Crash! Boom! Bang! Demolition derby brings battle royale to Marshfield Fair

The first night of the Marshfield Fair kicked off with a bang - literally. 

A favorite event of the annual celebration, the demolition derby started on Friday, Aug. 20, with the stripped down cars in a smash-up battle royale, with drivers intentionally crashing into each other until only one remained moving. 

"It's not really as dangerous as it looks but it is pretty intense," said Robert Bitteker, who is competing for the third time this year.

This process of elimination usually takes about 20 minutes. The winners of each heat advances to the finals the next week, when they can either use the same smashed up vehicle or enter a different car. 

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To get the cars ready to be safely smashed, entrants are required to chain or weld all the doors shut, remove all windows as well as anything that can shatter like fender covers and headlights and tail lights.

Carpeting and much of the interior is stripped out to reduce fire risk and the driver's door needs to be painted white, to easily identify the operator's location in case of an emergency.

While it's not a requirement, many drivers will also move the battery to the car's interior, so that if the front of the car gets smashed and stalls, the battery is untouched and the car can still start up again.

A family tradition

Many drivers put a personal touch on their cars, painting and decorating them to stand out. 

Bitteker's car for this year's derby, a Subaru wagon painted bright pink and topped with a flamingo pool float, has been parked along Route 139 for weeks.

Competing in the derby is a family tradition for the Bittekers. The Marshfield High grad is entering his third derby after watching his father compete for many years - until the 2010 derby, when he was sore for two weeks afterwards.

Like his father, Bitteker wanted to make sure his cars stand out.

"I always see these cars that are unpainted, and I always think that's boring," he said. "I like to go with a crazy idea." 

In 2017, he painted a 1997 Honda Accord with an American flag design and in 2019 his 2007 Hyundai Sonata was decked out in camouflage print. This year's pink car bears the names of neighborhood kids, who painted their own art on the passenger side of the Subaru.

First time in the derby

Not all cars have as much experience behind them as Bitteker's. A team from Marshfield's Slacktide Coffee Roasters entered this year for the first time, fulfilling a longtime goal. 

"We've wanted to enter the derby for years," co-owner Max Carpman said. "This will be a fun way to do that and get our business name out there" 

Slacktide's car, a 2003 Saturn S purchased for $300, was driven by Marshfield native Nick Sullivan, a longtime friend of the coffee shop's owners who's talked about competing in the annual smash up since he was a kid. 

"I grew up down the street and I've always wanted to do it," Sullivan said. "I think it's going to be fun, I'm a combination of nervous and excited."

Fight or flight

Bitteker said he lasted about 10 minutes in both of his previous derbies, results he was happy with, saying he participates mostly for the fun of getting the car prepared and the thrill of participating. 

"It's like fight or flight, you want to go with flight, but you can't," he said. "It's just insane, there's no way to describe it. It's like a year's worth of road rage taken out in 10 minutes." 

"It's a different crowd of people than I'd ever experienced before," he said. "It scared the hell out of me. The energy is insane, it's like a crazy battle, you're getting hit from all angles. It's crazy, it's fun."

Hundreds of spectators pack in and around the fair's grandstand to watch the spectacle, a loud and raucous event unlike anything else in town. 

"You can't help but be entertained by it," Carpman said. "It'll be a lot of fun." 

Six nights of the fair will feature demolition derby, each starting at 6:45 p.m. The figure eight derby qualifying round will be on Saturday, Aug. 21 and the finals will be on Saturday, Aug. 28; Qualifying rounds for the classic demolition derby are scheduled be on Friday, Aug. 20, Monday, Aug. 23 and Thursday, Aug. 26, with the finals on Friday, Aug. 27. 

For more information, visit the Marshfield Fair website.