{"id":26070,"date":"2024-08-17T22:21:13","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T04:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/la-plata-county-fair-demolition-derby-all-the-road-rage-in-ignacio\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T23:33:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:33:23","slug":"la-plata-county-fair-demolition-derby-all-the-road-rage-in-ignacio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/la-plata-county-fair-demolition-derby-all-the-road-rage-in-ignacio\/","title":{"rendered":"La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby all the (road) rage in Ignacio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=97c79ab0-a658-513f-8820-0a68155f00f9&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1385\" alt=\"Robert Collin, left, and Roddy Flott cut and pry away a fender that got pressed into the front tire after competing in the stock car division earlier in the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds in Ignacio. The duo wanted to get the car ready to enter into the limited weld competition. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald).\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Robert Collin, left, and Roddy Flott cut and pry away a fender that got pressed into the front tire after competing in the stock car division earlier in the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby on Saturday at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds in Ignacio. The duo wanted to get the car ready to enter into the limited weld competition. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald).<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>People braved near 90 degree weather to fill the bleachers at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds in Ignacio on Saturday for an afternoon of fender benders, road rage and twisted metal at the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby.<\/p>\n<p>The celebrated demolition derby, traditionally held at the La Plata County Fairgrounds in Durango, was moved to Ignacio this year because the county disallowed the event at the Durango location because of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/articles\/demolition-derby-back-on-for-2024-la-plata-county-fair\/\" id=\"link-78ba46c938e8d4cba73410b3e6dbbb59\" target=\"_blank\">liability concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond food and beverage vendors, including Jack-a-lope Acres\u2019 roasted corn, Carrie Foster the Ice Cream Lady\u2019s mobile treats, Roberts BBQ with briskets and quesadillas, derbyists in the rodeo arena revved their engines and locked fenders in the Stock Cap event, the first of four divisions to compete on Saturday.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XIz5xPw1BVM\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The stock car division, featuring custom cars made for crashing, appeared to be the most popular event among contestants with nine participants compared to six participants in the Mini and Truck divisions slated for later in the day.<\/p>\n<p>A Limited Welding division was planned for the final event, wherein derbyists could pay a $50 entry fee to compete using special cars with stronger welds.<\/p>\n<p>Dominick Cisnerds driving car No. 18 took first place and $1,912 in prize money. Following in second was Darell Cordary in car No. 3, who won $1,147, and Ken Fusco in car No. 86 taking home $765.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI race stock cars. It\u2019s an adrenaline rush. But the derby is way better,\u201d Cordary said after the Stock Cap competition ended. \u201cYou just go out there and it\u2019s legalized road rage. I mean, it\u2019s a good time. Nothing like it. You beat each other up. Have a good time and you\u2019re all friends at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Farrell, owner of Farrell\u2019s Welding and Cordary\u2019s brother-in-law, watched with his friend Christian Alonzo of KDR Klutch from the pit on the south end of the arena.<\/p>\n<p>Farrell said he helped Cordary and other derbyists fix their vehicles up for the big day Saturday, as is tradition for longtime competitors.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=33205e4a-f139-519b-b8e0-bc17f30b1f4a&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" alt=\"The La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby had people cheering on crashing cars and pickups on Saturday at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds in Ignacio. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald).\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">The La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby had people cheering on crashing cars and pickups on Saturday at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds in Ignacio. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald).<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s fun. It\u2019s awesome,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody hangs out, puts in a little work and builds the car.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSee how long it lasts,\u201d Alonzo chimed in.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSee how long it lasts,\u201d Farrell said, nodding his head. \u201cEverybody helps each other. Daryl and Jamie (Patton, car No. 6), they compete against each other all the time, but they help each other all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ralph Brawley of Team 86 said his teammate Ken Fusco\u2019s car No. 86 was built years ago just to get wrecked on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe built that car five years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cKen\u2019s been out of commission for a while. He just came back. And now we got it running.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He said he loves the demolition derby because \u201cyou get to drive around and hit everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like road rage at its best. And you\u2019re allowed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He agreed with others that the derbyists are very cooperative in fixing up their vehicles before the big day. But the friendliness only lasts until they get into the arena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen it\u2019s all over. Everybody\u2019s open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The 2024 La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby is his 17th year participating, he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all good. It\u2019s a lot of fun. We wait every year for this. It\u2019s too bad the county is against us. \u2026 (The Sky Ute Fairgrounds are) a great venue, too. It\u2019s just, we lose our continuity with the fair,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the Southern Ute Indian Tribe \u201cbent over backward\u201d to help realize the demolition derby in Ignacio this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe tribe has been wonderful. And then all our sponsors. \u2026 It\u2019s great. We have a lot of people that really put a lot of good energy in with us, and it helps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Brawley said Team 86 is the only team in the La Plata County Demolition Derby that\u2019s won all three divisions on the same day.<\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=49eb94e1-32d9-5b75-8f01-df675bf92a1d&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" alt=\"The La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby had people cheering on crashing cars and pickups on Saturday at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds in Ignacio. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald).\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">The La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby had people cheering on crashing cars and pickups on Saturday at the Sky Ute Fairgrounds in Ignacio. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald).<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><p>\u201cI think it\u2019s great,\u201d Lin Dobbin, county fair demolition derby co-superintendent, said. \u201cThis is our first time here (in Ignacio). I\u2019m very pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She said she gives her thanks to the town of Ignacio and the Southern Ute Indian Tribe for hosting the derby.<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-b6f52f6f6aa7195a0a1bca34de50a792\"><a href=\"mailto:cburney@durangoherald.com\">cburney@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>competition, cash prizes and lasting friendships make up annual smash \u2019em up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26071,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[510,28,1235,2109,1231],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-26070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-festive-event-including-carnival","tag-headlines","tag-ignacio","tag-la-plata-county-fair","tag-pine-river-times"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79214,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26070\/revisions\/79214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26070"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=26070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}