Smashing good time
Borreson smashes his way to Demo Derby victoryBy LARRY McFALL, Staff Writer sports@minotdailynews.com
Article Photos
The smell of hot anti freeze and the sound of blowing tires filled the bull ring in front of the grandstand last night at the North Dakota State Fair.
Fifteen competitors from all over the state were ready to crash and bash their way to the $1,500 grand prize at the 2008 State Fair Demolition Derby.
When the smoke cleared and the engines shut down, Steve Borreson of Williston was the last one running after two heat races, a consolation crash back, and the Grand Slam.
The field was divided into two heats, one with eight entrants and the other with seven cars. The top three cars from each heat qualified automatically for the night's Grand Slam event, with the remainder of the cars having to head to the crash back event.
Bottineau's Jason Hiatt and Ryan Knutson and Williston's Steve Borreson survived the first heat, in one of the shortest heats in recent demo history.
It only took about three minutes for the heat to end, as a lot of the competitors dropped out early in the event.
That wasn't so for the second heat, as it took nearly 40 minutes to qualify three cars for the Grand Slam. Jamie Kegley from Rolette, Turk Ackerman out of Beulah, and Curt Carpenter from St. John crashed their way to the final, sending the rest of the field to the consolation.
The last chance crash back was a hard fought battle between seven cars for the final two spots in the Grand Slam.
Jared Charisten from LaMoure and Tyler Liebelt from Mohall survived to enter the final event against the previous qualifiers.
The final event began with eight cars, but was dwindled down to four after 20 minutes of the event, and then only four cars remained.
After several more minutes, Jason Hiatt was eliminated when he was jammed up against the tires in front of the grandstand, disabling his car.
The three remaining cars battled for 25 more minutes until Borreson finally put away Ackerman to capture the title.
"We brought the car here and it was already a little beat up, so we didn't know if the car was going to make it or not," Borreson said.
Borreson will put the $1,500 towards the familie's diaper fund, as he is the father of four 2 O year old children.
Williston's Justin Grimmer earned the Mad Dog Award for the hardest charging vehicle.
Demo Derby Results:
Heat One Qualifiers: Jason Hiatt, Bottineau; Ryan Knutson, Bottineau; Steve Borreson, Williston.
Heat Two Qualifiers: Jamie Kegley, Rolette; Turk Ackerman, Beulah; Curt Carpenter, St. John.
Crash Back Qualifiers: Jared Chairsten, LaMoure; Tyler Liebelt, Mohall.
Grand Slam Winner: Steve Borreson, Williston.
