Coming off a weekend of LeMons racing it was going to be hard to match the fun and excitment of that race. Well depending on what you get your kicks from this might match it. An Enduro Derby.

What’s an Enduro Derby? Picture doing everything you’re not supposed to in a race. Spinning out drivers, using cars to bank off of, pushing them into the wall. And do it on an oval mud track with a figure eight on one end and a couple really big speed bumps. Oh yeah, hillbilly racin’ at its finest. This is what I went to Saturday night just south of AnnArbor. It was a great race to reminisce the good ‘ol days of your high school cars. Tempo’s, Cavalier’s, Sentr’s, Beretta’s, Celebrity’s, and other little shit boxes from the eighties became unrecognizable by the end of the 18 laps in each heat. Check out the video to get a feel of this spectacular down home event.

 

 enduro derby [1:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (160)

As you can see this race has no respect to the cars or the drivers. Safety is minimal with a helmet, and a couch cushion strapped to the inside of the door. There was even a guy with the orange plastic fencing used as a window net. No expense spared in this league. It was great to see the fans so involved cheering on the hometown driver and screaming their heads off when that driver took someone out. Ruthless. This isn’t a good race to learn driver etiquette.

Through these past two weekends of racing I have gained a whole new appreciation for the ass kicking automobiles can take and keep on going. Whether it is a balls to the walls 24 hour endurance race or an all out scramble for 10 minutes. These cars don’t stop. This derby had cars with one front tire, a screaming rim, donuts on the rear, and half the sheetmetal it started with and these drivers pushed them to the end. Some of the heats only finished 3 of the 10starting cars. The drivers had good reason to push until the cars were dismembered. There was a $5000 prize to the winner. Not to shabby.

This one’s for you, Nick.

If you want to go to one you’ll have to wait until next year. This was the Championship race of the 07 season. Here is the website where the dates are listed. I am sure next years events will be updated soon.