Some guys will go to great lengths to protect their cars from nicks, scratches and the tiniest of window cracks. Pete Sweeney, 42, is not one of them. When he isn't running his own property maintenance business, Sweeney is prepping vehicles to smash their way to victory in several springtime demolition derbys held around town. One of Sweeney's next bang-'em-ups will be April 21 at the Pima County Fair.
I've been a motorhead my whole life. I was an auto mechanic for years back East, and I've raced dirt bikes but never cars.
I had a friend here in town who started running in these events. He needed help pitting between races, so I gave him a hand, and that was the end for me. I was hooked.
I couldn't resist the opportunity to build a car and then destroy it. When you help someone else build a car, then watch him have all the fun, you can't put up with that. You have to go out and do it yourself.
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I made a deal with my buddy, and we decided to team up on the track. He gave me my first car, an '83 Buick wagon. It is not a great demolition-derby car, but I had a lot of fun with it last season. The newer the cars, the thinner the metal and the faster they crunch up. The strongest cars were made back in the 1970s.
Once you have the car, you have to remove all of the glass, replace the gas tank and move the battery from the outside to the inside. You weld your doors shut and bolt down your hood, so it doesn't fly open. It's hundreds of hours of labor.
My first race was at the Pima County Fair last spring. You can't even imagine the emotions you go through, scared, excited, nervous. You are about to jump out of the car, thinking, "What in the world am I doing?"
When the race is about to start, they call the drivers to the staging area. After you are staged, you are all facing away from each other, nine cars on one side and nine on the other. It takes a few minutes for them to do the announcing, so you really have time to sit down and wonder why you are there.
They countdown from five, and then it's nothing but motors and dirt and steam. You are roaring and crashing. It is a blur for the first few moments, but if you are seasoned, you get your head about you and then you drive real hard. You curve around and try to maneuver and try to protect your front end from being hit. You go from being scared to experiencing a pure adrenaline rush.
There are rules. The main rule is you are not allowed to hit the driver-side door at all. Normally, you paint the driver door a different color than the rest of the car. I personally go with yellow. A yellow door stands out real well. A lot of guys will throw that driver's door in front of you. They see you coming and they pull forward, so you have to lock up your brakes. It has become a tool in the race.
You are also not allowed to sandbag. You have to hit and be hit, to make sure you are active. If you aren't, you'll be taken out of the race. The best way to take a car out is to take out a radiator or a tire rod end. Taking out a rod end slows him down, so he can't steer or move around the track very well. You create a sitting duck.
In that first race, I ended up locked onto the back of another guy's car. Then a car hit me too fast and landed on my roof. I was out at that point, but I had the best seats in the house to watch the others.
The Piggly's Barbecue Demolition Derby will take place in the Coors Arena at the Pima County Fairgrounds April 21. Admission to the fair is $7, with discounts available. Parking is $5. 762-3247.
