Revvin' up! Demolition Derby has high impact

“We’ve got a pit full ’a cars and we’re plannin’ on wreckin’ ’em all,” croaked the announcer at the 2007 San Diego County Fair VIP Demolition Derby.

A water truck coursed the track to soak it down before the competition. The drivers were met with a muddy track and pools of standing water when they drove into the arena. With hoods and trunks chained down and doors sealed, the aggressive drivers were “Revvin’ up…engines and it sounds real mean,” as the Beach Boys would say. Tires spun as cars slipped and slid, hitting each other in a smash of metal. Parts flew around the track and many cars drove with shredded tires or on nothing but the rims. The only rule was “No hitting on the driver’s door.”

This is a story about a mild-mannered newspaper reporter and his brief transformation to a daring demolition derby driver. It’s not a “Superman” story, but close to it. For the second year in a row, Village News County Correspondent Joe Naiman was transformed into “Knightrider” Naiman, who wowed fans while wrecking his car in the derby.

“I finally get a Village News car and I wreck it,” Naiman lamented, referring to car number 5 with “Village News” in black spray paint on the hood and “Get R Done” in aggressive black letters on the side.

In the 2006 competition Naiman placed third while driving a 1989 Cadillac El Dorado. This year his car was disabled about halfway through the competition by a left front hit. I asked Naiman if it was a frightening experience to be sitting in a disabled car in the middle of the arena.

“It was disappointing,” he reflected. “It wasn’t scary – I was hoping that someone would hit me and maybe jostle something.” One car had that very thing happen; it sat for a few minutes, then after a hit the engine sprang to life.

“I learned that Cadillacs hold up better in a demolition derby,” Naiman explained. This year he drove a smaller car. All of the vehicles in the 2007 VIP derby were smaller than the station wagons and Cadillacs driven last year.

It was interesting that the smaller, newer cars left more parts and pieces on the track. The nine cars in the competition seemed to fly apart when hit, but most of them kept running long after they were smashed beyond recognition. Steam rose from several of the engines and the scent of antifreeze and hot metal drifted up to the grandstand seats.

Naiman was thankful to have Brian Tully’s helmet protecting his head. (Tully is a stock driver from Fallbrook who races at the Perris Speedway.) Helmets and gloves were used by the derby drivers but no fire suits were worn. One car did catch fire and a red flag was waved, stopping the race while the flames were extinguished with a handheld device.

The origin of the demolition derby is rather fuzzy. The announcer said that there are really two theories. The first is that it was a marketing ploy by a car dealership. The owner drew attention to his dealership by getting his mechanics to wreck old cars in a derby. Another theory is that two guys from the South got into a wreck, couldn’t decide who was at fault and smashed into each other until it didn’t matter anymore – the cars were demolished.

“Knightrider” Naiman wants to try it again next year. However, in 2008 he hopes to do more of the smashing!