Adam Anderson, son of legendary Grave Digger driver Dennis Anderson, is in his fourth year of competition. Dennis may cast a big shadow, but Adam constantly seeks to make his own name and create his own niche in the sport. Before the 2008 season began, he aided in the design and construction of a new truck built specifically for him. We caught up with Adam in Pensacola, Florida before a display to talk about his season so far driving Taz.

How has the season and adjustment to the new chassis for Taz been for you so far?

Well, at the start it wasn’t too great; we were having steering issues in Houston, and it locked up on me partway through my racing and all of the way in freestyle, so I rolled pretty early. In San Antonio, we rebounded great. It was the first time in awhile that SPEED was there for television, and a lot of people told me I should have won freestyle there. It’s tough with so many great drivers there, and Chuckie (Charlie Pauken, Grave Digger) is awesome. In San Diego I got to the semifinals and got to race my dad for the first time. I went all-out and it cost me. If I would have let up and been able to hit one of the ramps with both tires, I would have had him, but I got a penalty. From there, we did a lot of smaller shows and won a great deal of them, and then in Jacksonville things didn’t go so well. The truck is working really well right now; I’m really happy with how things are going.

How did the idea for the new chassis come up? It is similar to the Grave Digger 20 truck you drove when your dad was injured last year.

When I drove Dad’s truck that first weekend in Houston last year, I was worried that I wasn’t going to do well at all, but once I got in there, it felt great, like a natural transition. It’s set up lower and wider than the average truck, and it was much easier to drive. We have decided to build more trucks in-house at our shop in North Carolina, and they told me that they were going to build one for me there. The engine placement and four-link bar placement is the same as Digger 20, but there are more bars in the roll cage. Actually, there are more on there than on any other truck, because they figured I was gonna drive it pretty crazy! The shocks are the same coil-overs that my dad used for awhile, but I wanted to try something different and add another shock to each corner in addition, so I talked to the bosses and they let me do it. The stance of the truck is a little taller than 20, but it feels great. It was almost too soft of a landing for stadium shows. When we field-tested it, it was on sand, so the landing was softer, but once we were at the actual shows, we got to adjust it, and it feels great now.

How much input did you have on the truck as it was being built?

Paul Cohen fabricated it, and he knows a lot about everything, so I definitely trusted him with doing it. Where I had the most input was some of the safety stuff, and the shock deal. We would be in the shop talking about what to do on the truck, and the roll cage came up. I told them I didn’t care about the extra weight on the truck; I wanted the extra protection in the roll cage, and they did it. The shock deal was my idea to try something different, and it worked out really well. Cole from the shop and I wired and assembled the whole truck, and now that we’ve got the bugs worked out of it, it just feels great; I feel comfortable.

Now that you’ve driven a few years, what do you think of your progress in the sport so far?

I’ve definitely improved. Last year when I was in Digger was one of my best years. This year wasn’t bad, especially with working the bugs out of a new truck. Every time I’m in the truck, and every show I do I still learn some things. I’m always trying new stuff, and there’s a lot to do. I’ve still got a lot of things that I want to try and do.

What are your goals for the future?

I’d like to eventually win all of the awards at the banquet in Vegas. I don’t really care about them necessarily all in one year, but I’d like to have all of them at some point. I don’t want to win a whole bunch at the start and then never do it again.

What are your thoughts on the new bonus and super bonus time in freestyle?

I think it’s pretty neat, but the only problem I see is that a lot of drivers think they can take it easy at the beginning now so that they last all of the time given. I think that if you really do a great job early then you can beat the people who do all the bonus and super bonus time anyway. Most people just take it too easy, and I don’t like that. I go all-out from the start!

You’ve driven a lot on the European tour. Do you see the extra seat time you get there as an advantage?

Yeah, definitely. It really does help a lot; it’s like having an extra season. I remember the second year I was driving, I went there and won a lot of events, and it helped my confidence. It was like being at home; the format of the shows and driving is the same, so it’s definitely helped me out a lot. I love it.

You’re becoming known for cross-thread moves in freestyle (where the driver hits a freestyle obstacle at a 45-degree, “crooked” angle). Is that your favorite thing to do when you’re running in freestyle?

Yeah, it is. The way I see it, I used to be one of the first guys to go in freestyle when I started, and you had to hit some of the stuff slower. If you wanted to cross-thread a bus stack, you had to go pretty slow, but then you’d rip up the bus pretty good and it’d look pretty cool. Now that I’m toward the end of the field in freestyle, the obstacles are more mashed up, and I cross-thread them with more speed. When I do it, I try and cross-thread two obstacles back-to-back and make it look really cool; it turns out better that way. It’s a really risky move, but it’s high-reward if you can pull it off.

Is there a specific driver or person in the sport that you’ve learned the most from so far?

There’s not a specific person because they’re all great. When Paul Cohen and I were paired up, it was right when I started driving, and I really wanted to beat him, so I ended up rolling over a lot going for wins. Now, I watch everyone, and if I see something cool that they do, I try and add it to my list of things to do. Everyone does a great job, and it’s awesome running with them.