The beautiful weather and cheerful crowd did nothing to mask the carnage and destruction that took place at the Yellowhead International Speedway this past Sunday as 12 demolition derby cars attempted to destroy each other for the right to be crowned king of the scrap heap.
In the end, however, only one car could lay claim to the title. The 49 car of David Bodnar (Yorkton) was that car, outlasting two other four wheeled monsters in round-robin Heat Three action to move directly on to the Grand Challenge (with Heat Three co-winner Devin Kuntz, Regina), where he took on Heat One winners Dustin Heddon (Yorkton) and Trevor Macklin (Yorkton) as well as Heat Two winners Ryan Atkings (Tisdale) and Levi Wilcott (Yorkton).
Joining the six Heat co-winners in the Grand Challenge were Jesse Watson (Nipawin) and Kelly Heddon (Yorkton), who both qualified by winning the consolation derby earlier in the day, meaning there were five local drivers and three out-of-towners in the final derby.
Yorkton's Bodnar eventually took home the big trophy on the day, but he wasn't initially favoured to come out victorious in the Grand Challenge. Frontrunners Dustin Heddon (Yorkton) and Devin Kuntz (Regina) showed why they were the favourites early on in the Grand Challenge, quickly eliminating Watson before knocking Atkings' 'Sheriff' car out of the competition.
Things looked to take a turn for the worse for Dustin Heddon following the Atkings elimination as his engine put forth a plume of smoke. However the talented driver remained calm, keeping his engine running and his car moving, just narrowly avoiding a certain death blow by Kuntz.
Kelly Heddon's 'Candy' car was next up on the elimination list before Levi Wilcott's 'Little Nightmare' delivered two crippling blows to Kuntz's car, taking out both of his rear tires and ultimately ending his Grand Challenge prematurely, although the Regina driver still finished third overall. But Wilcott paid dearly for his devastating shots, falling victim to Bodnar not long after he deflated Kuntz's hopes of winning.
Kelly Heddon and Macklin soon followed Wilcott to the scrap yard, meaning the final three was set with the out-of-towner Kuntz battling the hometown duo of Dustin Heddon and David Bodnar.
Kuntz was next on the chopping block thanks in large part to the aforementioned debilitating hits by Wilcott, before Bodnar finally sealed the deal, hammering Dustin Heddon's 30 car into submission for his first derby victory of the season in this, his first derby of the year.
But while it was only his first victory of the season it wasn't the first of his career as the veteran driver of over 20 years quickly pointed out. "Right now back home I've got about 19 trophies," mentioned Bodnar. "I'm looking to add to that collection this year."
Bodnar also offered some insight into the keys to winning his home derby, saying, "The key is really just hold her to the floor and keep on hitting. Go hardcore, don't back down and don't be scared."
Winners
Yorkton's David Bodnar took home 800 dollars in prize money as well as the Grand Challenge trophy, while Dustin Heddon won 600 dollars and the second place trophy.
Heddon also took home the Mad Dog Award for the biggest hit of the competition when he backed into an opponent at high speed causing his car to drive onto the hood of his victim.
Dustin's wife Terra won Best Dressed while the Hard Luck Award (third place) was given to Regina's Devin Kuntz (also received 200 dollars in prize money).
