about each lane the trucks were in?” and the ever popular “How’d Dennis do it?” The first thing I noticed after watching it was that Anderson probably had lane choice, as he seemed to have a groove worn down in the right lane. He, unlike some of the other trucks there, could power over the starting line hill, land, and all 4 tires bounce him up high enough that he almost landed on the first set of cars. Bigfoot was in trouble off the start, nosing over just a bit off the starting line hill, then doing the same over the first set of cars, causing the truck to start bouncing while Anderson stayed smooth heading to the final jump. As both trucks came down off the first car set, Anderson had about a half a truck length lead. As they hit the final crush car jump, both trucks launched into the air, but it was Anderson that landed first on the cars, and first to the traffic cone used to mark the finish line. Hoosier, knowing he was behind going into the final hill, launched Bigfoot to the sky and landed well past the finish, landing with the rear tires first caused the fronts to slam into the last car, sending Bigfoot into a wild bounce into the air with a rather rough left side slap upon landing the second time. Ironically, if you look at this race, the truck known for being wild and wreckless stayed about as smooth as one could be on that track, and it was Bigfoot bouncing all over the place trying to catch up with its opponent.

By 1989, Team Bigfoot had a new driver behind the wheel of Bigfoot #4. Andy Brass had taken over driving duties for Rich Hoosier, and it was a switch that the team would never regret. Though Hoosier was by far one of the best and probably most underrated Bigfoot drivers, Brass was to be the driver that led Bigfoot into the 1990s in style. During the 1989 TNT Monster Truck Challenge season, we rarely saw the big blue Ford out of St. Louis Missouri. Bob Chandler and the team had begun work on a new truck that would revolutionize the industry, and sacrificed running the full 1989 TNT schedule to build it. Bigfoot 4 and Andy Brass did however show up to Biloxi, Mississippi to compete against the top talent the industry had to offer at the time, including a new Grave Digger. Dennis Anderson had been busy in the off season of 1988, building Grave Digger #2 and putting a very high horsepower motor in the back of the black and green wrecking machine. The Rodeck motor he put in shelled out close to 2000 horsepower, which at this time period was unheard of. The new motor came at a cost though, as early in the season Anderson shelled out 10 transmissions in 10 shows. The motor proved to be more than the transmission could handle. However, when the truck was working, it put fear in his fellow competitors In one interview segment I can remember, most of the drivers pegged Anderson to take the new Grave Digger to a national championship in ’89.

Biloxi was the first show that Andy Brass had driven for Team Bigfoot in the 1989 TNT Motorsports season. Brass at the time had not driven long at all, so I guess you could say he was thrown to the wolves. Brass and Anderson would meet for the first time at this event in the semi-final round of competition. Anderson in this match up, unlike the 1988 match up, seemed to be the odds on favorite. Grave Digger easily had the higher horsepower machine, and it was also the top qualifier for the event. Brass qualified well, but was no match for Anderson here. As the trucks thundered off the line, Brass would roll the starting line hill. On the other side, Anderson took to the sky over it, and it’s no wonder why he broke so many transmissions, as the truck would land under almost full power. The transmission would hold together and Anderson’s front tires would bounce over the actual ramp for the crush cars. The rear tires bit, sending him up on the nose a little bit as he laid down a blistering pass. In the end, Anderson defeated Brass in what I believe to be in relatively easy fashion. Andy rolled the hill at the start, waited for the truck to settle, then mashed the gas towards the cars. The controlled technique here did not work in his favor, as the wild and crazy Anderson defeated him by a truck length.

When 89′ closed, Anderson was denied the National Championship. It came down to the wire, but in the end, David Morris would defeat Gary Porter for that title and bring the Equalizer Racing Team its first championship. 1990 would be a whole new ball game though, as the new Bigfoot truck had been completed. Brass was bumped up from Bigfoot 4 to the all new, state of the art Bigfoot #8. Bigfoot #8 was the first tube frame truck built, featuring a new cantilever style suspension that made it seem like Brass was floating on air, as the tires rolled over the crush cars, and it even had mufflers! It was a bit heavier than Equalizer was, however its suspension was where it won races. Memphis, Tennessee was  the first TNT event that the new Bigfoot competed at. The first night’s competition really set the tone for the season, as it would come down to Equalizer and Bigfoot in the finals. In a race I can only describe as breathtaking, Equalizer would take the win. Bigfoot would suffer new truck gremlins and break just before hitting the cars. However even breaking upon landing, he still almost rolled over the finish line ahead of a fully powered Equalizer machine. The next night, Anderson’s Grave Digger would have his shot at the new Bigfoot. Anderson was for once at 100% with #2. He did not have the huge horsepower Rodeck motor though, as shortly after the Biloxi 1989 event, TNT Motorsports outlawed his new motor. Dennis was actually happy about that; in one interview he said putting a lower horsepower motor in would save him on having to replace transmissions. It’s my honest opinion though that if Anderson had taken a little weight out of his right shoe, the motor and transmission combination might have worked out a little better. In any case, these drivers were sitting on the line again at the beginning of the 1990 season. Brass was the one with the clear upper hand, dusting Anderson on the start and winning by a clear truck length. I’m not sure he wanted to look in his mirror though, because after his own picture perfect run Anderson almost collided into the back of the Bigfoot Ford after yet another wild Grave Digger pass. Later in this event, Bigfoot would defeat Equalizer to win its first event of the 1990 season after a controversial call by the officials. David Morris was penalized for red-lighting, which replays later showed to be false. To this day, I still believe he cut the best light in monster truck racing. This entire weekend in Memphis was just flat out awesome to watch. Really only two trucks there had legit shots to take home maximum points and trophies (Bigfoot and Equalizer). However, it was exciting to watch drivers like Dennis Anderson, Gary Porter, Steve Wilke, and others try to chase down those trucks with the state of the art suspensions

I feel i have to mention this, even though it’s not quite related to the rivalry. The 1990 TNT Motorsports season was absolutely amazing to watch. This event in Memphis, on the third night of competition, would bring us the first ever dead-heat in Monster Truck Racing between Bigfoot and Equalizer. It’s debatable to this day over who won the dead-heat between Brass and Morris. To me, its clearly Bigfoot. They re-ran the final for the first time ever, and Bigfoot finally did clearly win, setting the tone for the season as Bigfoot 8 went on a tear, dominating the season until the truck was outlawed just prior to the Louisville, Kentucky race. It was eventually reinstated, much to the displeasure of King Krunch driver Scott Stephens. Bigfoot would later win the National Championship and take its first title back home to St. Louis, Missouri.

Canandiqua, New York was the sight of another famous Andy Brass/Dennis Anderson showdown. This one, however, was not televised. This was part of an interview segment in 1990 with Andy Brass. Normally, in that particular segment Army Armstrong would interview the winner of the previous week’s televised show. Dennis won the event in Flemington two weeks prior, however Anderson was not at this event due to the damage suffered at the Canandiqua Speedway. This particular race between Bigfoot 8 and Grave Digger 2 was extremely close. Its hard to believe that a leaf sprung truck like Grave Digger 2 could hang in there with the state of the art Bigfoot 8, but Dennis certainly did. Anderson had the hole shot, which is something he desperately needed in this match up if he was to have any shot at holding an advantage before the end of the course. He landed, and this is where the leaf spring technology failed him. As he was bouncing in no man’s land, Brass could make up time by virtually landing like a pillow and stabbing the throttle to catch the Grave Digger. Dennis was first to the final jump, but Brass had worked up so much momentum that he passed Anderson in the air for the win. A great race, however we weren’t finished yet. Dennis landed hard on the right side of the cars. He was still in the throttle as he landed awkwardly and the truck started to go into a spin. The wide Firestone tires did their job by helping him slide. However the wall did him no favors, as he would slam nose first into it after the finish line This pretty much ended the 1990 TNT season for Dennis Anderson. The truck suffered horrible damage, and you can clearly see in the video that the left front tire was pretty much under the door of the Grave Digger. If any race describes the difference between the two different suspension styles, its this one. Its clear to see by watching this race why most teams wanted to convert to a tube chassis truck before 1991.

Moving into 1991, Bigfoot was still King of the Monster Trucks. Chandler’s truck just seemed to keep on winning. If i were compare this time to any other time in motor sports history, I’d compare it to years that Richard Petty dominated in NASCAR. Bigfoot had the backing of Ford, Acclaim, Hot Wheels, and several other high dollar sponsors just like Petty did back in the day. The truck’s only challengers at the time were Jack Willman’s Taurus Racer, Fred Shafer’s Bearfoot Racer, Gary Cook’s Equalizer, Gary Porter’s Carolina Crusher #3, and Dennis Anderson’s Grave Digger #3. Grave Digger #3 was hyped up on TNT’s broadcasts to be debuting later in the 1990 season, however with Anderson doing his best to break Grave Digger #2 in half most every weekend out, it delayed the debut of #3 until after the 1990 season was completed. Grave Digger #3 was the first tube-framed Grave Digger (the first green chassis) and featured coil over shocks, 540 Cubic Inch Chevrolet motor, and something unfamiliar to the Grave Digger at the time, Goodyear tires (Anderson had previously run Firestone tires.)

You will have to forgive me, because I do not know the time period at which these certain events happened. I do know they were in 1991, but I can’t quite tell you the month or date of each event. The next race took place in 1991 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bigfoot #8 driven yet again by Andy Brass, faced off against Grave Digger #3 driven by Dennis Anderson. By this time, TNT Motorsports had been sold to the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA). The 1991 Monster Truck Challenge series saw new courses, new venues, new trucks, and new faces like Rob Fuchs and the First Blood machine. Anderson and Brass were both staged at the line in the Metrodome waiting on the green light, which truthfully seemed to be withheld for a little while longer than it should have been. Brass nailed the gas too soon, budging the start. Quickly he slammed the brakes on hoping nobody saw him budge the start, he waited, the green came, then he accelerated again. Anderson had the early lead due to Andy’s mistake on the line. Through the air though it was a different story as Bigfoot passed Grave Digger and was first over the finish line The officials though, did see Andy nudge the start a bit and handed the win over to Anderson. Karma can be a son of a gun though, because years later in a Monster Jam event in Florida, this same call would benefit Jim Jack in Reptoid as Anderson would do almost the exact same thing that Brass did all those years ago. Budge the start, try to stop, then go when the Green came out. Dennis was called for red-lighting and Jack would move on. Interesting how karma works.

If you’re keeping track at home with all these races, your count should be Grave Digger with 3 wins and Bigfoot with 2 wins. The final race I’m going to cover in part one of this article is another very famous one, and I can’t really understand why. The event I’m referring to is Anaheim, California in 1991. Dennis Anderson in Grave Digger #3 again taking on probably the most famous Bigfoot, Jim Kramer in Bigfoot 9. This course was the first ever “Z” course. The first portion of the course was decent; I liked it. However the second half was just sloppy. You knew going into the race that the person who started in the left lane would have the easy inside pass going to the finish line and take the win. There was just no lane coming to the cars for the truck on the outside. With the field of trucks only at a grand total of 6 for the event, it’s odd to me as to why they would feature such a strange course.

Anderson had a problem in qualifying, which meant he would not have lane choice. Kramer and Bigfoot #9 had the quickest qualifying time. Anderson would face off against AM/PM Boss in round 1, and truthfully he would get lucky as Jim Reis would have a problem after the first set of cars. Handing Anderson the win, and only win out of the right lane. Kramer would defeat the Valvoline Racer in round 1, which meant that Anderson would face Kramer in the semi finals. You could tell Anderson knew he would have to give it everything that the Grave Digger had and hope he beat Kramer down the middle straight away. He took the hole shot by about a truck length and launched the Grave Digger into the stratosphere but landed with the rear tires on the back of the last car, kicking his truck off to the right. He would have to correct the truck and ended up taking the corner at a bad angle. Kramer in the other lane landed much the same way, but the cantilever suspension soaked up the landing, whereas Anderson’s coils gave him a bad bounce. To the naked eye, at this point it looked like Anderson had the lead. Even with the bad bounce, Dennis still had about a truck length lead. Down the middle straightaway Anderson looked smooth. Kramer looked to be on and off the throttle, just trying to make Bigfoot take a set and get to the last turn. Anderson made it around the turn before Bigfoot, but backed off. I would say he backed off due to the fact that he knew Kramer probably couldn’t see him. He instead tried to drive around Kramer as he was making his turn and it would cost him. There was absolutely no lane for the driver on the outside, so Dennis tried to make his own through a mud pit to the right side, caking his tires in the slick muddy mess while Kramer just kept it straight out of the turn and pointed it to the cars. Anderson, with the newly slicked up tires, couldn’t gain any traction whatsoever and ended up finishing over Kramer’s cars, mowing over some course markers in the process. The first part of the course was fine, like I stated earlier, however the second half made no sense to me. In a field of 6 trucks, I’m sure there could have been a better, more competitive racing course built. This one didn’t provide much excitement until the final round where Bigfoot would take the win over Ecology Eliminator via a tire bump.

So now with the count at 3-3 for both trucks, neither team really had the upper hand on the other from 1988 to 1991. I’m sure the fans for either truck would beg to differ with me, but if you look back at the events, it’s the truth. They seemed very evenly matched back in the early days of the sport. Even with Bigfoot having the high dollar sponsors, the privateer Grave Digger team still made sure they had something for the Big Blue Oval Ford at every event they competed at together. This rivalry would continue through the 90’s, with new trucks and drivers thrown into the mix. However, next time out, I’m going to be talking about the late 2000’s and how the rivalry has changed. I hope you enjoyed this read, and if you did, please e-mail me and let me know!