Destruction Is Imminent With Kawartha Smackdown Impact Motorsports Demolition Derby At Kawartha Downs This Saturday

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Crashes, collisions and destruction are coming to Fraserville as Impact Motorsports is bringing their Kawartha Smackdown Demolition Derby to Kawartha Downs for June 17.

Photo courtesy of Impact Motorsports.

The event runs from noon to 5 p.m. and features fast-paced figure 8 racing, followed by a two-man team of full-size V8 cars, stock trucks and a new class called windshield class.

Admission includes a pit party where ticket holders can come down to the track and meet the drivers, get their autographs and take pictures with the cars.

Power Wheels Kids are featured as demolition derby trainees to kickstart the event after the pit party.

Impact’s Points Champions, Kent Taylor, Figure 8 Champion as well as Jason DuPont, Derby Champion are in attendance for the event. The derby will have drivers appearing from all over Ontario, Quebec and the United States.

A total prize purse of $20,000 will be handed out to these drivers on June 17.

A second derby is scheduled for Aug. 5 with a new class of vehicles scheduled for the show.

Tickets can be purchased online at the Kawartha Downs Events website.

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Kawartha Downs Continues Revving Its 50th Anniversary With Tractor Pull and Demolition Derby

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The festivities continue for Kawartha Downs’s 50th anniversary with a tractor pull and demolition during the Aug. 5/6 weekend.

Fair atop his “Executioner” to be one of the many tractors featured at the pulls. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The tractor pull is held on Aug. 5 that boasts a new asphalt track, new bleachers — with a seating capacity of around 2,500 people — and pullers hailing from all over the province and Quebec.

"We've got the best clay track in Ontario," said Dan Fair, Executioner Sled Team operator, "This track is every bit as anything that they run.”

The garden tractor pull starts at 4 p.m. and the truck and tractor pull at 7 p.m. Several antique tractors will be on display throughout the day.

Other attractions include a lamb and rabbit show, live music from a cover band to be announced, vendors and food trucks from Sammy’s Roadhouse & Grill from Cavan-Monaghan. Spectators can access the pit area and get autographs signed from the drivers.

Drivers John Louws (left) and Barb Cochrane (right) are two featured drivers for the Aug. 5/6 weekend. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Aug. 6 features a demolition derby on an asphalt track instead of a traditional mud track. The former allows for a faster-paced derby according to Jim Grant of Ontario Demolition Derby Limited.

“The cars cannot get stuck,” he said. “The cars can tear out a rear axle and still keep on going. They do not get bogged down in the mud, they slip and slide around, they can have four flat tires and keep going so they're always in the action until the car dies.”

Grant believes that Kawartha Downs is the perfect venue to host the event considering the success of past demolition derbies in Peterborough.

"Peterborough used to do 4,000 people for theirs,” said Grant. "We would fill the grandstands at Lakefield and Port Hope had a crazy amount of people. People love demo derby so to come and see it on pavement is awesome.”

There is a total of $10,000 in prize money for the demolition drivers for each respective derby. Categories include figure-8, mini, midsize, junk run, full-sized cards and full-sized trucks.

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