Derby Participants Destroy Cars, Delight Crowd

By Meghan Louttit (Contact)

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

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Monday at the Fair

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Participants in Monday's demolition derby attempt to take each other out as a large crowd looks on. (Katherine Frey)

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A large crowd gathers at the county fair for Monday night's demolition derby. It didn't take long for cars to being smoking. (Katherine Frey)

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The crowd reacts with smiles and shocked faces during Monday night's Demolition Derby at the Loudoun County Fair. (Katherine Frey)

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Alison Grady, 11, finishes third in the corn-on-the-cob eating contest in the 12-and-under category on Monday at the Loudoun County Fair. (Katherine Frey)

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Last years' Little Miss Loudoun County, 6-year-old Peyton Yamagata, checks out the games Monday night at the Loudoun County Fair. (Katherine Frey)

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The Demolition Derby has its own special logic. Entrants spend many hours on the painstaking preparations — painting and reinforcing their cars, taking out all the glass, moving the gas tank to the back seat. Then, they proceed to destroy the fruit of all that labor.

The down-and-dirty event started at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Loudoun County Fair, and there were plenty of onlookers eager to witness the carnage.

Dust and smoke rose as tires tore through the grandstand grounds for nearly three hours. People squeezed into the bleachers and lined up along the white fence surrounding the track — some wincing with each metal-bending crash, others shaking their heads in awe that anyone would actually submit themselves to such madness.

Pickup trucks periodically entered the ring to tow the cars that could no longer make their own way out. One of the cars competing in the first heat had its back end smashed in so hard that it looked as if the vehicle had been sawed in half.

The derby consisted of three heats for four-cylinder vehicles and one for minivans. The winners of each heat then competed to determine the overall winner. Jim Jennings of Stephens City, Va., took home the top honors.

The organizer of the event, Stoney Roberts Promotions, is in its 45th season of putting on demolition derbies.

Tagged: Leesburg, loudoun county fair

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