E3 Spark Plugs News

The iconic Grave Digger Monster Truck celebrates 30 years of hard-charging, mud-flinging, crowd-pleasing entertainment in 2012.

It was three decades ago that the iconic monster truck Grave Digger came to life on the banks of Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina and E3 Spark Plugs is joining fans worldwide in celebrating its 30th anniversary year. Debuting in 1982, the original Grave Digger was a red 1952 Ford pickup truck tricked out as a mud bogger by owner Dennis Anderson. And while his friends were none too impressed initially, they’d soon eat their words.

It was a bit of amicable trash talking with fellow racers that landed Grave Digger its name.

“I’ll take this old junk and dig your grave with it,” Anderson told his heckling competitors who drove newer, sleeker trucks. Where those guys and their trucks are today, nobody knows. But Grave Digger went on to become one of the most enduring and celebrated of all the Monster Truck personalities, growing to string of some 25 race and display trucks.

The Grave Digger is immediately recognizable with its ominous paint scheme featuring green flames, blood-dripping letters, a foggy graveyard scene with tombstones bearing names of competitors, a haunted house silhouetted by a full moon and a giant skull-shaped ghost. A fan favorite is the set of red headlights that glow menacingly when the truck is in competition. A lucky happenstance, those headlights were. Anderson began using them when he was building a transporter out of a school bus and realized that the red stop lights fit perfectly in Grave Digger’s headlights.

In celebration of its 30 years in the mud ring, the 2012 Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam season will tour three new Grave Digger monster truck designs and has released a full line of exclusive limited edition “Grave Digger 30th Anniversary” merchandise including a retrospective DVD. Monster Jam fans can get up close to the newly designed Grave Digger versions as part of the Monster Jam pre-show Party in the Pits.

Got any favorite Grave Digger memories over the years? E3 Spark Plugs wants to hear your stories and see your pics. Post them on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page. And remember to power your own would-be monster truck with E3 truck spark plugs for a stronger, cleaner burn.

Enter the E3 Spark Plugs Bigfoot 4x4 Sweepstakes and, while your there, put your own message on the JumboTron and post it on your Facebook page.

What the heck are you waiting for? Announced in December, the E3 Spark Plugs Bigfoot 4×4 Sweepstakes is the biggest contest of the year for Monster Truck fans. The grand prize winner gets an all-expenses paid trip to the Lucas Oil 4-Wheel Jamboree Nationals Series at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis September 16-18 and a full agenda of stuff that Monster Truck fans dream about.

We’re talking about stuff like being part of the E3 Spark Plugs Bigfoot pit crew during the event; having lunch with Bigfoot creator and owner Bob Chandler and Stacey David, producer and host of Stacey David’s GearZ; and the ultimate – going for a ride in the legendary Bigfoot! Can you imagine the looks on your friend’s faces when they see your mug hanging out the window of the most famous truck in the United States?

If you haven’t registered yet, go to www.E3Bigfoot4x4Sweeps.com now. Read over the official rules and regulations, complete the form with all your info and click “submit.” You can enter once a day, but keep it honest – no submitting under multiple email addresses or using an automated program (we’re watching you tech heads!). Minors can enter, but you’ll need to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

While on the website, type in a fun message you’d love to see on the E3 Spark Plugs JumboTron at a Monster Truck event and post it on your Facebook page. It’s not required to win. But it’s a cool extra. Ask your girlfriend to marry you, wish a friend a happy birthday, tell your mom you love her or tell your boss to… well, never mind. Just keep it clean, okay?