{"id":45596,"date":"2021-07-25T04:50:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-25T10:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-crashing-good-time-is-had-at-demolition-derby\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:26:17","slug":"a-crashing-good-time-is-had-at-demolition-derby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/a-crashing-good-time-is-had-at-demolition-derby\/","title":{"rendered":"A crashing good time is had at demolition derby"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The Montezuma County Fair demolition derby was an exercise in destruction for the sake of fun and adrenaline. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Hundreds of fans turned out to enjoy the destruction and mud of the Montezuma County Fair Demolition Derby Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\n

Schedule<\/h4>\n

WEDNESDAY<\/strong>5 p.m.: 4-H\/FFA Goat Show6 p.m.: Goat RopingTHURSDAY9 a.m.-5 p.m.: Exhibits open9 a.m.: Horticulture judging8 a.m.: 4-H\/FFA Rabbit show11 a.m.: 4-H\/FFA Sheep show10 a.m.: 4-H & Open Poultry show2 p.m.: Chicken Chase, ages 3-83:15 p.m.: 4-H\/FFA Beef show6 p.m.: Team Roping booksFRIDAY8:30 a.m.: 4-H\/FFA Swine show9 a.m.: Rooster Crowing9 a.m.-5:30 p.m.: Exhibits open10 a.m.: 4-H Demonstration10:30 a.m.: Bunnies scavenger hunt11 a.m.: Egg & Spoon Race11:30 a.m.: 4-H Cake Decorating11:30 a.m.: Tug of War11:30 a.m.: Pee-Wee FFA round robin1 p.m.: Sheep Scramble ages 8-182 p.m.: Chicken Chase ages 3-82:30 p.m.: Capture the Flag3 p.m.: Grand Round Robin3-4 p.m.: Money HuntSATURDAY9 a.m.: Chicken Chase ages 3-811:30 a.m.: Greased Pig Chase12 p.m.: Chili\/Salsa Judging $212 p.m.: Barrel Race2 p.m.: Junior Livestock Sale6 p.m.: TrueWestern rodeo6 p.m.: Mud Bog StartsNote: See a full schedule at https:\/\/montezumacountyfair.com\/schedule-2\/<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

More than 30 cars and trucks entered the event, which features vehicles in an arena repeatedly smashing into each other. The last one running wins.<\/p>\n

The local derby is put on by promoter Gene Felker and a team of volunteers.<\/p>\n

Heavy rains created muddy conditions on the course and in the pit, but the skies cleared by start time.<\/p>\n

Drivers came from Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. Felker said his derbies have a more open format with fewer rules as a way to attract more competitors. The total prize purse was $13,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do demo derbies my style. The fans don\u2019t really care who wins, they want to see full-blown carnage,\u201d he said. \u201cThis community has been so supportive of the racetrack. The stands have been packed.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new event this year is the passenger derby. The car is driven by a woman, and a man sits shotgun and operates a hand throttle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s funny; couples are yelling at each other, and learn to work as a team,\u201d Felker said.<\/p>\n

Other derby classes are are demo cross, compact cars, full-size, and trucks. Competitors range from kids to people in their 60s and 70s.<\/p>\n

Zeke Gallegos, age 11, of Romeo, Colorado, competed in the full-size auto derby. In October, he won the youth derby division, and was earned the title of \u201cMad Dog\u201d for the number of hits he made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to win,\u201d he said. \u201cI try and take out the front wheels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Zeke
Zeke Gallegos, and his son, Zeke Jr., regularly participate in demolition derbies. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Chester Cordova is a veteran derby competitor, with 40 years of experience. He attends 10 to 12 derbies per year and often takes home the win.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be patient, and be choosy on when to take your shots,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an adrenaline rush. What I love is building the cars, modifying, welding, doing it all yourself to set up for the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Competitors offered advice to those beginning in the sport.<\/p>\n

Secure all your ignition and ground wires, or your car won\u2019t restart after a hit. Install a fail-safe ignition box. Crush in the trunk to avoid having it fall off when hit and drag on the ground. Modifying engines to run cool even if the radiator is blasted apart.<\/p>\n

\"More
More than 30 modified cars and trucks smashed and bashed their way through the Montezuma County Fair Demolition Derby Saturday at the county fairgrounds race track. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The best cars are the more durable GMs and Chevys from the 1970s. Heavy-duty Cadillacs and Buicks were in the mix as well.<\/p>\n

Pat Hunter, of Cedar City, Utah, competes in the passenger derby event with his wife, Amanda, and daughter in a 1989 Cadillac.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes teamwork and timing, it looks like you are fighting, but all the yelling is because you can\u2019t hear over the engines,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Louis Gallegos has been competing in demolition derbies for 10 years. His 1976 Gran Prix features a 600 horsepower motor than ran him $8,000. He likes the more open format of the derby as well, with less rules on modifying.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe more work you put into a car, the better the show,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Derby cars take violent hits. Gallegos broke his arm two years ago during a derby, and bailed out another time as his vehicle erupted in flames.<\/p>\n

Kyler Sanders, of Cortez, was in his first demolition derby.<\/p>\n

He was rolling in a Nissan Quest minivan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m excited to crash it up,\u201d said Sanders, 17.<\/p>\n

\"Kyler
Kyler Sanders, of Cortez, unloads a Nissan minivan to compete in the Montezuma County Fair demolition derby Saturday night. (Jim Mimaga\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Pat
Pat Hunter and his daughter, Rae, get ready to compete in the passenger derby. The driver steers and brakes, and the passenger controls a hand throttle. (Jim Mimiaga\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30 cars and trucks participate at fair event<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-45596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45596","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=45596"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45596\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86558,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45596\/revisions\/86558"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45596"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=45596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}