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- THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
LAWRENCE
WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2004
Demolition derby smashes cars Friday
By Marc Ingber
mingber@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The annual Douglas County Fair Demolition Derby will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at the Douglas County Fairgrounds at 21st and Harper streets. The derby has been a part of Lawrence summers for more than 25 years.
The sun is out, birds are chirping and demolition is in the air.
Margaret Kalb, executive secretary of the fair board, said most of the participants used car models older than 1970, but it didn't really matter which one "as long as they're big and heavy duty."
The derby usually has about 40 to 50 participants and is broken into four heats, with about 10 to 12 cars participating in each one. Each heat has two winners.
"They basically start plowing into each other until the last two cars are standing," Kalb said.
The winners from each heat, 8 cars total, compete in "the feature," where the last car running wins the grand prize of $1,000. Money is also awarded to the second and third place drivers as well the top four drivers of each heat.
Kalb said the fair board stressed safety by requiring helmets, seat belts and reinforced drivers' doors. Drivers who purposely try to hurt others are disqualified. The derby never has any injuries, she said.
"It's just good clean fun," Kalb said. "The guys who do it, do it every year."
Loren Stone, Lawrence resident, has
been competing in derbies for 14 years, since he was 18 years old. He has competed in hundreds all over the country.
"It's exciting," he said. "My dad has done it for years and I kind of took over when he quit."
Stone said participating in demolition derbies was quite costly. For those just wanting to have fun, it usually costs about $300 to $400, but for those who wanted to be competitive it costs about $4,000 to $5,000 to get started, he said.
He said getting a different car for each derby was pretty much a necessity, but it was common to reuse parts.
"I can use a rear end over and over, or a motor over and over," Stone said.
The sport is taken more seriously than it was when Stone started, he said. Although the competitiveness is higher than in the past, it is still common to develop friendly rivalries on the derby circuit, he said.
"I've got people from Iowa coming down to smash me up," he said of Friday's derby.
John Davis, Fort Collins, Colo., junior, will be participating in the derby for the second time this year. He competed in the import heat last year with a 1983 BMW and will switch to a 1990 Toyota Camry this year.
He said it usually cost about $200 to $300 to compete in the import class. He is drawn to the derby because of its entertainment value, he said.
"I think it's part gear-head, part kitsch value and part fun," Davis said.
- Edited by Julie Jones
STATE
Democrats are outspending their Republican counterparts
According to campaign finance documents filed with the secretary of state, challenger Kathy Martin, of Clay Center, had raised almost twice as much money since the beginning of the year as incumbent Bruce Wyatt, of Salina, in the 6th District race. Martin raised $22,962 and spent $16,572. Wyatt raised $12,107 and spent $11,633.
TOPEKA — Conservative candidates in two Kansas State Board of Education races were outspending their moderate Republican opponents, with the board's ideological balance at stake in the Aug. 3 primary.
In the 10th District, incumbent Steve Abrams, of Arkansas City, raised $5,327 and spent $3,507. His challenger, Tim Aiken, of Derby, raised $3,705 and spent
$2,167.
The campaign finance reports cover activity from Jan. 1 through tomorrow.
No Democrat filed in either district, meaning the primary will determine who holds each seat.
Martin and Abrams' contributors included John Calvert, manager of the Kansas office of the Intelligent Design Network, which advocates the teaching of creationism alongside or instead of evolution in the science classrooms.
In addition, Abrams and Martin received donations from Freedom In Academic Research, an organization associated with the Kansas Republican Assembly. The assembly represents conservatives and advocates for smaller, less intrusive government and lower taxes.
Aiken and Wyatt have received contributions from teachers' unions.
The Associated Press