Anyone that believed that Adam Anderson winning the World Freestyle Championship last March was the passing of the torch to the next generation of Anderson's, they better think again. While Adam has moved to the highest level of Monster Jam at warp speed and intends to stay there, his father is not going away anytime soon.

Dennis Anderson has shown he is still one of the game's best with a phenomenal start to the new year. Following up his freestyle win January 3rd in Houston Anderson drove Grave Digger to the Double Down trophy against another superstar laden line-up at the sold out Georgia Dome in Atlanta. And the icon said he can be even better, which should be a concern to every other contender on the road to Las Vegas and the 10th annual NGK Spark Plugs World Finals March 28th.

Dennis had a bit of good fortune on his way to claiming the racing trophy in Atlanta for sure. Grave Digger lost a tight, hard fought race to Scott Hartsock and Gunslinger in the second round but still advanced to the semifinals as the fast loser. In a 12 truck bracket the second round is the only time a fast loser may advance. Taking full advantage of that second chance Anderson was able to turn the tables on his long time rival as Grave Digger edged Gunslinger when they squared off for a rematch in the Championship Race.

The racing trophy already his, Anderson went for the Double Down with a high energy freestyle that earned the winning score from the judges, but the result was not a slam dunk thanks to an amazing performance by George Balhan in An Escalade that ended up falling three points short of Grave Digger's total in the final judging. So Dennis wins the first Double Down of '09 and pledges to be even better in upcoming events.

When I presented Dennis the NGK Spark Plugs World Finals qualifier flag just before the start of the Georgia Dome Monster Jam he talked about how proud he was of Adam for winning the world title, then served notice that he plans to take his son's title away in this season's championships.

Other notes from a rockin' Saturday in the A-T-L: we caused quite a stir during the Built Ford Tough Party in the Pits when I interviewed a special Monster Jam fan on the Speed set, a fan who just happens to be known as The King. That's right, seven time NASCAR champion Richard Petty was in the house, and during our lengthy interview in front of the wildly excited fans at the pit party Petty told me, among other things, that he is a big Monster Jam fan. "I watch you guys on TV all the time" Petty told me. But when I asked if he ever had a desire to drive one of the 10,000 pound machines he said with a laugh "no, I'm afraid of heights". The King also has a special appreciation for the Andersons considering his family's generations of NASCAR racing. The fans packed around the stage to hear the interview and get as close as they could to the legend with thousands of cameras clicking away. It was a special interview, one I enjoyed doing immensely.....I'm already thinking about the odds I'll post when we get to the World Finals, and if I were posting them today a pair of drivers might surprise readers because of how close they would be to the top of the favorites list: Hartsock in racing and Balhan in freestyle. I wrote in this space briefly last week about the rejuvenated Gunslinger pilot and he told me point blank that after not being in Las Vegas the past couple of years he is absolutely on a mission to return to the World Finals, and he has shown early this year that he is a serious contender for a WF 10 invite. As for Balhan, to put it simply he has never been better.

I can't tell you how close he came to beating Grave Digger last Saturday, and Dennis brought his A game. Back to back runner-up finishes in Escalade to start 2009, both in high profile stadium events tells me that Balhan is due to break through and win one of these big events soon, and he figures to be a major player in the battle for the 10th World Freestyle Championship.....Chuck Werner had lots of work to do after the Atlanta event. Not only was Werner driving Bulldozer for Team Meents he also is the Crew Chief for the second Maximum Destruction piece that Kreg Christensen drives. Max-D ended the night a mess with a blown engine and the front steering destroyed when he rolled and crashed the truck in racing. Then Werner ripped a wheel off of Bulldozer in freestyle but in true Team Meents fashion kept on tearing things up on three wheels.....rookie Jeremy Slifko got a true welcome to the big time in his first Speed televised event. It was Slifko's Backdraft truck that Max-D landed on during the aforementioned wreck.....again this year I'll be using this space to salute drivers who come out early in the freestyle order and rock the house, setting the bar high for everyone who follows. In Atlanta that was Cam McQueen who opened the competition in Pastrana 199 with a crowd pleasing huge air assault, nailing one big leap after another.....while Dennis Anderson, Hartsock, and Balhan are among those who have gotten off to great starts in 2009, Linsey Weenk has been disappointed at his slow start to the season in Blue Thunder. That comes as a big surprise since Weenk has been known as such a fast starter, winning early season events often in past years. Next week may be where Linsey turns things around though when Monster Jam returns to Ford Field in Detroit where Linsey is the defending racing champ, and where he loves to rise to the occasion in front of legions of his Ford corporate supporters who will be in the Motor City this Saturday night.