By Amanda McCoy
amccoy@wbcowqel.com
The 2013 Crawford County Fair week started off with a bang, and a crash, at the Demolition Derby held Sunday evening. Drivers from four divisions took to the muddy racetrack infield to rev their engines and let off a little steam, both literally and figuratively.
Drivers from four divisions took to the muddy racetrack infield for an exciting, fast-paced battle-royal amongst the competitors. The grandstand was packed with enthusiastic spectators, who oohed and ahhed, and even gasped a time or time, at the intense action on the field — metal crashing, grill smashing, and bumper dragging.
The first division to run was the Lawnmower Class. Nearly a dozen lawn tractors participated in the derby, with a variety of makes models, including two John Deere machines, one driven by Don Walter, number 114, who took the first place title in the division. Jason Bash, who bullied everyone throughout the competition, took second place when his tractor gave out and quit running. Taking third place was tractor number 413 driven by Cody Walker.
The second division to run was the Compact Car Class, comprised of 11 cars, including one driven by a female, Michelle Knecht, who ended up taking second place from Matt Clinard, who finished in third place. Michelle was able to outlast Clinard even though her wheels were permanently slanted and the front and back bumpers of the car were barely hanging on throughout the derby. There were multiple instances when the audience thought Michelle was out, but she muscled her car up and out of the mud and kept nipping at the competition. Ultimately though, Troy Heitche took advantage of Knecht’s slow recovery time and pinned her against the north barrier and secured his first-place victory.
There were only three participants in the Old-Iron Car Class. Bill Marett took first place, with Justin Scenters coming in a close second. Aaron Blevins, who barely saw any wrecking action and was out of the competition early on, took third place.
The Derby finished off with an exciting Full-Size Truck exhibition. Seven drivers strapped in and geared up for an impressive finale exhibition. The competition started quickly with rookie driver Tyler Zehring, truck number 30, seizing an early opportunity to get a hit on the number 73 truck, driven by Joe Barnthouse. Zehring then got caught up in a front-end mangling collision with the number 63 truck, which took both drivers out of the competition, making way for Shawn Knecht, number 778, and Garret Danner, number 50, to join in the triple truck showdown with Joe Barnthouse. Although it appeared that Barnthouse would be able to muscle over the lower-riding truck number 50, driven by Danner, the two chased each other back and forth taking shots whenever possible. Knecht couldn’t keep up with the two and came to halt in the middle of the field, leaving the battle between Barnthouse and Danner to intensify. A series of forward and reverse hits were traded as the two trucks traversed the entire arena. Finally, Danner was able to catch Barnthouse in the south corner and pin him using the bed of his truck. Danner really laid it on when he got under the back of Barnthouse’s truck and lifted it off the ground and over the concrete boundary pylons. The final results were Garret Danner, first place, Joe Barnthouse, second place, and Shawn Knecht, third place. This is Garret’s fourth competition win. He will be running again at the Oak Harbor Fair, the Seneca County Fair in Tiffin, and the Wyandot County Fair.
Rookie Tyler Zehring Demo Derby debut. He said that his father, Josh Zehring, got him interested in doing the demolition derby because he was a driver for 18 years and helped Tyler build his truck in order to compete this year. When asked about his father’s words of wisdom he said he was told to, “Go in there and don’t let off the gas.” He also says that his positioning on the field, although he was stuck, gave him insight for the next time he runs. Next time he plans to, “Take it out a little bit more easy and get into a rhythm.”
Zehring plans to re-build his truck so he can also participate in the Seneca County Fair Demolition Derby. He credits his outstanding pit crew—Matt Wagonblast, Justin Campbell, Jordan Howard, Austin Lutz, and his number one fan and little brother Dylan Zehring—for encouraging his passion to drive and supporting his ambition to build and rebuild his truck.
See more photos from the 2013 Crawford County Fair on our Photos page.