22 years, 75 cars and almost 100 demolition derby’s.
“My dad started me pretty young, I was 14 when he put me in a car,” said derby veteran Steve Charlton.
Charlton has been going ever since. As a kid, he travelled across Alberta, Montana and Saskatchewan, for the thrill of the race, entering in ten derby’s every summer.
Now calling Raymond home, Charlton has slowed down a bit. He even considered retiring from the sport at one point, but says he couldn’t resist the call of his derby car.
“You can’t buy that. The rush you get. You can’t buy it, you’ve got to feel it,” said Charlton. “That’s what keeps me going.”
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His cars take over 20 hours to build, tweaking the design for safety by moving the battery and gas tank inside the car, bolting down the trunk and bumper and sealing the driver side door.
He also removed every single handle from inside the car, replacing them with one metal bar and set off around the block, practicing for this weekend’s much anticipated Lethbridge derby.
Charlton and at least 20 other competitors will race at Exhibition Park for the first time in decades, in what organizers are calling, the comeback of derby.
“We were trying to figure out how long it’s been since a demolition has been in Lethbridge and we came up with about 40 to 45 years, if not longer,” said Jack Van Rijn, with the Kinsmen Club of Coaldale. “It’s time that it’s back.”
After a few donuts this veteran let us in on a little secret that even after 22 years he can’t conquer.
“I’m not going to lie I still get pretty nervous usually to start,” admits Charlton. “I get butterflies before almost every one. But where else can you go smash somebody and not get in trouble?”
For Charlton, that’s reason enough. Lethbridge’s Hot August weekend demolition derby is at Exhbition Park tomorrow, gates opening at 4.
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