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Saturday, August 24, 2002: Our purple minivan pulled up
to the Hendicks County 4-H Fairgrounds, ready for an evening of
demolition derby fun. Upon arriving, we realized that we were in
for some demolation derby
fun instead.
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Why was a vanful of suburban software developers coming to the
demolition derby? To cheer on our summer intern, Tammy, of course!
Some folks might not think that computer programmers can crash up
cars as well as other people, but they'd be wrong.
We went back to the pit area to visit Tammy.
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Brent, Gina, Jeff, Michael, Audrey and Tom took a closer look at
Tammy's fine ride ...
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... then Debbie got up the courage to photograph the interior.
Luxury was not one of Tammy's priorities when selecting the right
car for this derby.
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Here came Tammy's fiancé, Marcus, in the baddest Car #82
ever. Take note of the shape of Marcus' trunk. This is important
later in our story.
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Our evening got off to an enjoyable start with several heats before
our heroine arrived. This gave us a chance to eat some hot dogs
and figure out the rules before Tammy's heat. Out came the cars,
and Tammy's blue car was in position to start.
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Crash! Pow! Tammy was off and beating up on the other cars, as was
Marcus.
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Sadly, her car was disabled and she did not win her heat, nor did
Marcus. That was not the end of our story, however, so read on.
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We were quite taken with car #05, featuring SpongeBob SquarePants
painted on the side.
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After the initial heats were finished, the top two finishers from
each heat moved on to the finals. Any other cars which could still
run got to compete in the consolation heats. Tammy and Marcus both
qualified, and here's Tammy tearing it up again. |
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Oops! There was an engine fire of some sort. To novice Derby attendees
(such as us), this might appear dangerous to the driver, but you
can see that the fireman was relaxing, so this kind of thing must
happen all the time.
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It's the end of the heat, and what a thrilling show it was! Our
heroine, Tammy, was victorious, but she had to take down her own
fiancé in order to win. Here is a shot of Marcus in the distance,
standing on his car. Please note the shape of the trunk (or what's
left of it) now.
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After that excitement, it started to rain. Did we mind? Heck no!
We converted our blanket into a tarp in no time flat.
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The rain passed, and the minicars came out next. They were just
so adorable.
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We took comfort in knowing that all those Escorts sold in the 1980s
have a noble end awaiting them some day.
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We took a brief moment to admire some local wildlife.
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The announcer worked his way through the crowd, occasionally interviewing
the audience. Here are some young derby fans sharing their views
on the show.
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Yes! Daddy won!
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The carnage finally ended, and what's left of the cars was hauled
off the field. Here's a sturdy vehicle with just a little rear damage.
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We think this one was left for dead. All in all, it was a fun night,
and we city folks just might venture out to the Derby again some
day!
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