2019 Logan County Fair

Final event of the fair, Demo Derby Maddog excitement ends on a surprising quiet note

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[August 07, 2019]  Sunday afternoon the grandstand events at the 2019 Logan County Fair concluded with the annual Demolition Derby. The derby was scheduled to start at 2 p.m. with the Power Wheels class featuring children in their battery operated vehicles. Next came the Compacts, then the Full Size Bone Stock cars. The final class of the afternoon was the Super Stock class.

In the grown up cars there was an excellent turnout of competitors with 16 cars in the Compact class and 25 cars in the Full Size Bone Stock class.

There were only five cars that qualified to participate in the Super Stock. Two cars came to the line, but were turned away because they had arrived late.




The grand stand was filled for the demo derby as guests gathered to holler and cheer for their favorite drives in each class.
 


Power Wheels

This year the youth class consisted of about 30 participants. There were a number of children who had brought their own vehicles and safety equipment.




The field was made all the larger when 20 lucky kids from the grandstand won the drawing to come out and drive a vehicle provided by Hemi Power Wheels.



In this class everyone comes out a winner. Kids were permitted to crash and bang for a total of 10 minutes. When they were finished each one of the drivers received a checker flag for their participation.

Compacts



There were 16 cars in the Compact class this year including veteran competitor Vienna Kodatt; who was driving a vehicle sponsored by candidate for Logan County Circuit Clerk Kelly Elias.

Kodatt, as usual did a great job in the field, and was in the final four when her car gave out.




The winner of the class was an orange car called 04 Maddog. The Maddog was a tough competitor and garnered the loud cheers when he exited his vehicle.






The first car knocked out was the number 96, who lasted only a few minutes into the show. However, the driver was required to stay in the car until the end of the competition His car died in a prime spot near the center of the track and he ended up taking several wild rides courtesy of the other competitors. Time and time again he was hit and shoved, moving him several yards from his original ending point.

Full Size Bone Stock

In the Full Size Bone Stock 25 cars entered the official demo area, but one, the number 41 died on the way in, stopping in the middle of the track. The driver tried countless times to get the car restarted, and even got it to run for a minute or so a couple of times. When the crash and bang was ready to start the announcer asked the driver if he wanted to stay in and try to get the car rolling. Under demolition rules, a car that dies or becomes immobile is put on a time and has only a few minutes to get rolling again. The driver of the 41 opted to leave the track instead of being a sitting duck in the middle of the field.

Lincoln Mayor Seth Goodman was driving the number 217 in the Full Size class. Goodman had given away a ride-along via social media and the lucky winner was Missy Helton.



Goodman and Helton made it onto the track and ran for a few minutes. The car died, and according to Goodman, there was an issue with the battery connection and he could not get the car to re-fire. He and Missy were at the far end of the track when this occurred. They were hit a couple of times, but for the most part were just left to sit and watch the show close-up.





This competition was red flagged once, about mid-way through as a large pile up of cars appeared to have at least one that was on fire. The Lincoln Rural Firefighters headed out on the track and checked each one of the cars and found no fire. A few minutes later the crash and bang resumed.

This competition saw a lot of mangled cars by the end of the heat. For many that started out on the track as a full sized vehicle, they were reduced to something even smaller than the compact cars that had been on the track earlier.

[to top of second column]




One fun part for the crowd taking in this heat was the dilemma faced by the numbers 12 and 825. While both were running and ready to compete, about halfway through the heat they found themselves trapped on the north end of the track by disabled cars. Both worked desperately to push and shove the cars so as to make an exit point for themselves. The number 12 car was the first to get the job done to the roar of the crowd in the grandstand.



The winner of this heat was the number 17 car that by the end of the show was almost completely missing the back half of his car.



Logan County Royalty – Queen Sky Kretzinger, Junior Miss Anna Kindred and Little Miss Jolie Grisham - was super busy on Sunday afternoon with the 4-H Livestock, as well as the Cake Classic Auctions. The three ladies did not make it to the demo derby until late in this class. They joined the guests in the grandstand and watched for a bit while also visiting with the many folks there who wanted a chance to congratulate them on their wins from last Tuesday night.
 


Super Stock

In this class the real drama of the evening started before the heat. Five cars came to the entry line, then two additional cars. As each car and driver was introduced, the cars were driven into the demo area. As car five was getting ready to enter, the large forklift tractor used to haul away wreckage moved to block the last two cars. Members of the Logan County Sheriff’s Office went out and spoke to the drivers. Both were turned away.




Very unhappy about being disqualified, the two left the entry area kicking up a large cloud of dust on their way back to the car haulers. The announcer would later explain that the deadline for registering for the heat was 2 p.m. The two drivers had arrived late. He said rules were rules, and the drivers had to be disqualified.

With only five cars on the track the final heat of the night lacked some of the excitement of the other two classes.

What was fun to watch was the fight to the finish between the numbers 19 and 04Maddog cars.



The first three cars were eliminated pretty quickly. Then it was a 'dog fight' to the finish for the 19 and 04. There were times when the two cars reminded one of boxers in a ring, circling each other, sizing each other up, and trying to determine where to deliver that knock-out blow.







However, in the end, it was a quiet track that determined the winner. At the exact same time, both car engines died. The crowd roared. What now? The announcer urged each one to get their car started saying the first to start would be the winner of the heat. Inside the cars, one could see both drivers trying hard to get the engines to roll over. In the end it was Maddog who got there first, and was immediately declared the winner.



Some may have noticed that the 04 Maddog car sounded familiar from a previous heat. It is true. Maddog had two dogs in the fight, a small orange car in the Compacts and a beefed up full size car in the Super Stock.

With the car started and the win declared, Maddog shut it down and crawled out of the car where other drivers and friends congratulated him on the double wins of the night.

Immediately following the heat, a 50-50 drawing was held with the proceeds benefiting the Lincoln Rural Fire Protection District. And with that the show was over for another year, and for the most part so was the fair.

Carnival rides and food vendors would continue on into the evening, but for many fairgoers the end of the demo derby meant a fond farewell to the Logan County Fair... until next year.

[Nila Smith]

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