Justin Hoepker is looking to greet the arrival of autumn with a bang.
And a crash.
Hoepker, who built Wide Open Speed Park in 2012 as a site for alternative automotive competitions ? mud runs ? is adding demolition derbies to his repertoire.
Saturday?s Fall Brawl Demo Derby, co-sponsored with the Championship Demolition Derby Association (CDDA), is slated to begin at 6 p.m.
?We?re trying to diversify from mud runs,? Hoepker said. ?That?s all we?ve done out here before now.?
Doing so was easier said than done.
In order to accommodate an arena spacious enough to allow cars to repeatedly ram into each other, Hoepker had to relocate the grandstands and adjoining guard rail several feet to the north.
The 60-foot by 120-foot arena is immediately north of the Wide Open Speed Park?s mud pit, and is surrounded on all sides by large concrete blocks, sufficient to keep the action a safe distance from the audience.
Getting it all to fit ?was a process,? Hoepker said, which began immediately at the conclusion of the Allen County Fair in early August.
The county fair was slated to conclude with a mud run at the speed park, but that was scrubbed because of rainy weather.
?Mother Nature and I aren?t getting along right now,? Hoepker joked, eyeing the weekend forecasts, which anticipate a chance of thunderstorms Saturday afternoon and evening. ?After not having a mud run for the fair, I really want to get this in for our sponsors. I think we?re dry enough now that we should be OK for Saturday (even if it rains.)?
Preparing Wide Open Speed Park for a demolition derby required owner Justin Hoepker to relocate and reassemble homemade bleachers he built before the venue opened in 2012.
SATURDAY?S competition will feature entries in three divisions: modified and compact cars as well as the ?Bonestock? division, featuring vehicles that have had little modification aside from the prerequisite safety features.
With competitors vying for a $5,000 prize purse, Hoepker is optimistic the derby will draw a large number of drivers from across the state, ?but you never know how many will show up until it?s here. We?ve done a lot of work, so I hope to see plenty of cars.?
Having the CDDA as a sanctioning body helps, he admits, because of his limited knowledge in the demolition derby genre, and because of the growing network of derby participants already affiliated with the group.
Anybody is welcome to compete, he added. ?You don?t have to be a CDDA member,? he said. ?My boy was wanting to compete in it, but we?ve been so busy we didn?t have to time to get a car for it. We won?t have to do all of this to get ready for the next one, so it might happen at some point.?
A complete set of rules is available on Wide Open Speed Park?s Facebook page.
