This Saturday, Mile High Stadium hosts Monster Jam and Xposer Magazine had the chance to sit down with Ryan Anderson, owner of Monster Jam truck Son-uva Digger and son to the family legacy Grave Digger, and ask him a few questions. Below is the Q&A:
Q: Why would you say your dad is your role model?
A: “Dad created Grave Digger in 1982, now its world wide and we have 9 trucks that compete. He worked on a farm and took an old 1951 Ford truck and rebuilt it in out of things he found around. When his supervisor asked him when he would get his piece of junk going, my dad said ‘I’ll take that junk and dig you a grave’, everyone stepped back and gave him the name Grave Digger, he went home and spray painted it on the side of the truck later on that night. It became the well known slogan for the truck. My sister has been the only female to drive Grave Digger.”
Q: Growing up with a father who was also a driver, how different is it for you being a father yourself and how old is your son?
A: “Race is 4yrs years old. He gets super excited when he sees the trucks going. His jaw drops and he loves it. One of my most favorite parts is involving my son and seeing his excitement. My dad was always on the road working on Grave Digger so he was always gone. I didn’t have the same chance my son has with me. Race gets to join me quite often on the road.
Q: What sorts of things do you guys enjoy while not on the road?
A: “When we are at home, we go outside and have fun, he rides a 4 wheeler already and has a little high performance go kart he rides. I mounted a car seat inside with moveable pedals. Car seats are very comparable to the seats in our monster trucks with the 5 point harness and safety aspects.”
Q: Do you think your childhood was different from your friends or other kids at school?
A: “Absolutely! So much crazy stuff happened when I was younger. I never realized how different my life was until I got older. For Christmas, dad would get us junk cars to work on instead of an xbox. I flipped my first car at the age of 8. I was excited to tell my dad and we were all so proud. Mom was always a nervous wreck but Dad would make sure we knew our limits and made sure we were always safe. Dad always let us know and made sure we understood the of the dangers of these machines.”
Q: What goes through your mind before each performance?
A: “It’s hard to say, I’m mentally in a different ball game. I come to the events/show with one thought in mind, people come here to see something crazy and I want to be that for them. Freestyle focused mind, what can I do to make sure people have the time of their life while there. My performance is always for the fans.”
Q: How scary was it to learn some of these tricks?
A: “Not necessarily danger fear .. more fear of failure with 2 wheel tricks but back flips are dangerous for sure. We watch for many variables to make sure there is no risk on the track for failure. There are guys down on the track that help me in gauging if it’s worth the risk or not.”
Well now I’m super excited to see Ryan in action when he makes his way to Denver in our first ever stadium show!!!! Everything is going to be 4 times as big as it usually is if you have ever watched them in an arena setting. Hope to see you all there!!! Click on the link below to get your tickets before they sell out, tickets begin at only $15, makes this super affordable for the whole fam!
Hope to see you all there and stay tuned to Xposer Magazine, where you go to be scene!
Ciao,
Bella