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Having A Smashing Time At The Fair

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By GEOFF FOX

gfox@tampatrib.com

Published: February 21, 2009

DADE CITY - Jeremy Graves is ready to dent some metal.

By day, he loads twisted vehicles onto the tow truck he drives for Stepp's Towing Service.

But a few weekends a year, he borrows a beat-up car from a salvage yard and competes in demolition derbies.

On Sunday, he will climb behind the wheel of a 1974 Buick Century - with 350 horses under the hood and a genie bolted to the roof - at the demolition derby at the Pasco County Fair.

Graves, 30, is one of about 30 drivers expected to compete for money and a trophy.

He's less interested in prizes than in putting on a good show.

Graves just wants to ram the Buick into any car within bumping distance.

"They're gonna know I was there," he said.

And not just by the dings he leaves behind.

For the second straight year, Graves' vehicle was decorated by art classes at West Zephyrhills Elementary School, where his daughters, Skylar, 10, and Hannah, 8, go to school.

Along with the genie on top, the Buick, decorated to an "Aladdin" theme, will have a monkey on the hood. The car was painted like a magic carpet with blue sky and clouds underneath.

"It looks like the carpet's flying through the air," Graves said.

Like last year, he expects the stands to be filled with West Zephyrhills students and their families.

The derby is organized by Stoney Roberts Promotions of Harriman, Tenn. The company is run by Frank Roberts, son of demolition derby pioneer Keith "Stoney" Roberts. Although business has been slower than normal this year, Roberts said the number of demolition derby fans at agricultural fairs usually isn't affected by the national economy.

"These folks stay home and spend money locally," he said. "They don't travel as far, but what they receive for their dollar spent far exceeds what you'd spend for other entertainment.

"You can't go to a movie now for less than $8, and with candy and popcorn you're up to $35. At agricultural fairs, there's a lot of entertainment involved."

Graves' wife, Tara, who works for a rival towing company, will be rooting as hard for Jeremy on Sunday as she does for Dale Earnhardt Jr., her favorite NASCAR driver.

And not because she wants to see a trophy in her living room.

"It's exciting," she said. "He wants to run into as many people as he can."

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 779-4613.

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