Driver puts stock in new division, with focus on fun - Daily Journal
Mark Hommel has observed every demolition derby at the Johnson County fair since 1975, either as a spectator or driver. A two-time winner at the fairgrounds, Hommel stepped away from all derbies for five years but returns Friday to take part in a newly formed Stock Class event. The Stock competition was the idea of Hommel and Nineveh-based driver Tony Dunn as a means to return the local derby to its 1970s and ’80s glory — a time when less money invested in one’s car didn’t equate to reduced action or good times on the... Both nights of demolition derby competition (Friday and July 25) are being put on by Rouse Promotions, which specializes in running derbies and other demolition events throughout the Midwest. “At a young age I learned there are two ways to run a derby. If you go out there to win you’re going to strategize your shots and take a lot less aggressive shots,” said Hommel, 45. “But you go out there to have fun, you’ll please the crowd. Dunn can’t remember exactly what Chrysler product he’s going to be driving at this year’s derby — either a Newport or New Yorker. He does know it’s a 1968. Dunn and other longtime Johnson County derby competitors hope introduction of a stock class reverses the recent trend of declining numbers of entries. When I was young this was the No. 1 fair around when it came to the demolition derby,” said Dunn, 44, who first took part in the Johnson County demolition derby in 1994. “We are trying to bring back the interest. Source: www.dailyjournal.net
