Famous Monster Truck Grave Digger Crashes After Failed Backflip

The event occurred at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, where Grave Digger was performing a freestyle lap with other monster trucks. Its driver, Dennis Anderson, was taken to the emergency room and hospitalized after the accident.

Anderson is one of the sport’s most famous drivers, if not the most famous, and Grave Digger is his creation. The truck has a 1,500 HP engine, which has a displacement of 540 cubic inches (8.8 liters).

The all-wheel-drive monster truck drives on tires that are 66-inches tall, and each of them is tied with steel braided cables to the axles to prevent them from flying into the stands and injuring bystanders.

As you can observe in the videos embedded below, the truck was performing jumps on the human-made ramps that were placed in the stadium. At one point, the driver wanted to do a backflip, which is something usually reserved for stunt riders that use dirt bikes, but also possible in monster trucks.

Unfortunately, he did not carry enough speed into the ramp, and the vehicle landed on its roof. The latter word is an overstatement because the truck had lost most of its lightweight shell during the performance. Fortunately, these trucks are built to take a beating, so its roll cage was supposed to protect the driver.

From what we can witness in the video, the roll cage withstood the impact without a hitch, but the driver was still taken to the hospital. According to The Outer Banks Voice, the driver is getting better, as his son posted a picture of the famous performer on his Instagram account.

The Grave Digger has been around the monster truck circuit for 35 years, which is a long time for someone to be involved in high-speed crashes and jumps. Fortunately for his family and his fans, he is expected to fix the truck and return to his Monster Energy fueled antics.