Demolition Derby

May 28

It was under a slightly overcast, otherwise docile sky in 2014, that a crowd gathered to watch cars smash into each other indiscriminately at The Stoney Roberts Demolition Derby. The event kicked off the Loudoun County Fair that year. Demolition Derbies are simple beasts. Crash cars into each other until there is one left. “Stoney Roberts Demolition Derby” is an outfit out of Maryland that organizes events like this and many others up and down the mid-Atlantic region. The crew takes to different county fairs every summer as a cathartic ritual. This “demo derby” took place at the Loudoun County Fair. I was on assignment for the Loudoun Times-Mirror. Click through for captions.

Competitors gather for the reading of safety instructions and rules before the competition begins.

Each car has certain modifications required for safety purposes. Holes are cut in each of the hoods to allow for fire to be reached by a fire extinguisher.

Cars' gas cans are limited to 5 gallons to hamper the likelihood of explosion. All glass and trim is stripped from the cars so as not to splinter into another car or into the spectator space.

David Roberts is in the press booth. His job is to get the crowd riled up, and he relishes every opportunity.

Adjustments and modifications are what win a mechanic and rider the whole thing.

The demolition derby is broken into three heats, each consisting of eight to 10 cars. This was the end of heat 2.

Bo Fox (5) of Berkeley Springs stalls out in the finals after an impressive performance Monday night in The Stoney Roberts Demolition Derby at the Loudoun County Fair.

Radiators must be flushed of antifreeze and replaced with water, or most often water and fabric softener, which gives the aftermath of the wreckage a fresh cottony smell.