Washington County Fair denizens delight to ‘Demolition Derby’

HURRICANE — Tradition holds that the last night of the Washington County Fair is the loudest, crunchiest and most exciting night of all. The “Demolition Derby” was held Saturday, bringing crowds to their feet and smashing automobiles that the drivers have worked on all year to get ready for this event.

Starting with 8- to 12-year-old kids driving real cars with their parents in the passenger seat and working up to the big metal of the truck category, the 2016 “Demolition Derby” lived up to its reputation as the loudest and most fun show in town.

Derby promoter Matt Wetzel said all winners received cash prizes, and over $40,000 was awarded last night to participants.

For the actual derby, participants were allowed to drive anywhere on the track, with the last car “standing” being the winner. For the figure-8 challenges, drivers maneuvered in figure eights for a specified number of laps, guided by barriers and leading to the potential for heavy crashes in the center. Drivers were divided into classes based on their age and whether they were driving lightweight vehicles, such as Toyotas or Datsuns, or heavier vehicles like Lincolns, Cadillacs and Buicks.

Carl Lamar, Marty Lane and Amy Chesley, the KONY 99.9 morning team, were on hand at the event, both in the booth and trackside to bring attendees the exciting crash-by-wreck action and to entertain the crowd between heats.

Wetzel announced the winners of the individual heats were:

Kid Class (8-12 year old)

  • Heat 1 – 1st Place: Gage Brown
  • Heat 2 – 1st Place: Kaulin Wetzel

Figure 8 Heavy Class

  • 1st Place: Tral Johnson

Figure 8 – Light class

  • Heat 1 – 1st Place: Eric Crosby
  • Heat 2 – 1st Place: Clay Salisbury
  • Heat 3 – 1st Place: Mel Jensen

Demolition Derby Stock Build

  • 1st Place: Amanda Hunter

Demolition Derby Limited Weld

  • 1st Place: Brilee Lamprecht

Demolition Derby Truck Class

  • 1st Place: Paul Cox

The Outlaw class was not run due to there only being two entries, Chuck Gilmore and Casey Hyatt. The prize money was split between the two entrants.

Ed. Note: The results posted on first publish of this report were those posted by the Washington County Fair, which it came to light Sunday were last year’s results. This report is updated to reflect the 2016 results and supplied by Matt Wetzel, Demolition Derby promoter.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2016, all rights reserved.

 

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4 Comments

  • .... August 14, 2016 at 7:33 am

    This was a fantastic fair. Well organized and family oriented. the weather was perfect for the event. It was a great success. I would like to thank all the people that were involved in putting this together. also like to say thanks to all the volunteers that help make this possible. we should be so blessed to be in a community with loving and caring people .Praise the Lord

    • Jimmym August 15, 2016 at 12:25 am

      I couldn’t agree more. Great time with the family. Thanks to everyone that made this a great fair!

  • Real Life August 14, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    Which Dumpster are we dealing with here? You are all over the place. Please get some help.

    • .... August 16, 2016 at 6:28 am

      May God bless you and watch over you. because your misguided soul needs purpose !

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