Derby a hit with spectators and participants

Page 17

He limped in with three flat tires and a crumpled passenger door, a plume of smoke wafting from under the hood of what was left of his car, but when the dust had settled, Donald Sandhoff had captured the crown at Little Pine First Nation's third annual demolition derby.,

The derby, held Sept. 20, was the first for Sandhoff, who claimed his victory from behind the wheel of "24-7," an American behemoth from the mid 1970s.

"Just the excitement of it and getting banged around," was how Sandhoff described his inaugural experience in the dirt ring. "I had no strategy, just smoke 'em around."

Unquestionably,there's not much finesse in this sport. Last one running wins after elimination heats separate the contenders from the pretenders and the manglers from the mangled.

The eight derby competitors faced off in separate heats, with four cars per heat. The winner from each heat was guaranteed a spot in the final, while the other six drivers were given a chance to redeem themselves during two mercy runs, with three cars in each heat vying for the remaining four spots in the final. Eventually six remained to slog it out within the dirt and mud of the pit's 25-metre radius.

For all of the metal-twisting excitement of the early rounds, the real challenge came between the driver duels, when the cars' mechanical crews went to work. Rapidly removing ruined radiators while fixing broken engine parts, or at least making them operational, under the half-hour timelines between heats is a chore within itself.

With the advantage of winning a relatively short first round, Sandhoff had the luxury of lots of prep time to get his one-ton beast ready. Meanwhile the other crews had to repair and re-repair their creations after the secondary runs.

A car is knocked out of the event when it fails to start after a specific time and at Little Pine it's 90 seconds. Ironically, it was the smallest of parts that was almost the Achilles heel for Sandhoff when his car stalled in the final.

"The battery cable came off and it was just barely on enough to get a connection," Sandhoff said. Luckily, he was able to restart the engine before 90 seconds had elapsed, and went on to win the event.

Event chairman Keith Starr said the derby has become a fixture at Little Pine among participants and fans both on- and off- reserve.

"A lot of people have fun with this. Some come just for the fun and others come for the money," said Starr. First place was $1,000, second $500 and third $300.

Sandhoff said he actually made a small profit from his derby win, because the car didn't need much bodywork or maintenance to prepare it for its demise.

"Most of this was built for me already and we just had to paint it," he said, adding that the only parts he had to purchase were the ones that ended up failing him in the end-the tires and the battery.