Demolition Derby draws a big crowd in Burford
Hundreds of drivers are hoping to crash their way to the top prize at the Billy Bash Demolition Derby in Burford this weekend.
"It's a good way to vent out your aggression," said Chris Hansen, one of the derby drivers participating at the event.
"There's no more adrenaline feeling than smashing up a car, climbing out and getting a trophy," said derby organizer Ron McClung. "Most of the time you get a check or cash money with it."
The winner of the top prize will take home $5,000, part of the $30,000 up for grabs throughout the three-day event.
Some of the participants don't even have their driver's license yet.
"I'm 15 [and I] can't ride on a road, but this thing can smash anybody," said Dryden Maritt.
Cars at the Billy Bash Demolition Derby in Burford on July 2, 2022. (Tyler Kelaher/CTV Kitchener)
As for the vehicles, most won't last beyond Sunday.
"I plan on not having to load it back onto the trailer," said derby driver Joseph Eggett. "It's going to be written off."
"There's some cars here that are worth upwards of $30,000 to be smashed," added McClung.
The Billy Bash Demolition Derby returned this year after a nearly decade-long hiatus.
McClung said he has big plans to make the event bigger and better.
"We have 150 drivers signed up throughout the weekend," he explained. "I have people here from Illinois, from Pennsylvania, New Liskeard. There's drivers signed up from as far away as Quebec. We're having a demolition derby, figure eight racing, live concert, [and] fireworks on Canada Day weekend."
McClung said it's about putting on a show and bringing everyone together.
"People can come out and see events like this again, which is lovely. It's a community event and it brings people from all over into the community, which helps the community too."
The demolition derby continues Sunday in Burford.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.