8/5/2014
Five Flags Speedway
Long Live the King: Smith Wary of Challengers as He Seeks Fourth Demo Derby Championship
By Chuck Corder
Shrewdly, Ronnie Smith is playing his cards close to the vest.
Truth be told, it’s hard to get a read on the outlook of the reigning three-time Demolition Derby champion’s chances at another repeat.
One thing is certain: Smith isn’t the picture of optimism as he’ll once again attempt to defend his Demo Derby title when the wildly-popular event returns to Pensacola this Friday night.
“It’s going to be a stacked field,� said Smith, who was a touted Allen Turner Pro Late Models Series driver just a few years ago. “It is what it is. We’ve got a gigantic bull’s eye on our backs. As if we need any more pressure.�
Now, it could just be the 41 year old sandbaggin’, selling himself short to bait his prey once the annual bash for the cash gets underway with the last car running earning the $1,500 winner’s prize.
On the other hand, it could also be that Smith finds himself squarely in the crosshairs of the competition.
A slew of other Demo Derby kings, drivers from as far away as Birmingham, are headed to Pensacola on Friday, sizing up Smith’s crown and all that dough.
“Ronnie’s gonna have his hands full this year,� said Roger Wood, one of those Birmingham challengers whose team is bringing three, possibly four cars. “I’d be willing to make a bet that Ronnie doesn’t win it this year.�
Since Five Flags rekindled the Demolition Derby in 2011 following a lengthy hiatus, the night consistently ranks as one of the track’s most entertaining and well-attended shows, rivaling the Buddy’s Home Furnishings Blizzard Series when the Super Late Models descend on Five Flags four times a year.
The Demo Derby’s popularity promises to skyrocket come Friday, as it shares the marquee with the Faster Pastor feature and three local classes — the Home Depot Modifieds (25 laps), Beef “O� Brady’s Sportsmen (25), Butler U-Pull-It Bombers (20).
All that action and it only costs $5 to get through the gates, which open at 4 p.m. Friday, for fans ages 6 and up. Kids 5 and under get in for free.
Four area clergymen will battle it out for six laps in the Faster Pastor feature. C.J. McBride (Abiding Love in Foley, Ala.), Tim Payne (Momentum Church), Matt Mills (Liberty Church) and Wes Alverez (My Father’s Vineyard) all hope to claim bragging rights for their respective congregations.
Smith is just hoping he can keep the vultures away.
He’s certainly a marked man. A hat trick of victories does that for a driver, no matter the division.
The damage and brutality his winning 1979 Crown Victoria LTD sustained the last three years forced Smith and close friend David Tau to put it out to pasture following last year’s win.
Among its ailments were cut tires — par for the course for a Demo Derby; the back half of the car was folded up; the seat was busted and broken; the steering wheel was mangled; and the radiator was nearly shoved into the fan.
“You could stick a fork in her because she was done,� Smith said. “When we say we’re gonna use ’em up, we use them up.�
Never fear, though, David Tau — the straw that stirs Smith’s Derby drink — saved another ’79 Crown Vic from the trash heap.
“We don’t do anything to the cars,� Smith explained. “They’re stock. We take the glass out of ’em as a preventive measure, and David tunes the cars up to make sure they run right.�
Unlike his competition, though, Smith’s familiar No. 27 will come equipped with additions rarely seen on a Demolition Derby vehicle: Sponsors.
That’s no misprint. Smith and Tau’s entry will include almost 10 stickers from local businesses that agreed to a sponsorship.
“It’s really David doing all the talking to his customers and they said yes,� Smith said of Tau, who owns Winged Wheel Garage on Blue Angel. “It’s not expensive to do, but it is hard to locate a car and find somebody that is willing to get rid of it.�
While Smith sticks to his ol’ reliable Crown Vic, Wood is channeling his inner Clark Griswold by entering two station wagons. A 1978 four-door Chevy Impala is also ready for battle.
Wood, who lives in Odenville, Ala., about 15 minutes from Talladega, works 80 to 90 hours a week in the coal mines of northern Alabama.
He and his friends scour Craigslist ads for old clunkers they can polish up before turning them into scrap metal at a Demolition Derby.
Wood raced Modifieds and other stock cars in past years, but said nothing has brought out the neighborhood camaraderie more than multiple sets of hands pitching in on a Demo Derby car.
“The kids want to help, and we let ’em paint the cars,� he explained. “It’s family-oriented. When you’re hauling them down the road, with these big smokestacks coming out of them and all these crazy colors, the kids’ eyes light up.�
Wood sounds like the boy next door as he describes one of his passions. That Howdy-Doody demeanor is tossed right out the window, though, when Wood explains the thrills of the actual competition.
“You get to let a lotta anger out on somebody,� he said. “It’s a blast. It takes 100 man hours to build something, only to haul it five hours and destroy it.�
If Smith had his druthers Friday night, it will be his Crown Vic putting the final touches on one last victim en route to a fourth championship.
“I hope not to disappoint anybody this time,� he said. “One thing about it is a Demolition Derby is anybody’s game. There shouldn’t be anybody dominating. It’s all luck and who can take care of the equipment the longest. There’s some skill involved and you have to be tactful about it.
“Still, all it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time before someone knocks your front end off.�
