POPLAR BRANCH

DENNIS ANDERSON of Grave Digger monster truck fame stood in front of his showroom and shop here, talking about the business, when a woman interrupted, brushing aside all others to stand next to him.

Her husband snapped a photo.

She pressed Anderson for an autograph on a Grave Digger shirt she'd just bought. As he signed, Anderson told her that just a few steps away was his son, Adam, the 22-year-old who a little more than a month ago became the youngest winner ever of the monster truck world championship.

She hustled over to Adam, interrupting another conversation, to get his autograph.

Anderson says that's how fans act sometimes. But it's the screaming fans, he says, that have motivated him for more than 20 years to run Grave Digger over mangled cars, soaring over dirt ramps, busting parts and turning mud-slinging doughnuts on tires nearly 6 feet tall powered by a 1,500-horsepower engine revving as loud as the cheers.

Now Adam, on the circuit for three years in a monster truck named Taz, already has a reputation for driving with abandon like his father.

Dennis Anderson was among those Adam beat in the world championship held in Las Vegas on March 29. Another truck won the racing segment, while Adam placed first in freestyle, the unscripted stunts that Dennis Anderson made famous in Grave Digger.

"You have to go big from beginning to end," Adam said. "When I get into a truck, I'm in a zone."

Adam's profile is on the Web site for Monster Jam, a tour featuring monster trucks in about 250 live events in the United States, Canada and Europe. The events attract crowds of up to 75,000, said Henry Cross, fleet director for 31 Monster Jam trucks, including seven Grave Diggers. The next show is in Virginia Beach from May 9-11.

The latest in the succession of Grave Digger trucks is number 20. Grave Digger Dungeon, a showroom and garage on U.S. 158 in Jarvisburg, opened in 1992. As part of a new venture, Dennis Anderson's Muddy Motor Sports Park is set to open May 17 not far from the Digger Dungeon.

A three-time champion, Dennis Anderson was out to beat everybody in Las Vegas, including his son, but emotions rose as Adam drove Taz, he said.

"When I was watching some of the runs he was doing, I knew he was going to be tough to beat," Anderson said. "I knew it was a winning run."

Adam traveled to monster truck races with his father before starting school. After graduating from Currituck County High School in 2004, Adam worked on the circuit as a crew member for a year before driving.

"He's out there like Dale Jr., trying to build his own name," Cross said.

Winning the world championship freestyle helped, he said.

Adam says he has raced in about 100 events in nearly every state and in 12 nations. In June, Adam plans to go on a five-week European tour. Dennis Anderson said his next son, Ryan, 18, is preparing to drive the monster truck circuit soon.

Anderson built his first monster truck in 1981 from within an old chicken coop on a Chesapeake farm. When other racers teased him about his old truck, he told them, "I'll take this junk and dig you a grave," according a DVD of the Anderson story. His truck name became Grave Digger.

He ran his truck so hard, it often broke and he couldn't win. He was known as one-run Anderson. But crowds loved how he drove without fear. He asked race promoters to let him go on the track a put on a show, which evolved into freestyle competition at monster truck events.

Grave Digger is the best known of the monster trucks, Cross said.

"He is still the top dog," he said.

Jeff Hampton, (252) 338-0159, jeff.hampton@pilotonline.com