I I I
Page 8 University Daily Kansan. August 19. 1982
A driver at the Douglas County Fair's demolition derby finds himself in a tight squeeze during competition in an early hee
STEVEN MOCKLER/Kanaan Staff
Crashes lead to smash-off Derby is big bash to drivers
By CHRIS COURTWRIGHT Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
"五ive . four . three . two . one . go!"
The crowd, on its feet, counts down in union with the voice on the loudspeaker.
This was not the scene at the launch of the space shuttle, but rather the start of another heat at the Douglas County Demolition Derby on Aug. 6.
THE DERBY was of the feature events of the Douglas County Fair, which took place Aug. 3-7 at the county fairgrounds, 2110 Harper, in Lawrence.
The field of 70 featured drivers came from as far away as California. The drivers were divided into five preliminary heats, with two "survivors" from each heat moving on to the final "smash-off."
Lawrence's George Hunsinger took first prize of $550, and Harold Guenther, also from Lawrence, won $175 for second.
"This feels great," Hunsinger said. "I never thought I'd have a shot to something like this. This is my third beer." He never made it out of a heat before."
For some drivers, the derby is just another event in a circuit of derbies in November and August.
"This is the third one we've been to this summer," said Joe Hatfield of Gardner.
Hattfield, driving a 1965 Plymouth Fury, explained that most derbies required the cars to have similar safety modifications.
"YOU HAVE TO take out all the windows except the front windshield, and that's optional," he said. "You also are only allowed a three-gallon gas tank which goes where the back seat normally is."
"Also, the battery goes about where
'This feels great. I never thought I'd have a shot to do something like this. This is my third year at Lawrence, and I'd never made it out of a heat before.'
-Derby driver George Hunsinger
the passenger's seat in the front should be. You have a steel pipe that helps protect the driver's doors, and you are also required to secure the chain the trunk and the hoist shut, too."
go again if Haffield survives the preliminary heat.
Drivers must also wear protective helmets, and a row of logs inside the fence helps protect the crowd from cars straving from the muddy field.
Dale Mayhower Hatfield's pit man,
is in charge of getting the car ready to
"If we make the finals, we have to try and do whatever needs to be done to toire car in a very short time," Mayhower said. "We basically just have to try to cool the transmission off as best we can."
Hatfield said that when he drove, he tried to hit the other cars in the front window.
"THE KEY IS to protect your radiator and not get too crazy out there," he said. "We've had some success at the Ottawa and Gardner derbies. I survived the first heats and got heat money of $60 at Ottawa and $25 at Gardner."
But the field was not made up entirely of veterans such as Hatfield. For Lawrence's Tim Nixon, the Douglas County event was his first derby.
"I've been pretty busy the last few days, but now I'm not starting to get a little tired of it."
Nixon and his pr man man been busy making the necessary preparations for his 1973 Chevrolet Impala, which included putting on special mud tires.
"If we make it through this one in reasonably good shape, we may try to go to the one at Tonganoxie next week," he said. "Next year we'll know more what we're doing here at Lawrence; this year it's kind of shaky."
Nixon's car was the fifth eliminated from his heat of 14, while Hatfield survived his heat and won $65. He went on to finish fifth in the final.
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