DuPage Co. Fair ends with 'boys, cars and smashing them up'

To say the DuPage County Fair's demolition derby on Sunday was a smashing success might be an understatement.

With an overflow grandstand crowd looking on, drivers filled the air with exhaust fumes, kicked up mud with their tires and, courtesy of plenty of solid car-to-car hits, sent car parts flying to the ground.

The carnage was just what Downers Grove resident Jackie Mariani hoped for when she and her family decided to attend the afternoon event.

"Boys, cars and smashing them up, what else is there?" she said after the event.

The derby was the main attraction during the final day of the DuPage County Fair. Drivers in three afternoon heats qualified for a final showdown in the evening. Always a crowd favorite, the event attracted many families to the fairgrounds, including the Marianis.

Having spent much of his time growing up at the now-defunct Santa Fe Speedway in Willowbrook, Jackie's husband, Brian, said it was only natural to bring his sons to the show.

"I wanted them to experience it for themselves," he said of his two sons, 6-year-old Ethan and 11-year-old Anthony.

As Ethan joked about the drivers driving "just like mommy," Anthony said he couldn't choose which of the cars was his favorite. What was important, he said, was that they all took their share of punishment.

"I like them all because they all got smashed up," he said.

Plainfield resident Brian Ellingsworth didn't exactly agree with that sentiment but he did do his best to grant Anthony's wishes.

Ellingsworth and his No. 76 car took some damage, with the rear fender completely smashed in. But the car stayed functional, which moved him on to the evening's finale.

"If it looks weak, fix it," he said of the repair his car would undergo before it was in condition to join the main event.

Not surprisingly, those in the crowd seemed to get geared up the most when they noticed one car lining up another. Ellingsworth said there wasn't much to those hits but that the drivers are aware of the crowd's reaction.

"You have got to line yourself up, smash the gas and brace yourself," he said. "The harder you hit, the harder they cheer."