Demolition derby driver gets ready for tonight’s chaos

Just days away from competing in the Northwest Ag Demolition Derby tonight at the Moses Lake Roundup, Kody Vandeweghe of Moses Lake puts the final touches on a 1992 Lincoln Town Car at his shop.

Vandeweghe is competing in the Moses Lake demo derby at the Grant County Fairgrounds for the sixth time this year. Vandeweghe and his friend recently made the 11-and-a-half-hour trip to Utah a few weeks ago for a unique two-man extreme derby.

The two-man extreme derby event involves two people in one car with one person controlling the steering wheel and shifter while the other controls the gas and brake pedals. Vandeweghe said the event is something he and his friends have always been interested in competing in and with less than a month to go before the Moses Lake demo derby, they decided to put their builds on hold and put a car together for the Utah event.

“We then came home with nine days left and we’re in the middle of getting three cars ready for the demo derby Wednesday night,” Vandeweghe said.

Mike Bise, who’s been involved with the demolition derby in Moses Lake for years, got Vandeweghe interested in the event at a young age. He said Bise was friends with his dad so he grew up watching him and his friends competing at the derby every year.

As he got older, Vandeweghe said Bise would help him with getting his own cars together and said everything sort of escalated from there. He’s been competing in demolition derbies since he was 18 years old as he gears up for his sixth run in Moses Lake.

Over the years, he said he’s learned a lot from seeing the different builds in each show. The rules for Wednesday night’s demo derby event Vandeweghe is competing in include a stock build, he said.

“I would say the little things is what wins the derby,” Vandeweghe said. “Sometimes people get in a hurry; I do it plenty of times, still do it, overlooking things.”

Each car bends a little different, he said. Vandeweghe said he won’t be competing in any heat races this week, only the demolition derby Wednesday night. With prize money of up to $4,000, he said it would be nice to win back some money to pay for the parts he’s put into his build.

“Some people look at us like we’re crazy putting all this money and time into these cars and having to build a new one every time,” Vandeweghe said. “But I look at it as if I run in something, hopefully I just get the money to get parts replaced.”

Vandeweghe said he finished first once in a demolition derby in Pasco in 2014, but only as high as third or fourth in Moses Lake. This year, he said he feels like he has a decent shot at one of the top-place finishes.

With two nights of derby this year, he said he hopes it will alleviate some of the crowd density, which at times make it tough for fans to see. In the past, he said there are times where people in the bottom rows of bleachers can’t see the event because of people standing up in front of them.