We had a lot of fun at the demolition derby, only the second time I've ever gone to one. My brothers have been preparing and racing in them for years now, but we were never in town at the right time until this past June.
Needless to say, the kids had a BLAST! And it was quite entertaining for the rest of us, as well. Didn't hurt that our brothers and some of their friends on the same team won several spots in the various heats for this derby:
Best Paint Job: Keith, driving the Support Our Troups 4-cylinder car
3rd Place, 4-cylinder: Keith
2nd Place trucks: Spanky (Kevin)
3rd Place Trucks: David
Charles and Rose
Needless to say, the kids had a BLAST! And it was quite entertaining for the rest of us, as well. Didn't hurt that our brothers and some of their friends on the same team won several spots in the various heats for this derby:
Best Paint Job: Keith, driving the Support Our Troups 4-cylinder car
3rd Place, 4-cylinder: Keith
2nd Place trucks: Spanky (Kevin)
3rd Place Trucks: David
Charles and Rose
Christopher sitting on top of Spanky's truck
David taking pics of people taking pics of the trucks, at the gas station
Nick, Christopher and Tristian on Spanky's truck
Mom's station wagon. still not personally reconciled with the fact that her car is in the derby, but it's ok. her car, Betsy, has not yet won a derby when I was sure it would on Sat. maybe next time.
one of Country and Spanky's vehicles, a 4-cylinder
the Skool Bus, placed 3rd this time, and was driven by Davidthis thing has been in 13 or 14 prior derbies and should really be renamed the Energizer Bunny, since it just won't quit! check out the helmets in the passenger "seats", they are all the team names of their derby competitors...ha ha ha!
Keith drove this one, a 4-cylinder, called Support Our Troops. it placed 3rd in that category, and also won Best Paint Job! not visible here, but once at the derby, many of the spectators signed the car, including a group of special Navy enlisted guests. there must be politics in just about everything in life, but the judge was biased to the PacMan car (perhaps because he used to drive for them), and actually tried to narrow the vote down to two other cars and excluding this one. but the crowd yelled the car number and voted this one the best paint job, so he had to concede. all done up, it did come out really nice, this picture is incomplete.
here are some pics of the derby in action. our camera needs an upgrade/replacement, doesn't take action shots well. and, then ran out of battery juice in mid-derby, so there are only a few below:
my brothers, Charles, Keith, in-law Victor, and Darrylit was good to get to see them all together again
(we missed you, James)
well, if you have never been to a derby, I'd say you might want to give it a whirl! it was a lot of (not so clean) good fun, and no one really got hurt. one of the guys, Spanky, was hit head on unnecessarily by a guy who probably needs an attitude adjustment. the other guy had already won the derby, and had to make one more hard hit after the fact. I think that caused a little extra soreness for Spanky, but all the other guys said they were feeling fine after the derby.
there were several heats, starting with the larger cars, which is where Mom's car was entered. next was the derby for the teens, where a teen can drive but has an adult assisting in the vehicle. none of the vehicles are allowed to make direct hits to the drivers doors, ever, and this heat included the passengers doors. then, the 4-cylinder cars were up after that. I have to say, this was my favorite one. it looked like a bunch of beetles buzzing all around the derby area, going fast, backing up, rushing forward, spinning around! Keith placed 3rd in the one, and the two final cars just wouldn't stop! both of them had back tire trouble, where one of them had the tire axle sticking out on the left, past the car, and the tire eventually finally laid horizontal under the car. we think this helped the car stay in the heat, but we are sure the driver had no idea how bad it was. the other finalist also had tire troubles. both of his back tires were angled out, where the left one was at a 45-degree angle to the left, and the right one was at a 45-degree angle to the right. eventually, I think the rubber on his left tire finally came off entirely. but, that was the least of his troubles. he should have been more concerned that his entire engine was ON FIRE during the final 10 minutes of the heat. even with tire trouble and fire, these two cars kept on buzzing around the pit, and smashing and hitting and refusing to quit. the on-fire car finally quit, taking 2nd place, giving the tire-runner the 1st place. once they both quit moving, the 1st place car ALSO caught on fire, quite a dramatic ending to a race that had everyone in the stands laughing their heads off. the kids were jumping up and down, shouting and pointing. Christopher didn't know what to think, his eyes showing his surprise and excitement, all the while pulling him into the world of derbies for life!
afterwards, we all packed up while the guys loaded up the now more smashed up vehicles onto the various trailers. and, we headed for their usual: I-HOP. I think there were about 45 of us this time that went to IHOP, and since the derby got a late start, several of the kids fell asleep soon after we got there, including Christopher. this upset him in the morning, because he was determined to stay awake this time. good thing we brought his Smiley Face Pancake home with us! perhaps the funniest of this part is that one of my younger cousins, Ashley, showed up in the room across from us with her new fiance and 4 of their friends. once she realized we were all in the room next to her, the expression on her face was priceless. she came over and said, "ok, I just had to tell my friends I had to come over here because 'All of that room over there is full of my relatives!'" I had the opportunity to meet Jermaine about 2 weeks ago, so it was even more fun for me that he could meet massive quantities of relatives all in one sitting. it's just one of the hazards of being from a large family in a small town, everyone knows everyone. it doesn't help his cause that he also comes from a large county family, as well!
as for the derbies...
looking forward to the next ones! June 2010 and September 2010
there were several heats, starting with the larger cars, which is where Mom's car was entered. next was the derby for the teens, where a teen can drive but has an adult assisting in the vehicle. none of the vehicles are allowed to make direct hits to the drivers doors, ever, and this heat included the passengers doors. then, the 4-cylinder cars were up after that. I have to say, this was my favorite one. it looked like a bunch of beetles buzzing all around the derby area, going fast, backing up, rushing forward, spinning around! Keith placed 3rd in the one, and the two final cars just wouldn't stop! both of them had back tire trouble, where one of them had the tire axle sticking out on the left, past the car, and the tire eventually finally laid horizontal under the car. we think this helped the car stay in the heat, but we are sure the driver had no idea how bad it was. the other finalist also had tire troubles. both of his back tires were angled out, where the left one was at a 45-degree angle to the left, and the right one was at a 45-degree angle to the right. eventually, I think the rubber on his left tire finally came off entirely. but, that was the least of his troubles. he should have been more concerned that his entire engine was ON FIRE during the final 10 minutes of the heat. even with tire trouble and fire, these two cars kept on buzzing around the pit, and smashing and hitting and refusing to quit. the on-fire car finally quit, taking 2nd place, giving the tire-runner the 1st place. once they both quit moving, the 1st place car ALSO caught on fire, quite a dramatic ending to a race that had everyone in the stands laughing their heads off. the kids were jumping up and down, shouting and pointing. Christopher didn't know what to think, his eyes showing his surprise and excitement, all the while pulling him into the world of derbies for life!
afterwards, we all packed up while the guys loaded up the now more smashed up vehicles onto the various trailers. and, we headed for their usual: I-HOP. I think there were about 45 of us this time that went to IHOP, and since the derby got a late start, several of the kids fell asleep soon after we got there, including Christopher. this upset him in the morning, because he was determined to stay awake this time. good thing we brought his Smiley Face Pancake home with us! perhaps the funniest of this part is that one of my younger cousins, Ashley, showed up in the room across from us with her new fiance and 4 of their friends. once she realized we were all in the room next to her, the expression on her face was priceless. she came over and said, "ok, I just had to tell my friends I had to come over here because 'All of that room over there is full of my relatives!'" I had the opportunity to meet Jermaine about 2 weeks ago, so it was even more fun for me that he could meet massive quantities of relatives all in one sitting. it's just one of the hazards of being from a large family in a small town, everyone knows everyone. it doesn't help his cause that he also comes from a large county family, as well!
as for the derbies...
looking forward to the next ones! June 2010 and September 2010
Sounds like fun. Where can I sign up to be a driver???? :) But only if I can go to IHOP after.
ReplyDeleteSharon
Hey Sharon, I'd say, just come on down! I think there is at least one woman driver at each of the derbies, this one even had a pink car driven by a woman. IHOP is always fun, too, and as you can see, you never know who you'll run into. :)
ReplyDelete