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A Smashing Good Time

With a standing room only crowd looking on, cars sling dirt and smash metal Sunday during the Stoney Roberts Demolition Derby.

Tribune photo by ANDY JONES

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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 25, 2008

DADE CITY - Jeremy Graves was the crowd favorite Sunday at the Pasco County Fair's first demolition derby.

The Wesley Chapel tow truck driver drew huge cheers at the outset of the spectacle as he stood next to his 1985 Oldsmobile station wagon painted by students at West Zephyrhills Elementary School.

Graves gave his trophy and $50 prize money to the school children who painted his car.

The station wagon, its rear end bent upward at an odd angle, bore school colors and emblems on its sides and rear door. When the third heat of Sunday's derby started, Graves let everybody else know he was there.

The wagon hammered and got hammered by the half-dozen competitors. Engines roared; radiators hissed, and tires exploded as drivers ignored every rule they learned in driver's ed and mercilessly mashed one another's cars.

For many in the crowd, Sunday's event was their first demolition derby experience.

"We came out today especially for this," said Pam Urbonas of Land O' Lakes, sitting with her family: husband, Allan; 3-year-old son, Danny; 6-year-old daughter, Rebecca; mother, MaryAnn Harvilla; and grandmother, Dorothy Harvilla.

"We could have come another night, but this is unique," Pam Urbonas said.

The Urbonas were rooting for the beat-up silver Cadillac with Oscar the Grouch painted on the side driven by Ralph Murchie of Clearwater.

Murchie started strong but couldn't get his car to the final round.

The rules of demolition derby are simple: The last car moving wins.

But the arena's loose soil threw a wrench into that calculation as cars ground down into the earth.

Organizer Frank Roberts of Harriman, Tenn.-based Stoney Roberts Productions said drivers in future derbies will likely be allowed to use truck tires for better traction.

Graves' wagon took a hit to the front end and gushed coolant onto the dirt.

No problem, said Graves' wife, Tara, as she watched from the stands.

"We run 'em hot," she said.

The sandy soil ultimately decided Graves' fate.

In his second time on the track, Graves got his Olds mired in the soft earth. He watched other drivers move ahead of him to win the $650 grand prize.

That prize went to Eugene Malverty of Spring Hill, who outlasted the competition despite being pinned to the concrete barricade circling the arena by John Gelser of Zephyrhills.

Gelser rammed his Ford Crown Victoria again and again into Malverty's car, trying to put an end to the little black Chevrolet wagon.

But all that crunching undid Gelser's radiator. As steam billowed from Gelser's car, Malverty was declared the winner.

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com. Keyword: Derby show, to see more photos

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