Fair adds to derby prize money

Winners of the 2019 Sanders County Fair Demolition Derby will be taking home a bit more money this year. The Plains Lions Club and the chairman of the Sanders County Fair Commission ironed out a few details for this year’s derby, including dividing up the $10,000 prize money for the winners.

The champion driver will get $4,000, which is $1,000 more than last year, said Randy Woods, chairman of the fair board, during a meeting at the fairgrounds last Wednesday with Lions representatives Ron Robinson and Chuck Wassinger and Melissa Cady, the fair manager. The new second place of $2,000 went up $500. Third place remained the same $1,500. Fourth place went from $750 to $1,000 and fifth went from $250 to $500. In addition, the winner of each heat will get $100, instead of $50.

The group didn’t mention prize money for the Powder Puff competition because recently they haven’t had signups and Woods doesn’t believe they’ll have any entries. The minimum number of cars for the Powder Puff is five. Woods said that if any women do sign up, but there aren’t enough cars, they have the option of competing in the main event.

The number of derby cars have diminished over the last few years. There were fewer than 20 last year, said Robinson, who ran the derby from 1994 to 2012. Robinson said that one year they had more than 90 cars. Woods believes there were times in the 1980s that they had over 100 cars. Woods hopes raising the winnings will draw more driver interest in the derby, which is the fair’s biggest seller. It is also the Plains Lions Club’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Tickets this year for the Sept. 1 demolition derby are $17, $27 and $32. Cady said the $32 seats are nearly sold out.

Robinson said Steve Spurr, the Lions president, might be getting a batch of Jersey barriers from Montana Rail Link for this year’s derby. The concrete barriers, which stand about four feet high and weigh around 2,000 pounds, would replace the large logs the Lions normally use to go around the derby arena. Robinson said that if they get the barriers, they’ll most likely have to transport them from the railroad station at Plains to the fairgrounds. Robinson said the Jersey barriers would make it much safer for those volunteers working in the arena. Woods thinks they would need about 60 barriers to circle the arena.

“They’re a darn side harder to move than a log,” said Robinson. Lions member Ron Warren received a broken leg when a car hit a log into him two years ago. About 10 years ago, Robinson was struck by a tossed beer can after he disqualified a driver. Last year was the first year there were no Lions in the arena. Instead, Paige Carney of Arlee and his volunteer helpers worked it.

The Lions' responsibility at the derby will be to check in cars, collect tickets and clean up the following day, for which the club receives $5,200. Robinson said the club might be interested in bidding on the fair’s trash collecting job for 2020. The present contract, which is $7,000 with a Dixon man, runs out after this year. However, the job calls for work throughout the week of the fair, instead of just derby night.

Woods wants the demolition derby to continue and is looking at other ways to make participation more exciting, such as a pickup truck derby. He went to a derby in State Line, Idaho, in early July and they had only six full-sized cars, but they had a dozen compact cars and a motor home demolition derby, with 6,000 people in the stands.

“Our thing is to make the demo derby a big success and go on forever,” said Woods. Robinson said there will be a new class this year, called “Chain and Go,” which are cars that are stock, minus the glass, chrome, and all interior, except for the drivers seat, and will have a cage for driver protection and chains to keep doors shut.