Demolition derby

[Phil]

Demolition derby for those who haven't seen it is like an elaborate bumper-cars event. You take an old car and gut the upholstery, remove the windows and paint it up for the event. Then a bunch of cars run into each other until only 1 is able to move.

I have participated in those before. I did it just about every year from ages 19 to about 30 but after that I just got tired of it. Its a fair amount of work if you want to last a while. I never entered planning on winning but I never wanted to be knocked out in the 1st few minutes either. I participated 1 to 4 times a summer depending how time would allow.

Now that Jason has his license we have entertained thoughts of the both of us running in derbys soon.

My wife doesn't like the idea. She doesn't want Jason to drive in a smash up derby. I have done it about 20 times I never got hurt I don't think he would either. I would not let him do it this year * you have to be 18 if you don' t have parental consent* so he needs our approval. I do think that with a few more months of driving experience next summer that might be ok.

There's about 5 within our range. Starting from late May going to mid September it is possible to be in them all.

I would participate with him if that happens. At least the 1st couple times.

You find a junker for $500 or less, sometimes just $100 and you gut it and paint it. It takes some time to work on it but not what a true race car would take and nothing compared to the expense.

Racers spend $10 to $20 thousand on their car. *they don't intentionally wreck it though.*

I wonder if anybody here has ever participated in the 'Demo' and what everybody might think.

I hadn't really entertained thoughts of it in years but I might get back into it.

[Kimm]

Youre kind of a daredevil to participate in that. My brother Danny has done that too but not in a while.

[Phil]

I should have known a southern automotive guy would have done that.

I drove in about 20 of them. My brother Alan has done at least 5 or 6 he's not as into it as I was. When the kids started getting older and I had less time to buy a junker and prep it and race it I kind of got out of it.

Its not a bad event though. You could get hurt, but not usually. You're not going very fast and there's regulations that help maintain some structure to the event.

The trick is to not get hit in strategic areas. I had my fuel tank fall out when there were only 3 cars left. That's about the closest I ever came to winning. That car was a 78 Bonneville. Sturdy but not as heavy as a Lincoln or Cadillac and could move a little quicker.