[#11]WildRide Magazine - King Of The Hill

DxRK · February 19

Demolition derbies are like the Colosseum gladiator fights of the car world, cars enter the arena, close to the end of their life knowing that they're about to have the worst retirement with most of the cars emerging the arena on the back of a flatbed or by being pulled out by a tow truck. These derbies are a perfect way to have some fun during the weekend, even if you're only a spectator, getting to witness all this mayhem infront of you is a thrill, leaving you on the edge of your seat waiting to see if the next hit knocks a car out of the running. These Demolition derbies have a colorful past and have been going on for decades.

The actual origin has been debated but the first documented one takes place in 1946 at Carroll Speedway in Gardena, California where a promoter held the very first "full contact" race. The race consisted of four drivers who were put into cars that were secretly rigged to disintegrate upon impact. The drivers had to race around the track with the main goal of either crossing the finish line first or being the last one standing after disabling the cars of the other racers. This is actually closer to Banger Racing (Extremely popular in England and countries across Europe) which sprouts off of Demolition derbies rather than the traditional Demolition derbies that we all know. The promoter struck gold with this idea and for the next five decades, he'd be promoting both traditional races and Demolition derbies.

(Banger Racing Event held at Thorrington Quarry, North Essex, United Kingdom. Circa 1970s)

Spectators were absolutely loving this, getting to witness the carnage and by the 1950s, Demolition derbies became a regular fixture, popping up around race tracks and county fairs across the entire country, dissociating itself from the Motorsport roots and focusing mainly on the vehicular warfare, fleets of cars ramming into each other at high speed with the goal of putting each other into the ground. This rise in popularity across the United States would start to spread worldwide, it wasn't long after where spectators started to show up in England, Canada, Australia and various European countries, seeing a rise in size across the field aswell with events having anywhere from 75 to 100 cars all blazing across the dirt with sights set on other combatants. The same promoter who kicked off Demolition derbies, had another memorable event where he brought on Indianapolis 500 champions, NASCAR superstars to compete against each other, this event however, would consist of brand new cars, with Evel Knievel even donating a brand new Enus which would never make it out onto the other side.

Video: An Evel Knievel Jump And The World’s Richest Demolition Derby – Great Footage From 1973

(Evel Knievel's Enus, LA Coliseum, California, United States. 1973)

Demolition derbies became so popular that television networks started broadcasting major events from the 70s until the 90s where it would disappear from the screen but this didn't mean that the spectator sport was going downhill, far from it actually. There are as many as 2000 Demolition Derby events held during the year in the United States alone. The very first Demolition derby in Los Santos would be held by the Paleto Bay community on the 12th of October, 2019 where it would take place along the whole beach in Paleto Bay, a free for all of a wide variety of cars from small hatchbacks to decommissioned taxi cabs. The goal was to be the last one standing with a still running car with the winner later on being crowned at the Mojito Inn and given a $10,000 reward. At the start of the event, drivers were being picked off one by one and with there being no restrictions on the playing field, some of the spectators were close to serious danger when a car was rammed towards them but luckily no one was seriously injured. With cars being picked off and sent to their death at rapid pace, it came down to only four driver's being left in the standing where it would start to become stale due to drivers using the huge area to their advantage in fleeing from others. The event received a lot of praise from the community and there were talks of making this an annual event in Paleto Bay along with hosting charity Derbies for the County Housing Crisis in Paleto, sadly, this would be the last event we'd see of it's kind.

That was, until Sabre LTD hosted the Beach Derby on the 13th of February, 2021, making improvements to the event in order to make it more fast paced and enjoyable to watch by limiting the area to a circle pit with sand barricades surrounding the area, protecting the spectators and placing the drivers into teams, each team being provided with two cars rather than going for the free for all approach. All of these changes were beneficial as it resulted in more action, allowing for a tournament style event consisting of two semi-finals and a final. The very first round would kick off with some heavy hitters, bumpers and panels being knocked off the Declasse Sabre Turbos, some of the hits had so much impact that they even managed to knock the doors off. Team Purple would end up winning this round and whilst the pit was cleared of all debris with the wrecks being towed off, three new teams got ready for the second semi-final. This semi-final would kick off and prove to be a bit controversial as most driver's didn't have their cars demolished, instead they got pinned one by one until they were unable to move their cars, eliminating them. Team Red won the second semi-final and it all came down to the final, pinning Team Purple from the first round against Team Red where Team Purple would come out victorious with both of the cars still running.

(Start of Round Two at the Sabre Beach Derby, Images Via WildRide Magazine)

The event was such a success and gained the attention of the community, it brought people together for a fun night out and we can only hope that Sabre LTD are able to achieve what the Paleto Bay community couldn't, turning the Beach Derby into an annual event or hosting various Demolition derbies throughout the year, adding it to the list of activities all citizens of Los Santos can enjoy.

(Team Red after winning Round Two, Images Via WildRide Magazine)