Demolition derby draws nearly 70 cars

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Cliff Ebert III's eyes darted around the field below the grandstands at Arena Park. The 6-year-old boy hardly knew where to look. He wanted to see the blue-and-white car his dad would drive in Tuesday's demolition derby at the SEMO District Fair.

"There it is," he said, jumping a little and pointing toward a line of battered cars.

His mom, Tasha Ebert, said her family came from Grassy, Mo., for her husband's second-ever derby. She sat in the packed grandstands at Arena Park, holding Destin, 4, on her lap.

"I hope he doesn't get pushed up against the wall," young Cliff said. "I want him to win."

Last year, only 50 cars registered for the fair's derby. This year, race promoter Linda Mauer said, an hour before the first heat, nearly 70 has signed up and a few more were expected. She limited the field to 80 cars. Her company handles all the inspections, insurance, officiating and announcing for SEMO District Fair and 32 other venues each year.

"Everyone loves to see a crash," Mauer said. "This is as-safe-as-you-can-get multicar accidents."

Cliff Ebert Jr. drove a blue-and-white 1980 Oldsmobile station wagon. His brother-in-law, Shannon Warner of East Prairie, Mo., rode shotgun in his first-ever derby.

The moment the heat started, Cliff III screamed with all his might:

"Go! Daddy, go!"

The boy craned his neck and yelled again. Everything changed when the blue-and-white wagon seemed to get mobbed by all the other cars in the field. Young Cliff's back arched and his fingers dug into his palms.

"Daddy!" the boy said, standing still. "Daddy, get through!"

He breathed again when the cars moved apart, but fear filled his eyes when Terry Evans' 1984 Buick backed up onto wagon's hood. It was a strategy designed to pop a distributor cap off Ebert's car or otherwise disable it.

"I gotta get my daddy outta that car," young Cliff bellowed. But he stuck close to his family in the stands, tearless and watchful. A moment later, Evans pulled off. Both cars were damaged, but Evans' car more so. Ebert earned a spot in the feature heat.

After exiting the field, Evans grabbed a can of soda and found Mauer.

"Sorry, Mom, I'm out," he said. Most the derby drivers call Mauer "mom." The Perryville, Mo., man's attack on Ebert's car broke the axle tubes off the Buick's back end. Evans shrugged it off. He won the last three derbies he entered.

Tom Bloom, 37, who has been racing 15 years against Evans, said while winning is nice -- purses can reach $600 to $1,000 -- the real prize is bragging rights. The Bloomsdale, Mo., man said he has endured broken bones and "been clocked" in races and, two years ago, stopped a televised race in order to retrieve his $400 prescription glasses, which had been knocked off his face and out a window.

But there is no adrenaline rush like the one he gets from a derby, he said.

"It's a greasy, muddy mess, and it's a lot of fun," said Bill Brown of Morley, Mo., while working under the engine of a ruined 1991 Ford Tempo.

Final results were not available at press time.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127