CLEAR BROOK — The haze from smoldering engines occasionally obscured the metal-crushing havoc on the track at the Frederick County Fairgrounds on Thursday for the annual demolition derby, a grandstand favorite that filled the bleachers with spectators.

A deep-seated American tradition, the demolition derby is always a popular fixture here.

Clad in red, William “Wild Bill” Orndorff, 55, of Woodstock, and from the “old school,” climbed from his battered vehicle after capturing first place in the Motor Swap Full-Size heat. Orndorff is a 38-year veteran of demolition derbies. He’d just taken first in the full-size competition at the Warren County Fair several days earlier.

“Tonight, a small track, not a lot of places to hide. There’s no taking your time — you’ve got to go after it. How long was the whole thing, 10 or 15 minutes probably? So there’s no waiting around,” Orndorff said.

“Plus, I got a name for myself, so a lot of guys are out to get me,” he added.

Orndorff said it’s the ingenuity that comes with building demolition derby cars, as well as the camaraderie among drivers, that keeps him coming back. He’s not wrong about the target on his back, though: according to a Washington Post article published in 2012, Orndorff has been a known commodity in derby driving across the Shenandoah Valley for some time, with the trophy cabinet to prove it.

“Ingenuity, hard work on the car. If you don’t understand it, you never will. You know how they have a Jeep thing? Well, it’s a derby thing,” Orndorff said. “It used to be five months a year at the county fairs. Now it’s 12 months a year. We ran all the way in Illinois, we run in Ohio.”

Drivers say it’s not just the rush of adrenaline — perhaps what first comes to mind when one imagines the colliding of vehicles — that makes the motorsport attractive, but also how it’s a family affair. A number of the drivers in the ring Thursday said their relatives got them interested in demolition derbies. They say they enjoy being part of this unique community of individuals who delight in smashing up cars.

Chaos in the Valley hosted Thursday’s demolition derby at the Frederick County Fair. The organization puts on a series of demolition derbies throughout the region to raise money for the Toms Brook Fire Department in Shenandoah County. Those who competed Thursday were vying for several different cash prizes.

Elijah Frame, who landed second place in the Bumper Swamp Compacts heat on the heels of a strong showing at the Warren County Fair, blew out the tires on a car that appeared to be reduced to a mere shell. He thanked his family members for the hours they put in helping him work on the vehicle.

“I just lost the wheels and popped the tires. We didn’t have enough time get the skids on it for today because something’s bent, so with the stock tires and everything, we did pretty good,” Frame said.

What does he enjoy most about derbying? “Just building the cars with your family, having the bonding time, and letting it all loose. You can’t get in trouble for it,” Frame said.

Levi Nicholson, 17, of Bunker Hill, West Virginia, said he’s just beginning to wade into the sport and that the Warren County Fair was his first derby. On Thursday, a mannequin head positioned on the dashboard distinguished his rig.

“I just do it to have fun, for real,” Nicholson said. “Pedal to the metal.”

It’s not all lawlessness, whiplash and anarchic steering. Some drivers talked about strategy, how they hang back a bit in the initial stages, looking for an opening to strike a key blow to another car.

Ronnie Renner, a veteran of demolition derbies for 21 years, drives for a garage based in Winchester known as “Cardiac Arrest,” but he lost his steering Thursday night.

“I didn’t too well. I got hit and the front end come up,” he said. “All of us stick together, help build together and help one another do everything.”

Saturday marked the end of the week-long Frederick County Fair, and Fair President Richard Leight summed up the festivities by saying “we had a super good week.” Leight said the livestock sale went very well for the kids, food vendors were happy, the carnival was a success — and it all unfolded with great weather.

“We had a super good week...Everything we did just seemed to come together great...Everybody seems happy, and that’s what we shoot for,” he said.

Planners have already started working to ensure next year’s fair goes just as smoothly, as Leight explained planning began last month.