Engines revved and mud flew as a battered pink station wagon spun around and gunned for a green sedan, its hood badly crumpled and front fender hanging by a thread. The wagon slammed into the sedan, rendering it undrivable. The crowd went wild.
And so it went for hours at this year’s Demolition Derby at the La Plata County Fair on Saturday. Twenty drivers entered, and 1,600 fans turned out to watch the metal carnage – a battle to the end of machines in the mud.
Lynn Dobbins, superintendent of the event, said the crowd loves it.
“It’s like road rage, but they get to take it out here,” she said.
Dobbins, who’s been helping run the event for more than 15 years, said the competition is broken down into timed heats – think Roman Colosseum but with Chevrolet Caprices and yacht-sized Mercuries instead of gladiators.
It’s a timed process of elimination to see who can hit the most cars and still be running at the end.
“You have two minutes to make a hit, then one minute, then 30 seconds, and then you’re out,” Dobbins said.
“The other cars that timed out have a chance to come back in a consolation heat,” she said. “So, the final heat could have 12 cars in it.”
Dobbins, from the safety of the announcer’s box above the chaos, said drivers go backward to protect their engines. A hit anywhere on the car is fair game, except the driver’s door.
In the pits, sparks flew where team crews were welding, sawing, yanking wires and hoses out of engines and hammering car bodies into drivable shape.
Pit-crew member Deakan Mitchell said it’s all about fixing stuff.
“It’s just fun,” he said. “That’s why we do it. Things break all the time. We just patch them back up and try to get them out in to the next round.”
Tractors towed beaten vehicles back into their spots for mending. Body shops and garages were set up in the dust of the fairgrounds to rush the cars back into drivable condition.
One station wagon’s radiator was smashed into the engine so badly, crews used chains and a Bobcat to stretch it back out like some monstrous car torture chamber from the Dark Ages.
Meanwhile, drivers were getting ready for their next heat.
Driver Brandan Lancaster called it a fun, crazy time.
“Its loud,” he said. “And your neck is a little stiff the next day, but it’s an adrenaline rush.”
He and his crew were hurrying about his vehicle, once a luxury car. Gutted was everything except a seat and a steering wheel. Wires and other pieces of the car’s entrails dangled, and nothing but a skeleton of the inside remained.
“Well, this was a ’79 Lincoln Town Car,” he said. “It’s just a lot of fun to build these cars.”
But crash-up derby isn’t just for the boys.
Jessica Radojits said driving was awesome.
“It’s the best stress relief ever,” she said. “I’m still reeling down from it a little bit.”
Radojits took third in her first derby three years ago and was back to see what she could do.
Her black Caprice was in surprisingly good shape – partly because of her pit crew and partly that she took first in her first heat.
Across the way, Shanan Malone was gearing up for another round. A crew member was filling the tank with gas – from where the back seat used to be in her ’71 Ford Torino. She said she was hooked.
“I’m really a relaxed person, but honestly, I just go for it,” she said. “I’m kind of crazy out there.”
The crowd roared as machines swung about and inflicted debilitating blows on their opponents.
After nearly every heat, tractors drove into the ring and recovered those that could no longer move on their own, still in the mud.
Dobbins laughed at the crowd’s enthusiasm. Although she’s never driven in a derby, it hits close to home.
“I drive in downtown Durango,” she said. “That’s enough.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
Today at the fair
All events will take place at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. For more information, call 247-4355 or visit www.co.laplata.co.us.
Today
8:30 a.m. Cowboy church will take place in the pavilion.
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Exhibits open to the public.
1:30 p.m. 4-H/FFA Catch-it Contest.
