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Sunday
August 9th was the final day of the Logan County Fair. It was also
the day of the demolition derby. The derby was held at a walled off
portion of the dirt track, and the audience got to watch the show
from the grandstand. Those in the front rows were able to see the
action within a few feet, while those farther back got a nice view
of the whole scene.
The derby was hosted by Robbo’s Extreme Derby Promotions. There were
plenty of trophies, with the top drivers in each category receiving
one. Additionally, the divers in a few of the categories received
cash prizes.
The event was a little late to
start, originally being set to start at 4:00 p.m. The Power Wheels
class was the first to go. The young kids each brought out their
tiny electric cars. Some were pink and pretty, while others were
darker. One even looked like the Grave Digger monster truck.
Next, a water truck was brought out
to wet the field before the full-sized vehicles were brought out.
The water truck was provided by the Atlanta Ag Center out of
Atlanta, Illinois. It went back and forth, spraying water and
soaking the dirt.
The first class of vehicles was
then brought in, those being the Youth Compacts. There were five
drivers total in this class, with cars 13, 11E, 23B, 17, and All
Around Towing. Once the cars were told to, they began driving,
barreling into each other at high speeds. The drivers mostly
attempted to use the back ends of their vehicles to drive into the
front ends of their opponents’ vehicles. This served to minimize the
damage to their own engines.
After some time, there were only
two cars left, the 17 and the All Around Towing car. It seemed that
17 had the upper hand, as All Around Towing had already caught fire
once. Catching fire a second time would mean that they would be out.
The All Around Towing car refused to accept defeat sitting idly by,
however. It began to beat down the other car with ruthless abandon.
Soon, both cars were smoking, and it seemed to be a pretty even
match. Unfortunately for the All Around Towing car, however, they
did catch fire a second time, meaning the 17 car took the victory.
After each round, skid steers would come in to remove the wrecked
cars from the field in preparation for the next match.
The next round was the Bonestock
class, and there were a monumental 27 cars in this class, all taking
the field at the same time. Before the round even started, the field
was already filled to the brim with cars, some having to move and
park closer to their opponents to make room. When the round started,
the cars all moved, but some got surrounded by other cars and were
unable to move. It was chaos for a good while.
After some time, there were only a
few cars left, but they were separated by a wall of wrecked cars in
the middle of the field. Car 84 kept trying to ram through, using
the back end of their vehicle to do so. The announcer paused the
race and a skid steer was brought in to move some of the cars out of
the way. After a bit more back and forth, the 84 car came out on
top, taking the victory in that class.
[to top of second column] |
The field was watered down again
before the Minivan and SUV class. There were quite a few in this
class, but much less than the previous one. Sixteen vehicles in
total battled it out. This class was seemingly more aggressive than
the previous two, with cars driving into each other at greater
speeds more frequently. After a bit of time, the driver of car 3JR
came out on top.
Hobo cars ‘77 and newer were next,
with ten cars participating in this class. Right off the bat, one
could tell that the drivers in this class were attempting to top the
ferocity of the drivers in the previous class. Car 28 hit car 26
head on so hard that car 26’s tire flew off and got sucked under the
other car. The driver of car 13n was also driving very aggressively,
hitting anyone that he could.
Toward the end of the round, it
came down to cars, 22 and 87M. 87M cornered 22 and began to back
into them over and over. This tactic proved fruitful, as 87M took
home first place in that round.
The light weld class was next, with
ten cars in this class as well. Like with the other classes, the
cars here held nothing back. At one point, the driver of car 42 hit
the barrier so hard that the car jumped over it a bit. The driver
managed to reverse the car back onto the field and rejoin the brawl.
This round also ended with the driver of car 87M taking home first
place.
Around this time, the sun was
setting, but the derby was still going. The derby continued into the
evening hours.
Demolition Derby at the Logan County Fair photo slideshow part 1
Demolition Derby at the Logan County Fair photo slideshow part 2
Demolition Derby at the Logan County Fair photo slideshow part 3
Demolition Derby at the Logan County Fair photo slideshow part 4
Demolition Derby at the Logan County Fair photo slideshow part 5
Demolition Derby at the Logan County Fair photo slideshow part 6
Demolition Derby at the Logan County Fair photo slideshow part 7
Demolition Derby at the Logan County Fair photo slideshow part 8
[Matt Boutcher]
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