Robbo’s Extreme Derby presents the
Jason Bradburn Memorial Demolition Derby at the Logan County
Fairground
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[September 05, 2023]
Saturday
evening a very large turnout of vehicles made for a demolition derby
at the Logan County Fairgrounds that lasted right at five hours.
As many fans will know, the Logan County Fair Demolition Derby that
was to be held the last Sunday of the fair was postponed due to the
condition of the track area after heavy rains had passed through the
area the day of and the day prior to the derby.
Fair organizers had made the call to not hold the demo derby, but at
the same time suggested to Robbo’s Extreme Derby that instead of
cancelling all together, the event could be re-scheduled. This week,
the announcer for Robb’s thanked the fair board for the suggestion
of re-scheduling. He noted that the board had been very supportive
of the notion of bringing the derby back at a later date and had
contributed to the purse money that would be given out to the
winners at this event.
The evening began with a driver meeting at the trailer that served
as the stage area in front of the grandstand. Then there was a call
for the National Anthem. The announcer asked if there was anyone in
the audience who would want to sing the song down on the track. A
roar came up from the crowd when Justin VanCleve volunteered.
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VanCleve came down to the inside of the track and
performed a dynamic rendition of the Anthem with occasional help
from the crowd.
Immediately following the anthem, the Power Wheels class was called.
This is an event for children who drove the Power Wheels motorized
toy vehicles they had brought for the event. There were
approximately 20 children who took to the track for a five-minute
session of bumping and banging.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20DSCN6562_small.JPG)
At the end of the timed session, all the Power Wheels
lined up for a race. The winner of the race was Keagan VanCleve, who
left the competition eating his dust as he forced toward the finish
line well ahead of all the other competitors.
After the Power Wheels were pulled off the track, there was another
special event before moving on to the engine operated vehicles.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20DSCN6566_small.JPG)
Alaina Bradburn drove her dad, Jason’s car into the
center of the track as it was announced that the evening would be
dedicated in memory of the late Jason Blackburn who passed away in
June of this year.
The event would be named the Jason Bradburn Memorial Demolition
Derby in his honor. As the announcer spoke, he invited the audience
to observe a moment of silence for Jason’s family in memory of their
loved one.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20%20DSCN6570_small.JPG)
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20DSCN6572_small.JPG)
He encouraged fellow drivers to come to the car and
lay their hand on the vehicle as a prayer was said.
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Youth Bonestock Compacts
The first class out on the track was the youth bonestock compacts.
These were vehicles driven by youth too young to compete in the
regular derby events. Each young driver had to be accompanied in the
car by an adult who would serve as a navigator and advisor to the
green drivers, many of whom were entering the derby for the first
time.
The event was well populated with about 20 vehicles on the track.
This was the longest feature of the night as understandably; it took
the youngsters a little more time to traverse the track and work up
the courage to make the hard hits that are required to put fellow
drivers out of commission.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20C%20DSCN6609_small.JPG)
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20C%20DSCN6610_small.JPG)
The shining star of the night was not the heat winner
but did take home the bragging rights of being the “Maddog driver”
of the class. That distinction went to McKynzi Thompson in the 726
who drove hard and hit hard all through her stint.
[to top of second column] |
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/02/images/ads/current/guzzardo_lda022609.png)
Open Wire Compacts
There were only three cars in the Open Wire Compact class. The event
was short and not very intense from the viewer’s standpoint. But
nonetheless two cars came out as the battlebots of the event.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20%20DSCN6672_small.JPG)
In the end, Josh Gill was declared the winner with Tyler VanCleve
taking second.
Bone Stock Compacts
In total, there were 48 cars entered in the Bone Stock Compact
class. The track area was not large enough for that many cars so the
group was broken into two heats of 24 cars each.
Even then, the track was crowded and there was a lot of difficulty
in navigating end to end as the number of disabled vehicles grew in
heat one and heat two both.
In heat one there was a point with there was a clear wall between a
group of three cars on the south end of the track and a group of
four on the north end. After some pushing and plowing the way was
cleared for the moving vehicles to get to a point where all were in
the hunt for the win.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20%20DSCN6704_small.JPG)
One of the most exciting events of the first heat was
the roll of the 95m car. After sustaining a side hit from a
competitor, the car rolled onto its side on the inside edge of the
track.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20%20DSCN6706_small.JPG)
The City of Lincoln Fire Department and the Lincoln
Rural Fire Protection District were both on hand at the event and
were very fast to get to the car and get it rolled back on its side.
The driver came out of the car unscathed to the applause of the
audience.
In the first heat, the end came down to three vehicles that were the
“Nine” group of J9, 9A, and 9z driven by three who were related
including the Miller brothers Brandon and Zac.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20DSCN6770_small.JPG)
In the end, it was Brandon who took the first place
and brother Zac the second.
Heat two of the Bonestock Compacts did not bring on the same
excitement as the first heat, though there were plenty of crashes
and lots of steam and smoke throughout the event. Again the disabled
cars were almost a bigger challenge than the moving competition.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2023/Sep/05/images/ads/current/chicagost_sda_FOOTBALL_2023.png)
Open Wire Minivans
The Open Wire Minivans was another small class with not a lot of
excitement as a handful of vehicles crashed and banged until one by
one all but one was dead on the track.
Open Wire Full Size
The Open Wire Full Size class featured driver Alaina Bradburn
driving her dad Jason’s 111 car. Much like her dad, Alain drives to
win, with a lot of speed and a ton of confidence. There were only
seven cars in the field, and a few of them were put out of
commission pretty early in the match.
There was one incident that brought the crowd to its feet. Though
hard to see who was involved and what the income was, a hard hit to
one car on the south end of the track brought out the Logan County
Paramedics, the Lincoln Fire Departments, and the Logan County
Sheriff’s deputies. Based on the cheers from the crowd that was
hanging over the fencing of the grandstand and blocking the view,
the person who was potentially injured came out of the car awake but
was hustled into the LCPA ambulance to be checked out. The ambulance
did leave the grounds, but there was no report as to who was inside
or what the injuries might have been.
The rest of the event was a wild one, with the announcer often
warning spectators to stay away from the fences and other track
barriers because these were fast, powerful cars that were in it for
the win all holds barred.
![](../images/090523PIX/s%20%20DSCN6922_small.JPG)
In the end it was the high speed, the hard hits and
the tough Bradburn built car that brought Alaina to the finish as
the winner of the heat as well as the Maddog trophy that dwarfed the
heat first place trophy by a few feet.
In all, it was a great night of derby action and well worth the time
invested in watching such a large event. The derby boasted nice
sized purses for the winners and a large number of trophies were
handed out as well.
[Nila Smith]
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