EVANSTON — According to a local fireman, 4,000 tickets were sold for the annual demolition derby put on by local firefighters and held at the Evanston rodeo arena on Saturday, Sept. 8. A standing-room-only crowd came to enjoy watching cars and trucks batter each other. For three hours the crowd cheered on their favorite drivers and vehicles.

The first competition was for the best paint job and the entries varied from a shark car, a 911 car with towers on top, and a University of Wyoming car with its new slogan “The world needs more Cowboys” painted on the back. The crowd chose the winner by cheering loudly for their favorite and the winner was the car featuring UW’s brown and gold driven by Shane Iverson.

Between heats, local firemen rode around the arena on four-wheelers and tossed out Frisbees, T-shirts, softballs and other memorabilia. They also shot T-shirts out of a cannon into the crowd. Each time there were lots of arms waving among the crowd trying to get the firemen to throw the gift their way. 

Also between heats, the energetic announcer had children and adults from the audience come into the arena and compete for prizes by dancing, by tossing balls into buckets and by knocking over bottles with a knotted cord hanging from their mouth without using hands. 

The last car standing in each round was declared a winner. It was an exciting evening for the derby crowd and a profitable one for the Evanston Fire Department. Results follow:

Heat No. 1 stock car

1st – Del Pyper

2nd – Jacob Stevenson

3rd – Logan Walsh

Heat No. 2 stock car

1st – Shane Iverson

2nd – Demont Nay

3rd – Dusty Jones

Powder Puff (AKA Potter Puff)

1st and Mad Dog winner – McKenzie Potter

2nd – Jo Neale Snyder

3rd – Kori Potter

Compact car

1st and Mad Dog winner – Justin Healy

2nd – Brach Pulver

3rd – Landon Atkinson

Truck class

1st and Mad Dog winner – Briar Proctor

2nd – Tyson Hammons

3rd – Aaron Merritt

Iron class

1st and Mad Dog winner – Dave Burns

2nd – Jaramie Kinder

3rd – Johnathan Snyder