The Armstrong Demolition Derby delivered destruction for thousands of spectators on a cold and rainy fall day at the IPE Fairgrounds.
“You spend two months building a car and then destroy it in minutes,” said organizer Lyle Williamson.
“We have people here from Alberta, four or five vehicles that have come as far as Leduc just upside of west Edmonton. They drove 12 hours to get here.”
The day-long family tradition filled the air with exhaust, smoke and screaming cheers from people huddled together in the stands. A crowd who witnessed one Armstrong man’s first drive into the ring.
“It’s been a family tradition almost and I figured I would get in on it,” said driver Sean Winship.
He said his favourite part of the experience so far has been the camaraderie.
“Late nights working with my dad and corresponding and seeing the final project makes me pretty happy.”
To build the right car may not be as tricky as one may think, according to Rick Lukens, who has been driving for the past 15 years.
“You find an old car in a field, pay a hundred bucks for it, do a little time to make it work, throw some bars in it to stop the cab from crushing, uprights in case we roll over,” said Lukens.
“It’s a fairly easy build that’s what nice about it you don’t need to be a welder or mechanic you can just be a farm boy who wants to build stuff.”