Demolition Derby provides loud finish for DuPage County Fair

The DuPage County Fair closed its five-day run Sunday in Wheaton with a bang.

Literally.

Demolition Derby drivers spent goodly parts of the afternoon and early evening smashing into one another in the grandstand area of the fairgrounds. The idea was to see who could take the most hits and still keep their dusty and dented vehicles moving.

It was the perfect setting for fans who love the sound of crunching fenders and the smell of smoking engines in a time and place that doesn't involve, say, an expressway during rush hour.

It also was a fitting finish for the 61st installment of the fair, which continues to provide visitors with eclectic events - rodeos, pig races and lumberjills with chain saws - that are a step or 22 away from the norm in DuPage.