Demolition Derby

Over Labor Day Weekend, Aunt Kap and Uncle Jon took Dan and me to the Hopkinton State Fair to see our first demolition derby. Now, Aunt Kap and Uncle Jon go to a demo derby every year so they are old pros, but Dan and I had never been. The fair was much like any other country fair with greasy fried delicacies, games that may or may not be rigged, and lots of interesting people watching. The demolition derby was in a dirt stadium set apart from the midway. The field was long and narrow with bleachers along its length for the mobs to cheer and jeer the competitors. A truck drenched the field in water before each match, creating a muddy mess for the fight. A line of brightly painted yet dented and rusted cars made its way into the arena to the excitement of the crowd.



These redneck bulls lined up along the edge of the field, roaring their engines and expelling puffs of smoke to intimidate their competition. Tension mounted as the time to begin grew near, and finally the announcer had the audience count down to start. As the crowd shouted "GO!" the cars took off with a rumble, and began their manic mission to smash into one another over and over again until finally theirs was the only car left.





Three rounds eliminated many of the painted heaps until finally there were only the top four from each heat left. They limped into the field for a final fight, smoke at times clouding their movements and bursts of fire erupting alarmingly from their engines.



In the end, only one gladiator remained, but to the disappointment of the crowd it was number 28 who had earned his disrespect for his cowardly actions earlier. The audience called for his head, but there was nothing to be done and we filed out and made our ways home.