Mud, Smoke and Fire
Leading from behind proves to be winning strategy at Floyd County Fair Demolition Derby
Though they didn't match the destructive horsepower from the adult divisions, most of the Kids' Demolition Derby vehicles survived intact to fight another day.
Flames spew from the overhead exhaust of Timmy Lange's Full-Size Car entry at the FC Fair Demolition Derby. Lange, of Doon, Iowa, placed third in his division.
With smoke pouring out from under the hood of his car, Matt Nicholson, right, gets no help from Deryk Evens, driver of the car on the left, during the Compact Car feature. Evens and Nicholson, both of Osage, finished first and second, respectively.
Press photos by John Burbridge Deryk Evens, driver of vehicle on right, gets battered by fellow Osage competitor Matt Nicholson during the Compact Car feature at the Floyd County Fair Demolition Derby.
By John Burbridge | sports@charlescitypress.com
Neighbors of Tony Carlson should be alerted whenever he backs out of his driveway.
Reason being is because whenever the Rochester, Minn., man shifts into reverse, bad things tend to happen.
“You’ve got to try to save the front, especially the radiator,” Carlson said after being declared the winner of the Truck competition, which concluded the feature events at the 35th annual Floyd County Fair Demolition Derby held Saturday night.
“Once that gets cracked, it’s pretty much over,” Carlson said.
So that’s why Carlson decided to use the flatbed of his pickup truck as a battering ram. And … boy! … someone needs to strip Carlson of any safe-driver discounts that may somehow be in his possession.
Within just several minutes into the Truck feature, one side of the derby pit got crowded with entangled vehicles. Carlson, however, was able to steer clear of the mess while utilizing the other half of the pit as a means to blaze paths to violent mayhem. After pulling up to the west-side boundary bank, Carlson would floor his truck in reverse toward the trapped vehicles.
Repeatedly.
Drawing more precise beads on his targets, Carlson’s back-ended attack progressively got more devastating while provoking greater responses from the crowd. The carnage came to a merciful end when Carlson’s back bumper got caught in the wheel-well of one of his victims and he couldn’t get free.
With a cluster of six trucks immovable in the middle of the pit, and only two trucks with their wheels still spinning — that of Carlson and Andrew Eischens of Toopi, Minn. — the competition was declared over.
Eischens placed second. Charles City’s Nate Knecht — part of a family of derby drivers who have competed at the FC Fair event since its inception in 1981 — placed third. Henry Bosz of Alvord, Iowa, placed fourth.
Aside from needing an ultra-deluxe spot-free wash, Carlson’s truck looked in fairly decent condition even after all the damage it caused.
“We try to keep them running as long as we can,” said Carlson, who has been a derby competitor for three years — this was his first competition at the FC Fairgrounds.
“But this is not my first truck, and I’ll probably need another soon,” Carlson said.
Though intermittent rains that day washed out the fair’s carnival attractions, the weather cleared in time for the demolition derby, which drew a large following of fans.
The grandstand area was filled to capacity, and the two sections of auxiliary bleachers were filled to near capacity despite being placed in a muddy quagmire west of the derby pit.
Opening acts consisted of several kids’ derbies where drivers — in age divisions 4-6 and 7-9 — did battle in miniature, electric-motorized vehicles. The object was to rupture front-end and rear-end attached balloons of your competitors while protecting your own.
There was a little concern while watching the kid derby drivers struggle to attain enough traction in the muddy pit just to pop a balloon even in head-to-head collisions that the subsequent adult competitors might have trouble generating meaningful impacts.
That concern was laid to rest well before the Compact division left a wake of destroyed vehicles. Several Compact cars became even more “compact” with their trucks nearly repositioned in their front seats.
Then in the Full-Size feature things got a little dramatic when a busted fuel line caused one vehicle to burst into flames. The driver was able to escape unscathed while personnel from local fire departments converged to put out the fire leaving a shroud of thick smoke that engulfed the grandstand, bleacher and pit areas momentarily before action resumed after a thorough cleanup.
Top placers in the Compact division were Deryk Evens of Osage (first), Matt Nicholson of Osage (second), Eric Staudt of Osage (third) and Andrew Teepe of Charles City (fourth).
Top placers in the Full-Size division were Chance Langford of Blue Earth, Minn. (first), Harry Wallen of Brownsdale, Minn. (second), Timmy Lange of Doon, Iowa (third), Josh Chatfield of Stacyville, Iowa (fourth) and Greg Harrison of Brownsdale (fifth).
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