Drivers delight in Saturday night destruction at track
Aug. 7—As his smoldering vehicle was loaded up to be towed off with its engine and hood now bent upward at about a 30-degree angle Saturday, newly settled Lewiston resident Trevyn Colvin had no hesitation in saying the destruction was more than worth the while.
He had just come away from the full-sized car demolition round with a trophy and champion's purse in the Smash Bash Demolition Derby at Freedom Northwest Arena in the EC Enterprises Motorsports Park facility on Albright Grade near Lewiston. Bleachers on one side of the dirt-covered arena and a terraced hillside overlooking it on the other were well-populated with attendees during the event.
"You hear the fans screaming, hear everyone yelling for you, it's all worth it," Colvin said. "On derby night, when things go this way and everything looks as good as it does, you can't ask for anything better."
The highlight of the night for Colvin (and for many spectators, no doubt) came when he went "nose-to-nose with my buddy multiple times in a row" in the course of dueling for the title with Clarkston's Chris Cook.
Standing in front of his similarly disfigured vehicle, Cook said he and Colvin agreed in advance that if it came down to the two of them, they would "meet in the middle, bump fists, and give (the fans) a show" — and that was precisely how things unfolded.
"We nosed both cars up. They both ran great; I just fried a wire and his kept on running," said Cook, a 24-year derby veteran who plans to retire or at least take a break to spend more time with his children. "... This is definitely the way I wanted to go out."
Paul Foster, owner of Lewiston's Quality Carpet Cleaning, rode his 1982 Chevy pickup to victory in the full-sized truck demolition event. He also helped second-placer Nola Cullum prepare her own vehicle for the same.
"She won it last time, let me win it this time," he said, noting the key to his victory lay in "aiming for the tires" and managing to take one out.
Potlatch's Harleigh Martin won the compact vehicle demolition, while Mitchell and Nick Spring — both members of a derby dynasty founded by family patriarch Curtis Spring in the 1990s — swept two racing events driving figure-8s around large tires placed on either side of the track.
Before the mayhem got underway, the still-undamaged vehicles were judged on aesthetics for a Best of Show award, which was won by Rayder Blankenship and his elaborate Scooby Doo themed full-sized car. Aside from Best of Show, Blankenship said he was aiming for the (Most Aggressive Driver) Dog award, and he came close to gaining that distinction as well, but was ultimately judged a close second to Cook.
"For me the derby is all about the kids," Blankenship said. "Get the younger kids into it, that's how you keep the sport going. Its not about the money in any way. It's all about having fun."
EC Enterprises owner Eric Christiansen, who has been holding events at the Albright Grade location for more than a year now, ranked the show a success of the standard to which he has become accustomed.
"It was just a good night," he said. "We had a lot of fun; there were a lot of hard hits."
Compact figure 8 — 1. Mitchell Spring; 2. Mike Ringle; 3. Harleigh Martin
Full-sized car figure 8 — 1. Nick Spring; 2. Josh Olander; 3. Nola Cullum
Compact demo — 1. Harleigh Martin; 2. Hailey Mendenhall; 3. Mitchell Spring
Full-sized car demo — 1. Trevyn Colvin; 2. Chris Cook; 3. Jon Strickland
Full-sized truck demo — 1. Paul Foster; 2. Nola Cullum; 3. Nick Spring
Wendt may be contacted at (208) 848-2268, or cwendt@lmtribune.com.
