Dennis Anderson drove Grave Digger to the first World Freestyle Championship in 2000. In his next 8 trips to Las Vegas Anderson has had some disappointing performances at Sam Boyd Stadium but he has also turned in some fantastic freestyles on the treacherous championship course, yet another World Freestyle Championship has eluded him. The Icon has won two World Racing Championships during that span, but the man who many say invented freestyle has not reclaimed the freestyle crown since that victory in WF1. In 2009, less than a month from the 10th annual NGK Spark Plugs World Finals, signs are pointing toward this being the year that Dennis Anderson grabs another freestyle title to book end the first decade of this millennium.

I don't think I've ever seen Anderson more dominant than he has been this year. He claimed yet another Double Down trophy for winning both the racing and freestyle battles in front of more than 70,000 screaming fans last weekend in Jacksonville. That's 4 huge Double Down trophies that Dennis has hauled back to Kill Devil Hills already this season emphasizing just how great 2009 has been, and his Team Grave Digger teammate Pablo Huffaker has also won the Double Down at a pair of high profile stadium events this year. Of course the ultimate goal is to Double Down in Las Vegas, the toughest feat to pull off in the sport. Tom Meents did it twice, in 2001 and 2002, but frankly, no one has come very close to doing it again since. As I continue to refine the odds on this year's historic World Finals that you'll find coming to Monster Jam Online soon Anderson is making the case that he should be favored to win both championships this season, which in today's Monster Jam world seems almost impossible.

Then again, the competition is so great that the odds will be tougher than ever for me to set. For instance as phenomenal as Anderson has been in racing you can't overlook the fact that two-time defending World Racing Champion John Seasock has driven Batman to a pair of race wins at major Speed televised stadium events this year. Then there is Jimmy Creten who has powered Bounty Hunter on a stadium racing winning streak that I expect to carry him into WF10 riding a wave of moment. So you can expect yet another wide open competition for the racing championship.

It is in freestyle where Anderson looks almost unbeatable right now. In Jacksonville his son, reigning World Freestyle Champion Adam Anderson, put down a phenomenal freestyle driving Taz, but Dad snatched the win away with his high energy, lengthy performance that the judges scored as a 1 point win for Grave Digger over Taz. That word lengthy is a key one, because this year Dennis is consistently filling the clock and in most cases the bonus time as well. Back to his Jax win again, Grave Digger earned the maximum five bonus points and needed every one of those extra points to get the victory. Dennis has always been one of the toughest to beat when he fills the clock, and he has been filling the time consistently in 2009.

Several times in the past Dennis has told me in interviews that he really wants to use his head and make his freestyles last but when he gets in the truck his extremely heavy right foot takes over. This year it seems to me that he has balanced the two. The foot is still heavy enough for a bevy of spectacular moves but Anderson's planning and thinking these courses through, and it is showing. He's hitting his biggest moves with sufficient room to land and recover, so he's not rolling the truck early on. More often than not if Dennis Anderson can fill the clock, in his typical on-the-edge style, he's going to win. That's the recipe he's followed in 2009, paying off with a slew of wins. Continuing that strategy in the NGK Spark Plugs World Finals could send Dennis back from Vegas to Carolina with his second World Freestyle Championship in hand.

Other Jacksonville notes: if the winner of this year's World Freestyle Championship turns out to be a driver who has not previously won a televised event before then we'll probably be saluting George Balhan or Damon Bradshaw. Both Balhan in An Escalade and Bradshaw in Air Force Afterburner had superb freestyles in Jacksonville, both continuing strong, consistent seasons where they have been very close to winning major events.....it was a real thrill for me to be a part of the official announcement when NGK Spark Plugs representative Mark Sprague presented a NGK Spark Plugs World Finals X flag to War Wizard's Randy Moore, his first invite to compete in Las Vegas. Moore has been on a steady upward climb in the sport for years and it's great to see him rewarded with a slot in Vegas. And War Wizard's berth allows his new Crew Chief, Coty Saucier, a chance at a third straight world title after serving as the lead wrench for Batman when John Seasock won the past two World Racing Championships.....Madusa was an extremely popular addition to the Jax event among her home state fans. It's taking her some time to get back in the groove which should come as no surprise. New truck, new crew, new seat, you name it, it's almost like the sport's only female World Champion is starting over from scratch. Just don't forget how fast she climbed the ladder when she first came to Monster Jam. She's a natural talent who I expect will be contending for wins again sooner rather than later.....as great as this season has been for Team Grave Digger it has been a season of struggles for Tom Meents. Maybe the biggest surprise of the year is that for the first time during our tenure on Speed TV Meents will head to Vegas for the finals with Maximum Destruction having not won a televised freestyle event during the season. That stat may make Meents even more motivated, if that's possible, to win another freestyle championship.....speaking of the Speed schedule, the final pre-Vegas event being recorded for television is at the El Paso Sun Bowl this weekend, with another capacity crowd expected for Monster Jam's return to the west Texas city.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed