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Excitement and noise draw fans to demolition derby
CANFIELD
Bone-jarring.
Thrilling.
Unpredictable.
The World’s Largest Demolition Derby – which was set to draw thousands of people to the Canfield Fair grandstand Friday night – has been described in all of those ways.
Fair officials, as of Friday afternoon, expected the long-time fair attraction to sell out.
“Hopefully we get to standing room only,” said George Roman III, who is in charge of grandstand attractions for the fair.
One draw, he said, is that the event added a number of new cars this year.
By the end, of course, only a few would be left. That’s the objective for the drivers.
“They put a number of cars in a heat. They’re all junkers,” Roman said of the derby, which is presented by JM Productions Inc.
“They run and bump into each other, until only one is left [in each heat]. The goal is to be the last one standing.”
If you’re wondering what the appeal is, attendees say that it’s just exciting.
“For me, it’s just the smashing of the cars,” said Wayne Anderson of Struthers, who was in line Friday to buy tickets with his sister, Nadine Anderson, also of Struthers.
It was Wayne’s first time at the demolition derby; Nadine went last year.
“It was fun last year. I felt like I wanted to drive after that,” she said, laughing.
“It’s something you don’t see every day. It’s the only place you’re allowed to smash cars – legally,” she said.
Tom Moore, of Youngstown, also had seen the attraction before. He came out Friday so that his children – TJ, 6, and Blayne, 13 – could see it.
“They like seeing stuff get broken,” he joked.
Sean Lindolph of Youngstown planned to attend the event Friday; usually, however, he’s on the other side of the stands as a driver.
He and his girlfriend, Michelle Vazquez, went to the show together. They both enjoy demolition derbies.
When Lindolph is on the track, Vazquez admits, she gets a little nervous.
“You never know what’ll happen out there,” she said, saying that cars sometimes catch on fire and flip over.
Lindolph seems to be OK with that.
“It can be dangerous. Everything in life is dangerous,” he said.
“It’s a blast,” he said. “It’s the excitement of a lifetime – for five seconds.”