Demo derby rolls into Moses Lake
IAN BIVONA | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 4 months AGO
The Agri-Service Demolition Derby concluded Wednesday night in Moses Lake, with nearly 200 drivers competing across the two-night event.
IAN BIVONA/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
The Power Wheels Demo was hosted before Wednesday’s derby, with youth drivers attempting to pop balloons against the competition.
Car No. 69, driven by AJ Hara, won the fifth heat race on Wednesday night in Moses Lake.
Car No. 26, driven by Max Waters, and car No. 5, driven by Jenick Dauenhauer, avoid a collision during the Figure 8 event at the Agri-Service Demolition Derby on Wednesday night.
After the Power Wheels Demo was over, drivers drove a lap around the track at the Rodeo Arena at the Grant County Fairgrounds.
Many drivers decorated their demo cars with lights, including a driver during the Power Puff race on Wednesday night.
During sharp turns, demo cars kicked up dirt into the front rows of the stands at the Rodeo Arena at the Grant County Fairgrounds.
Ian Bivona serves as the Columbia Basin Herald’s sports reporter and is a graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. He enjoys the behind-the-scenes stories that lead up to the wins and losses of the various sports teams in the Basin. Football is his favorite sport, though he likes them all, and his favorite team is the Jets. He lives in Soap Lake with his cat, Honey. | August 17, 2023 4:46 PM
MOSES LAKE – The two-night Agri-Service Demolition Derby wrapped up on Wednesday night, with nearly 200 drivers hitting the track inside the Rodeo Arena at the Grant County Fairgrounds across the two nights.
“It was pretty awesome to take over and try to put on a good show,” said Alex Alvarado, a member of the board of directors for the Moses Lake Roundup overseeing the derby. “That’s what we’ve always wanted to do, just put on a good show for everybody. It was a lot of responsibility, but in the end, I think it was worth it. And, I enjoyed it.”
On Tuesday, drivers competed in trophy dash, pick-up truck races, powderpuff races, Australian Pursuit and chain and go events. Heat races earlier in the night led up to the winner’s race later on Tuesday.
Before the opening ceremonies of Wednesday’s show, children took to the track in the Power Wheels Demo, where the youth drivers operated battery-powered toy cars with balloons attached, hoping to pop the balloons of the competition. Heat races opened the show on Wednesday, followed up by Figure 8, Powder Puff, Australian Pursuit, winner’s race and the 80s car demo.
“Last couple days went really well,” Alvarado said. “We had some issues with the track the first night, but after a while of grooming it and getting everything where we wanted it got better through the night. Our second night, the track went really well. Everyone was happy with it.”
Alvarado said the issue stemmed from too much water on the track, which caused the tires from the demo cars to send dirt flying into the air. Demo committee chairman Aaron Schrodt added that the track was running more smoothly on Wednesday.
“After having the amount of cars that drove on it, (it) brought everything up and helped circulate the sane that we just put into the arena,” Schrodt said. “Helped prevent the dirt clots not fly into the crowd, and helped mix the sand and pack it down a little bit better.”
One of the cars in the derby was raffled off by the Moses Lake Roundup, which allowed the winner to compete in the derby without the need to prepare a car of their own. Schrodt said the raffle is something he’d like to see continue.
“(The winner) put on a good show of the car, so it’d be nice if people get excited to try to win it,” Schrodt said.
For a list of winners from both nights of the Agri-Service Demo Derby, see below.
Tuesday
Trophy Dash - Car No. 95 Garrett Widmer
Demo - Car No. 4 Brad Morrison
Powder Puff No. 1 - Car No. 78 Joey Erwin
Powder Puff No. 2 - Car No. 70 Misti Lybbert
Powder Puff No. 3 - Car No. 86 Amber Writer
Powder Puff No. 4 - Car No. 94 Sara Myers
Australian Pursuit No. 1 - Car No. 95 Garrett Widmer
Australian Pursuit No. 2 - Car No. 151 Brian Melbye
Australian Pursuit No. 3 - Car No. 29 Kaden Buchanan
Australian Pursuit No. 4 - Car No. 57 Carter Ball
Australian Pursuit (Truck) - Car No. 21 Dakota Kok
Winner’s Race - Car No. 99 Rylie Miller
Wednesday
Figure 8 No. 1 - Car No. 11 Shepard Prentice
Figure 8 No. 2 - Car No. 74 Tyler Dorsing
Powder Puff No. 1 - Car No. 177 Robbi Rubio
Powder Puff No. 2 - Car No. 169 Stevie Slack
Powder Puff No. 3 - Car No. 94 Sara Myers
Results from Wednesday’s Australian Pursuit and Winner’s Race were not available in time for press deadline.
ARTICLES BY IAN BIVONA
Moses Lake boys qualify eight, girls send 11 to Mat Classic
MOSES LAKE -- Nineteen total Mavericks qualified to wrestle at the upcoming Mat Classic, with the Moses Lake girls team qualifying 11 wrestlers and the boys team sending eight wrestlers to the Tacoma Dome. The Moses Lake boys took second at districts, scoring 214.5 points at the tournament. Sunnyside won the district tournament with 278.5 points.
Basin wrestlers bound for state after districts
MOSES LAKE – District tournaments were held across the state on Friday and Saturday, where boys and girls wrestlers punched their tickets into next week’s Mat Classic in Tacoma.
Mavs defeat Sunnyside, finish third in league
Moses Lake enters districts with confidence as regular season fades
MOSES LAKE – The Mavericks closed out the regular season with a trip to Sunnyside on Thursday night, coming out on top of a closely contested game with a 67-66 win over the Grizzlies. “They’ve been playing better, scoring more,” Head Coach Craig Groth said. “We’ve been doing a little bit better job on defense in certain situations and winning games leading up to that. Even games we haven’t won, we’ve been in really close games. Our confidence is really good right now, we felt great going into the game.”