Under the glow of an orange sun partially obscured by smoke drifting from Canada, dozens of vehicles fought before a standing room crowd in the grandstands.

Saturday night’s demolition derby crowd was a bit larger than Wednesday night and the track was a little faster. With no recent rain, the dirt track was less muddy allowing the demo cars to reach faster speeds. The extra momentum led to some impressive hits with two vehicles being flipped on their sides during the motorized mayhem.

In the compacts division, Denny Johnson took third place, Travis Schneider finished second and Andy Noble won first place.

The Mid-size competition was won by Cody Anderson, Chance Pieper took second and Darrin Werner finished third.

Staff Photo by Clay Schuldt Kids get a turn Around a dozen boys and girls took part in the Power Wheels demolition derby held before the adult version at the fair Saturday. Everyone was a winner in the kids derby, especially the spectators. The rules of the Power Wheel derby limited the shell of the vehicle to plastic materials and the engine cannot be anything more powerful than a lawnmower engine.

Old Irons was won by Dustin Reinhart, Gary Conrad placed second and Brad Wiltscheck finished third.

The 80s and Newer Class remains a crowded field due to the availability of new model demo cars. Early in the New model demo, Dusty Scharbach’s 10JR vehicle was crowded into a pack of cars with no place to go. A powerful hit to his passenger side caused his vehicle to roll onto the drivers side. Scharbach was uninjured in the flip. In fact, after his vehicle was push back onto its wheel it was still operational and Scharbach continue to the vehicular combat.

Ultimately Phil Whittington won the round with Michael McDermott in finishing second and Scott Kuehn taking third.

The Truck derby proved as exciting as the new model division. Jon Mickelson in the #126 vehicle was flipped on its side early in the bout. Mickelson was uninjured, but his vehicle was removed from the track after a fuel leak was detected.

The truck division saw many heavy hits. Multiple tire were lost.

Trevor Henrich won first in the Truck Division, followed by Bill Pelzel in second and Kyle Brunner in third.

The night ended with a Free-For-All featuring any vehicle still capable of driving. A few vehicles were able to join the fray, but Andy Noble came out on top. His compact was the most functional and was able to drive circles around a few of the more beat up cars remaining.

This year marked the 51st anniversary of the demolition derby at the Brown County Fair. Brown County has one of the longest continued streak of hosting demolitions and it remains the most popular event of the fair.