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On Sunday, August 3rd, a demolition
derby was held on the track in front of the Grandstands starting at
4:00 p.m. This was the final big event of the Logan County Fair, and
boy was it one to go out on.
The stands were absolutely packed
with people waiting to see this final show of the Fair. On the track
in front of the Grandstands, many large cement blocks were
positioned in a large rectangle fashion. The space between these
blocks was the pit that the demolition cars would use.
Two things were done before the
derby officially began. The first was a small power wheels derby.
Young kids got in some small electric children's vehicles and
smashed into one another. After several minutes of this, they then
had the kids line up with their vehicles and race. A young man in a
red vehicle pulled out the win by a long shot.
After this was the Pledge of
Allegiance performed by Lincoln’s own Lesleigh Bennett. Once Bennett
had finished her performance, the Logan County Fair Queen, Julia
Collins, got up and spoke to the eagerly awaiting crowd. She thanked
everyone for their support this week and wished them a good time.
The announcer took over and
officially started the demolition derby. He explained the different
classes that were going to compete. First was youth compact, then
hobos, followed by minivans and SUVs, open wire, and two groups of
bonestock. He also informed the crowd that a loud siren would sound
when a red flag was waved. In these situations, the derby would be
paused until whatever safety issue came up had been addressed.
Lincoln Fire Department and Lincoln Rural Fire Department were on
hand in case of any fire emergencies. LCPA Ambulance was also on
standby in case of any injuries. The Atlanta Ag Center also sprayed
water on the track before the first round to keep the ground nice
and muddy.
Then the first round of cars, that
being the youth compact, took to the track. The cars were numbered
17, 47, 11, 19, and 13. The announcer had the crowd count the
drivers down from five to one, and then they took off. The cars
whipped around the track, with the drivers trying to use the back
end of their vehicles to ram into other cars by reversing into them.
One car was sandwiched between two others as it was hit on either
side simultaneously. Cars 13, 11, and 17 were all eliminated, and it
came down to 47 and 19. The drivers expertly navigated around the
other fallen vehicles as they attempted to best each other. Finally,
47 cornered 19 and repeatedly rammed into him until 19’s car died.
Number 47, driven by Owen Waibel was victorious.
After several minutes of clearing
the track, it was on to the second round. This round was for hobo
cars from 1980 or later. There were only four drivers this time,
with their numbers being 34, 22, 11G, and 19. The crowd once again
counted them down, and they were off. The drivers in this round were
not so keen on only using the beck sides of their vehicles, with
some electing to smash head on. This round went rather quickly, with
19 getting out first, followed by 11G. This left 34 and 22, with 34,
driven by Joshua Sutton, pulling out the win.
Things were moving along quickly,
but the next round proved to be the lengthiest one yet. This round
was for minivans and SUVs, and there were ten drivers total. The car
names were 05K, Iron Man, Crazy Train, 9B, 3JR, 93, 02, 25T, 447,
and D8J. The drivers were counted down and then got to smashing. A
red flag was called pretty early on, and all the divers came to a
halt.
This was followed by a second red
flag. As the second red flag was being addressed, there was a large
boom, followed by a car on the right side of the track smoking.
Firefighters also came and checked out a car on the left side of the
track. It was determined that 05K had to be removed from the track
before the derby could continue.
Car after car continued to stall
out and die, and then there were only two. 3JR and D8J were the last
two cars left. There was some back and forth, but in the end D8J,
driven by Daniel Crowder, was victorious.
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The open wire class was next, with
five cars entering this round. The cars’ numbers were 25A, 38, 26,
23M, and 24X. 24X was flying back and forth around the track. He was
using the speed he would build up to his advantage, viciously
tearing into other cars as he hit them.
This tactic proved to be
beneficial, as 24X, driven by Troy Rowlins, was victorious. His car
was in such good condition that, once he had received his trophy, he
stuck it out his window and drove off the track.
This then brought the night to its
final class, the compacts. There were more cars in this class than
all the other classes combined, however. With a total of 32 drivers,
it was decided that they would break the class into three heats. The
first and second heat would be sixteen cars total. Once six cars had
been eliminated, the first heat would end, the track would be
cleared, and then the second heat would begin, also ending when six
cars were totaled. The final heat would be the remaining twenty
cars, battling until only one was left running.
The cars in the first heat were 05,
77, 08, 3W, 01, 999, 8↑, W34, 26, 98, 23, 20, 24, 543, 282, and
J11Z. The battle was tense, with many cars taking big hits early on,
and some getting stuck in corners due to the large number of cars in
a relatively small space. A red flag was called for leaking gas,
however, and everything had to come to a stop. The gas was scraped
off the track, and then the derby continued.
In the chaos, a rivalry formed when
282 backed 77 into a corner and repeatedly backed into them. When a
second red flag was called, the driver of 77 actually got out and
put his hands on the rear of 282’s car while appearing to yell. In
the end, the six cars that were eliminated were 26, 98, 23, 20, and
W34. The rest got to move on to the third heat.
This then led to the second heat,
with the cars being 68, 25C, 15B, 9Z, 420, 47, 517, 4, 98, 30, 115,
C4, 1124, B8, 69P, and 187. Another red flag was called for yet
another gas leak, this one needing to be scraped up as well. The
cars in this heat fought just as viciously as in the first. When
there were only ten cars remaining, The track was cleared of all
dead cars, and the remaining cars from the first heat returned.
Some of the cars from the first heat did not return, likely due to
being unable to start after the first battle. Car 999 made it to the
track, but died just before the final showdown could begin, with the
driver electing to walk off the track.
Once the drivers were counted down, the final battle began, with the
drivers pushing their cars to their absolute limits. As the cars
were smashed into again and again, some continued running on only a
hope and a dream, lightly tapping other cars with what little they
had left to give.
There were four cars remaining,
with 47 and 1124 both pushing into each other until their cars
stalled and they were eliminated. On the other end of the track,
however, 9Z and O5, one from the first heat and one from the second,
were having an epic battle. Both cars were still raring to go as the
drivers whipped their cars around trying to get in a better position
than the other car. 9Z got wedged into a corner behind another car,
and there his engine stalled. As he tried to get his engine going,
O5 drove halfway around the track, turning around so that his car
faced his target. 9Z was trying to get his engine to turn over to
get out of the way as O5 slammed on the gas. O5 got closer and
closer until he smashed into 9Z, dealing the finishing blow.
O5, driven by Chase McCormick, was
the winner. He drove his car to the middle of the track as his
trophy was walked down to him. People poured onto the track and ran
to him to celebrate with him. This was an exciting finish to an
already exciting event.
[Matt Boutcher]
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