Agri-Service Demo Derby begins Tuesday

MOSES LAKE — The engines will roar, the dirt will fly and a whole lot of metal will go crunch Tuesday and Wednesday at the Agri-Service Demo Derby, held at the Moses Lake Roundup Rodeo grounds at the Grant County Fairgrounds. 

This year’s event looks like it will be even better attended than last year, which filled the grandstand pretty well, said Alex Alvarado, one of the derby’s organizers. 

“We changed some of the rules on the demolition part, and we’ll most likely be getting a lot more people from the west side coming over to race here,” Alvarado said. 

Drivers start checking in at noon on Tuesday, and time trials start at 5 p.m. The derby will start at 6:30 with the opening ceremonies, national anthem and best-looking car competition. 

There’s a new event this year, Alvarado said, that will take place Tuesday before the main derby. It’s a surprise, he added, and declined to say what it was, but did say it would be exciting. 

The trophy dash will begin at 7 followed by heat races for cars and pickups and the Powder Puff race. All other demo derby events are open to both men and women, but the Powder Puff races are for women only, according to the demo derby rules. 

The Australian pursuit is next, in which 10 cars start out evenly spaced around the circle and try to pass each other. When a car is passed, it’s out. There will be only two Australian pursuit races, and there’s an additional fee to enter them. 

Wednesday starts off with an event that’s only a few years old, but very popular: The Youth Power Wheels Demo. That’s where kids drive battery-powered vehicles and try to pop balloons attached to the corners of each other’s vehicles. 

Wednesday will also have the Powder Puff and Australian pursuit races, as well as a Figure 8 race. That one is similar to an ordinary heat race but, as the name would suggest, drivers pass back and forth through the middle of the track as well, offering more opportunities for crashing. 

The final event both nights is the actual demolition derby, the free-for-all in which cars are destroyed until only one is left standing. Tuesday's demo is a chain-and-go, which means doors, hood and trunk must be chained shut and very few modifications to the vehicle are allowed, while Wednesday’s is limited weld, which allows more modifications and makes for more durable cars. 

“With the welds, you’re making it sturdier, more fun for people. (It lets vehicles) last longer in the demolition part instead of getting hit and breaking down as soon as they can.” 

One vehicle in the Wednesday demo belongs to the Moses Lake Roundup Association, Alvarado said, and the right to drive it was auctioned off last Tuesday at the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce’s Business After Hours event at the rodeo grounds. The winner this year is Bryan Myers of Moses Lake, Alvarado said. 

“(That’s so people) can actually race that have never done it and always wanted to try it, but never had the time to build a car,” he said.  

All vehicles entered in the Demo Derby must be American-made, Alvarado said. 

“Some of the foreign cars, they’re not meant to be crashed as badly,” Alvarado said. “(In) a race it’s fine, but as soon as you get to the demolition part, they want it to have more safety, and the frames on (American cars) are a lot sturdier than foreign cars are.” 

    The Power Wheels Demo has proven to be a popular addition to Wednesday’s demo derby festivities, with young drivers attempting to pop balloons on each other’s vehicles.