Demolition derby

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"Destruction derby" redirects here. For the video game, see Destruction Derby (video game).

A demolition derby under way at the Greenwich, Ohio Firemen's Festival, 2005

Competition at the West End Fair Demolition Derby, Gilbert, Pennsylvania. This annual event is held on three successive nights each August, with approximately 100 automobiles entered each night. Attendance at the event ranges from 2,000-4,000 spectators.

Pit crews have to work together efficiently in order to repair heat winning cars so they can return to compete in the feature event. Most derbies require that the same car qualifying in the heat must be used in the feature. Occasionally, some derbies allow heat winners to use a fresh car in the feature.

Demolition derby is a motor-sport usually presented at county fairs and festivals. They originated in the United States and quickly spread to other western nations.

While rules vary from event to event, the typical demolition derby event consists of ten or more drivers competing by deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another. The last driver whose vehicle is still operational is awarded the victory.

Demolition derbies can be very dangerous. Although serious injuries are rare, occasionally they do happen. To make the event safer, all glass is removed from the vehicle, and deliberately ramming the driver's-side door area is usually forbidden. The driver's door is often required to be painted white, with black numbers, or with contrasting colors, for visibility. Most demolition derbies are held on dirt tracks, or in open fields, that are usually soaked with water. This causes the competition area to become muddy, which in turn helps to further slow the vehicles. Some drivers use both the front, and rear, of the vehicle to ram the other competitors. Others tend to use only the rear end of the vehicle, to help protect the engine compartment from damage.

Competitors have traditionally used full-size, American made sedans, and station wagons, especially those from the 1960s and 70s, which were larger, heavier, and had more robust frames than later full-size vehicles. (The 1964-1966 Chrysler Imperial achieved near-legendary status for its crashworthiness, and is still banned from most derby events.) Vehicles are purchased from junkyards and private owners, usually for less than US$500, though some select (and rust-free) mid-1970s sedans, and station wagons, may go for more than $1,000. A vehicle may be patched up and re-used for several events.

With the dwindling availability of these older vehicles, smaller full-sized vehicles of the 1980s and 1990s are more frequently encountered today. A separate class of demolition derby for compact cars is increasing in popularity. Compact car events have the advantages of an abundant supply of usable vehicles, which also tend to be more mobile and thus, more entertaining to fans. Being largely front-wheel drive, their back ends can sustain considerable amounts of damage before the vehicle is immobilized. However, this increased speed, coupled with the fact that compact cars tend to be less crashworthy, makes injuries more frequent.

Bizarre versions of the sport using combine harvesters, and lawn mowers have been practiced in various parts of the world. Larger vehicles, such as pickup trucks and SUV's were rarely used in demolition derby (though school bus demolitions have long been a popular exception), but have recently become popular in demolition events. Recently a new class for minivans has been added to some derbies because of the abundance of older vehicles.

The vehicles are stripped of interior fixtures, trim, plastic, lights, and glass, and repainted, usually in loud, garish designs. Additional modifications include trimming sheet metal from around the wheel wells, removing parts of bumpers, welding the doors shut, and relocating the battery and gas tank. To make the cars last longer, they are occasionally pre-bent, frames notched, rear bumper removed, trunk lid notched, and rear coil springs are (when rules allow) replaced with leaf springs. In many instances, roll bars, fire extinguishers, and other safety equipment is installed.

Demolition derbies were first held at various fairs and race tracks by independent promoters in the 1950s. There are unconfirmed reports of events occurring as far back as the 1930s utilizing the abundant supply of worn out Ford Model T's.

The sport's popularity grew throughout the 1960s, becoming a standard of county fairs in rural areas, and becoming a quirky subculture nationwide. ABC's Wide World of Sports, featured demolition derbies on several broadcasts in the 1970s. The popular ABC sitcom Happy Days included the character Pinky Tuscadero, a professional demolition derby driver and occasional love interest to the show's most popular character, Arthur Fonzarelli. Demolition Derbies are found by many to be very amusing.^[who?]

By the 1980s, the sport's popularity began to level off, and then possibly decline throughout the 1990s. With the demise of Wide World of Sports, television exposure became virtually non-existent. In addition to safety concerns and the shortage of full-size vehicles, some felt that the sport has shown little change or innovation beyond its original premise of giant lumbering cars sloshing through mud.

In 1997, The Nashville Network (later part of CBS) returned demolition derby to national television in its "TNN's Motor Madness" series of various motor-sport events. However, as part of MTV Networks' takeover of CBS Cable operations in 2000, demolition derbies, as well as the rest of the CBS motor-sports operations, were removed from programming as part of MTV's move to shut down the CBS Charlotte operation based at Lowe's Motor Speedway and generalize the network into a more broadly viewed channel. Pay per view was demolition derby's only national television outlet in the new millennium. Two $50,000-to-win derbies were held in Widewater, Canada from 2000-2001.

Later in the 2000s, a proliferation of cable television shows about vehicle customizing occasionally showcased junked vehicles in bizarre competitions. Spike TV's "Carpocalypse" [1] was a reality documentary series on variations of demolition derby filmed in Orlando, Florida. The Speed Channel also has aired Team demolition derbies in 2005. Cable TV's exposure has led to renewed interest in the demolition derby.

In 2006 the partners of Mike Weatherford Promotions (Mike Weatherford and Dustin Swayne) brought DerbyMadness.com to life while promoting the NAPA Auto Parts Crash for Cash Series. The First Annual final show paid out $5,000.00 to the winner of the series. To compete in the final show, derby drivers across several states had to first qualify at any one of the participating NAPA Crash for Cash qualifying derbys. There were over 100 cars in the final show. The Series was a huge success and continues to grow every year. The 2007 Series Money was doubled, so look forward to an exciting 2008 series.

Sometimes the action unintentionally spills out of the "crash zone" boundaries. Note the fire extinguisher conveniently placed for easy access. Many derbies have local firefighting crews standing by in the arena. Thanks to their quick response, frequent small engine fires are usually extinguished immediately.

1 Demolition derbies in Europe
2 Rollover competitions
3 Figure 8 racing
4 Monster truck racing
5 Demolition derby video games
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Demolition derbies in Europe

The large amounts of motor oil, gasoline, and other chemicals spilled into the ground, and unfiltered vehicle exhaust released into the air at derbies prompted several European countries to enact environmental legislation that effectively banned these types of events.

England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium & Holland all have well established "banger race" events. These differ from American derbies in that drivers actually attempt to turn laps on a race track, while also trying to knock the other competitors off the track. The events often climax with an American style derby, with the last driver whose car is still functional awarded the victory. A similar style of racing has developed a minority following in the USA, particularly at tracks in the Pacific Northwest.

The culture and attitudes surrounding banger racing in Europe differ considerably from the US demolition derby scene. Contrary to popular belief in the USA, Banger Racing evolved largely separately from US derby. In the early 1950s "stock car racing" came to Europe, with a subtle difference - the tracks were generally a maximum of 1/4 mile, and critically, deliberate contact was permitted between the cars, which were customised to cope with this new dimension (this style of stock car racing still exists today, most notably under the auspices of BriSCA in the UK). In the late 1950s and early 60s these "stock cars" became increasingly expensive and specialised, and naturally, a cheap form of this style of racing using end of life vehicles with minimal preparation evolved, initially organised by clubs racing in fields, and then gradually migrating into the stadiums as it gained popularity.

By the late 1960s, this was known as banger racing. By 1970, "destruction derbies" were taking place at the end of meetings to finish the cars off.

Gradually the amount of contact in the actual races increased, and by the middle of the 1970s, deliberate heavy contact including head-on crashes was starting to feature, along with the emergence of team racing events - typically in those days with large teams facing off "head to head", rather than the format more popular today with several smaller teams on track together.

Banger Racing continues to thrive with around 10,000 cars destroyed in this way per year in England alone.

[edit] Rollover competitions

Also included at many demolition derbies in the US and UK are rollover competitions, where the object is to drive a car so that only the wheels on one side hit a ramp, causing the vehicle to roll over repeatedly. Drivers take multiple runs at the ramp until their vehicle dies. The driver who completes the most rollovers before their vehicle ceases to function is declared the winner. Compact cars, especially hatchbacks, are used in rollover competitions. Their lighter weight enables them to roll more easily than larger vehicles. However, with modern high-horsepower unibody sedans and coupes now appearing on salvage lots, some of this conventional wisdom is being questioned and some major competitions have been won by drivers of mid-size and full-size sedans.

[edit] Figure 8 racing

Main article: Figure 8 racing

Various classes of vehicles have competitions staged on figure 8 shaped tracks. While many figure 8 racers are serious competitors who try to avoid crashing. Bump To Pass Figure eights are also quite popular as they involve less prep work from the usual figure eight racer which usually can also race as an oval track street stock. Demolition derby vehicles - especially school buses - often compete on figure 8 tracks. The best known figure 8 track in the US is Riverhead Raceway in Riverhead, New York.

[edit] Monster truck racing

Main article: Monster truck

Junked vehicles are also destroyed for entertainment at monster truck competitions, so demolition derbies are often staged there as a preliminary event. The rise in popularity of monster truck competitions, beginning in the 1980s is sometimes cited as coming at the expense of demolition derby popularity. While derbies featured mostly local amateur talent, monster trucks popularized a new set of competitors and vehicles recognized nationwide by fans.