The 2011 Team Demolition Derby "Tournament of Destruction" ripped through Route 66 Raceway with the first of 5 events to kick-off another thrilling Summer of Smash! A new era for the Team Demolition Association, a new team, some new faces, and the always reliable high-levels of mayhem all were combustible elements that fueled a wild and unpredictable event!

May 21 was the official debut of the new regime at the helm of the TDA. Sherri Heckenast and the extended Heckenast Family revamped several fan-friendly elements of the event including a brand new line of official merchandise, expanded pre-race Pit Party, ride-a-longs in the new Tournament of Destruction Hearse and free giveaways throughout the night. Not lost in the shuffle was a renewed interest in working together with all the team owners to ensure the 2011 season was one of the best on record.
A key to that success, was filling the vacancy of Team #4 after the removal of Smash, Bash & Crash in the middle of the 2010 season. Quick Silver Destruction Co. provided a good, temporary fix in August and September,
but the solution was not permanent. Enter Full Throttle.

Grizzled veteran and former Team Demo champion Ron Johnston stepped up and took control of Team #4. Johnston added consistent wheel man Jay Van Allen, rookie driver Andy Fleischman, and his teammate on Damage, Inc. last year, Pete Milette, Jr. Together, they equaled a new team ready to go to battle against Team Demo's best including the
2010 Champions Orange Crush.

The Champions returned with eyes on back-to-back titles and a driver lineup very much intact from 2010. Owner Ken Kasper bolstered a lineup already filled with multiple-time champions by bringing back another multi-time champion, "Sneaky" Pete Ryan. The Ryan family runs deep in Team Demo and perhaps most closely associated with the legendary Loco-motives, both at Santa Fe Speedway and the early years at Route 66. Orange Crush came into the new season as the favorites to win it all again, but it will not be easy up against 7 teams more than eager to end their reign.

Orange Crush took the first win of the night in a hotly contested AM-COAT Painting sponsored Beauty Contest.
The Stranglehold fans definitely made it a close call.

Round 1 Heat 1
Seek-N-Destroy vs. Damage, Inc.

Seek-N-Destroy wasted no time beginning their trek back to the Finals and a shot at winning their third-straight opening night event. #02 Matt Pierce and #26 Levi Turnbaugh sprinted to an early lead and put Damage, Inc.'s rookie-heavy line-up to the test of hitting a moving target. #88 Matt Wilson had the best shot at Turnbaugh on Lap 1, but came up empty in Turn 4. #80 Steve Schaefer and #29 Charlie "Sarge" Turnbaugh connected in the first big hit of the year that rendered both cars useless. #86 Dave Swan was running about a lap behind the #29 and passed Pierce thanks to a block from Wilson. Schaefer limped his wagon into Turn 2 and threw a successful block on Turnbaugh, but #02 Greg Mesich was right behind to plow the road.
Turnbaugh took the white flag and then took a hard shot from Swan the next time by. Swan tried to run laps in a hurry with Turnbaugh sitting in Turn 2. The hit was not enough to knock out Turnbaugh as he re-fired and took the checkered.

 

Round 1 Heat 2
Bad Company vs. Reckoning

A first time confrontation between these teams and one that produced immediate calls for a re-match; not because of cheating or controversy, however. Specifically for the shear level of indescribable carnage they racked up!
#76 Steve Gursky, Jr. and #7 Brian Anderson rocketed to a quick lead thanks to major car problems for #31 Brice Martin. Instantly, it was a 4-on-3 encounter, but Bad Company went on the offensive. Gursky rounded Turn 3 and was greeted with a full-speed HUGE head-on from #39 Jason Ritacco! The impact annihilated both cars, Gursky's the worse, and now it was a 3-on-2 affair. #38 Kyle Shearer escaped the block attempt by #74 "Speedy" Steve Vollbrecht and charged across the infield with Anderson in his sights. Anderson tried to out-run Shearer along the front wall, but wasn't fast enough! Shearer SLAMMED into the passenger side door & quarter panel in an absolutely horrific hit! Anderson's car was shredded and Shearer's front bumper was left embedded in his victim!
#33 Rich Wilson tried to complete the first lap until Vollbrecht stopped him in his tracks. Shearer's car "survived" the huge hit, but was not at full strength. He got tied up with #78 Chris McGuire and had to watch Vollbrecht turn from crusher into runner and easily collect several laps. Wilson tried to play catch-up, but eventually was spun out by the leader and then received a nasty trunk shot from McGuire.
Shearer finally broke loose on the last lap and had one final crack at the leader. Vollbrecht ran along the front wall, charged for the checkered, and took another massive hit from Shearer right as the checkered waived!
A brutal race that left cars mangled all over the track. Shearer's one-man wrecking crew performance, definitely not his first, instantly became the talk of the night.

Round 1 Heat 3
Mean Green Machine vs. Stranglehold

Two teams full of potential, rising stars, and a couple rookies in the mix. They tied for 5th in the points last year and this first battle in 2011 proved just how even they are. #10 Kenny Prinner darted out to the lead and everyone except #19 John Clemmons escaped the first turns without damage. #5 Nick Hartung side-swiped the leader on the back stretch to give #50 Bill Mcmahen an opportunity to take over, but he and Hartung were swatted away by #16 Zac Van Allen.
#57 Mel Noble, Jr. cut through the middle and bashed in the side of Clemmons' car to prevent him from running in second place. Noble spun around and also nailed Prinner as he tried to complete the 2nd lap. Van Allen and #05 Cirk Lindemuth locked up in a big head-on over in Turn 4 that knocked both cars out of commission.
Mcmahen, still 2 laps down, tried to catch the speedy Prinner, but pulled off the pace and charged towards the front-stretch. Clemmons was right there going for the lap and BAM! Mcmahen cut him off at the pass and HARD!

Noble, Jr. missed on a side-shot on Prinner and instead took a rear-quarter panel hit from #13 Ryan Decker. Unknown to nearly everyone at the time, but Noble's helmet FLEW OFF onto the track! Prinner took the white flag and then took a sick head-on smash from Hartung, whom had been stalking him the entire race. Decker was the only Mean Green car left running, but before he could even think about making laps, the helmet-less Noble, Jr. drilled him head-on! The collision locked them together and eliminated the last two running cars!
A psychotic hit & decision to say the least, but thankfully Noble walked away without injuries. If any Stranglehold cars had been able to make laps, Noble's insanity could've won the race. But with no cars able to move, the finish went to a countdown and Mean Green Machine advanced with 4 and 1/4 laps from Prinner.

 

Round 1 Heat 4
Full Throttle vs. Orange Crush

A major test for both teams. How well would the new team function and could they immediately hang with the Champions. Could Orange Crush be instantly dominant again? Furthermore, would Pete Ryan be an immediate threat after a long absence? Crush put Ryan right into the lineup along with #63 Tom "Brickman" Lewis and the two runners #06 Ryan Bleuer and #66 Ron "Iron man" Tyrakowski up front.
Bleuer and Tyrakowski raced away from the pack at the drop of the flag while Full Throttle only got 1 car away from the start cleanly. Bleuer took the first turn when suddenly the right front wheel spun completely off the axle! The front end dug into the mud, but Bleuer pointed it down the straight away and was determined to keep running on 3 wheels! #40 Ron Johnston and #65 Pete Ryan connected with a solid head-on in the middle of the field. Tyrakowski blistered the back straightaway and roared into the lead. #41 Pete Milette, Jr. smashed the #66's rear quarter panel as it crossed the stripe then Johnston pushed Tyrakowski right into the boundary tire. Tyrakowski escaped the block and roared deeper into Lap 2. Bleuer managed to complete his first lap on 3 wheels and #45 Jay Van Allen was right behind.

#65 Ryan tried to chase down #46 Andy Fleischman in Turn 1, but wound up in the path of Lewis and took a t-bone shot from his teammate! Ryan continued through the turn while Lewis tried to get pointed the same direction only to wind up in the path of another teammate! Tyrakowski flew into the turn and side-swiped Lewis sending both cars into the wall, with an added push from Van Allen.

Bleuer continued to literally drive the wheels off his car and went untouched through 2 laps and into the lead! Johnston punched in the side of Lewis' car then laid in wait of Bleuer to come down the back stretch. Bleuer worked and worked to get the car to go straight. He charged for Turn 3 and was met with a front end shot from Johnston that nearly pushed the car onto its roof! Bleuer's car dug into the mud and was twisted into Johnston's bumper. Fleischman tried to pick up the run when he saw Brickman coming from the middle. Fleischman nailed the throttle to spin his wagon nose-first towards the on-coming it and took the hard shot from Lewis. Both of those cars became fused together too!

All Orange Crush cars were compromised, ripping and tearing doing everything possible to free themselves from the wall and other cars. The only car fully mobile was Full Throttle's Van Allen. He sprinted around the corners, still needing two laps to officially take the lead from Bleuer. On Lap 2, the radiator let loose with a huge plume of smoke & steam! The car nearly came to rest, but was able to race forward.
No signs of life from any of the other 7 vehicles left Van Allen with a clear path to victory! Van Allen took the checkered and completed the shocking, stunning upset win.

 

 

Spectator Series
Figure-8 Cars
10-Lap Feature Race

A dozen cars filled the dirt oval for the kick-off of the 2011 Spectator Series and the man on the pole was a 3-time winner in 2010, #68 Doug McCarty. The random lineup draw put McCarty out front and the 11 others were immediately at a disadvantage; chasing him down would be no easy task.
#B9 Bob Hipshure and #64 John Klimek bolted into the 2nd and 3rd spots, respectively, and kept pace with the leader into the first lap.
The treacherous 'X' of the Figure-8 reared its ugly head on Lap 2 when #4 Phil Johnston nailed Hipshure in the right rear wheel, spinning #B9 into the head-on path of Klimek! #55 Wally Hartung and #40oz Ed Mayr seized the opening and moved into the top 3. McCarty still led and narrowly got tangled up with #92 Homer Pederson at the 'X.' McCarty pulled away from the pack and left #01 Andrew Sherman, Mayr and Klimek jockeying for spots. Hartung moved up to 2nd only to be taken out in the 'X,' also by Johnston! Mayr and Klimek reaped the benefits again and battled for the 2nd position while McCarty started putting cars a lap down.

#81 Kurtis Kraehmer moved into 4th, still a 1/2 lap behind the back-n-forth battle for 2nd. In the closing laps, the field thinned out and Klimek finally shook off Mayr to take hold of 2nd. Mayr takes 3rd, Kraehmer 4th and Hipshure comes back to finish 5th, the final car on the lead lap. McCarty takes the top spot and early lead in the Spectator Series points standings.

Visit Motorstats.com for complete Figure-8 Cars points standings

Figure-8 Spectator Series Car and Truck races are open to anyone! Build a car meeting the guidelines and bring it out every race night in 2011.

 

Semi-Finals
Heat 1
Seek-N-Destroy vs. Reckoning

Seek-N-Destroy Owner Greg Mesich dipped into his resources early bringing Damage, Inc.'s Owner Dave Swan to take his place against Reckoning. Seek-N-Destroy were short-handed on cars due to mechanical gremlins and Swan's blazing fast, blower-motor 'bubble' was up to the task.
#26 Levi Turnbaugh banged doors with #7 Brian Anderson into to the first turn and #28 Swan tried to hold back #76 Steve Gursky, Jr. Turnbaugh led past Turn 1, but Gursky slipped between Swan, bounced off the side of Turnbaugh and suddenly was racing away with the lead around Turn 2. #78 Chris McGuire ended Swan's run via head-on, but Turnbaugh ducked the block to stay in contention.
#29 Charlie "Sarge" Turnbaugh, Levi's father, knocked the leader up into the wall on the end of Lap 1 giving Levi an opening for the lead. #74 Steve Vollbrecht countered their offense with more defense and rocked the #26 to a halt. Gursky and the elder Turnbaugh battled down the front stretch until McGuire appeared from Turn 1 and blasted Turnbaugh with hard shot! The two teams were matching each other move for move as Swan roared back to life and retaliated against McGuire!

Swan and Sarge tried to slow down Gursky & Anderson, but couldn't keep them contained for long. Reckoning ganged up on the remaining Seek-N-Destroy cars with Vollbrecht leading the charge. He smashed the #26 up against the front wall in a shower of sparks that effectively ended Levi's race. Ironically, the last running Seek-N-Destroy car was Swan and he did not go down without a fight. He knocked Anderson off his run in Turn 2, however the numbers game was not in his favor. Vollbrecht followed up with a t-bone shot further bending the bubble in half. Gursky flew around the track nearly untouched and took the win in another wild, back and forth race. Reckoning over-powered most of Seek-N-Destroy and punched their ticket to a 5th straight Final Round.

Semi-Finals
Heat 2
Full Throttle vs. Mean Green Machine

Maybe the two most adrenalized teams of the night were ready to collide! The methodical, and intense Full Throttle verse the Mean Green young guns. A wild start saw all 8 cars go directly towards Turns 1 and 2, no one peeled off or waited back, they initiated the action. #45 Jay Van Allen looked to be in the lead, but a swarm of green barreled down and buried him into the wall! Three Mean Green cars helped in the attack and the lone runner #19 John Clemmons split the pile-up and took the lead even after a t-bone shot from #41 Pete Milette, Jr.

#46 Andy Fleischman was right on Clemmons' tail and pushed Clemmons high into Turn 3 while he went low and grabbed the lead! Clemmons was left wide open and Milette drilled the same spot he had just attacked, mangling the passenger side of the #19, driving the front bumper inside the window! Incredible hit!
Mean Green scrambled to attack, but missed Fleischman on the back stretch. #10 Kenny Prinner was just about to complete Lap 1 when Milette delivered his third key shot of the race with another giant head-on hit. #13 Ryan Decker extracted revenge on Milette and bashed Fleischman into the wall in one fell swoop! Clemmons' car was dragging through the mud, but was still able to make laps. Fleischman recovered and continued to lead.

#16 Zac Van Allen missed a open shot on the leader in Turn 3, then missed again out of Turn 4. Decker did not miss on a big hit to Van Allen to keep him away from making any run attempt. However, had he waited a few more seconds, Fleischman was right behind Van Allen! The hit cleared a path for Fleischman to shoot down the back stretch with Clemmons in tow.

Decker got another 2-for-1 hit on Milette and Fleischman in almost the exact same spot, but the timing proved pivotal again! He ended up running Clemmons right into the wall and gave the leader another opening. Milette thanked Decker for the help by driving him into the outer wall and totaling both cars! Fleischman slipped past Zac Van Allen twice more before he lumbered across the finish and sent Full Throttle to a Final Round debut!

Spectator Series
Figure-8 Trucks
10-Lap Feature Race

The real heavy iron rolled out next: Figure-8 truck race with 11 colorful, ugly, rusted-out, jacked up machines keen on mastering the mud. #67 Phil Duffin, a regular in the Figure-8 car series a year ago, jumped out to a huge lead early on that left the rest of the field at least a 1/2 lap down within seconds! #30 Pete Morris powered into 2nd place leaving #19 Travis Samborski and Frieh fighting for 3rd. The Top 4 split away from the pack and Duffin extended his lead to over half a track.

#77 Jeff Vicik, #13 Mike Zarn and #25 Jason Williams were in a tight battle for 6th spot when Duffin roared past them all in one maneuver in Turn 3! The Top 4 feverishly tried to stay ahead of Duffin whom lap by lap was distancing himself from everyone else and lapped 7 trucks! Two laps later Samborski was sent a lap down. Duffin completed the dominating performance by lapping Morris on the second to last turn of Lap 10. An impressive win to say the least. Duffin leads the points after 1 event and the rest of the field will have to step it up to knock him from that perch.

Visit Motorstats.com for complete Figure-8 Trucks points standings

FINAL ROUND
Reckoning vs. Full Throttle

Reckoning needed to avoid the big impacts and put the speed game in play to avoid falling to Full Throttle's resilient offense. Full Throttle needed implore some of their own high speed tactics to establish an early lead and avoid Reckoning's crushers.

#76 Gursky, Jr. rocketed off the line and put Full Throttle in an immediate chase mode. However, they'd come from behind twice earlier in the night. #40 Ron Johnston stalked Gursky around Turn 4 and slammed him up into the front wall. The rest of the cars were trying to get up to speed way back in Turn 2; all except for #46 Andy Fleischman whom had quietly snuck up to Turn 3. #78 Chris McGuire spotted him and spun out the rookie between the turns. Gursky's car was dead up against the wall and no one had yet made a complete lap!

#45 Jay Van Allen had his eyes on the first lap and got back-up from #41 Pete Milette, Jr as he blasted McGuire with a bone jarring head-on in Turn 4. Van Allen's passenger side door was completely busted open thanks to #7 Brian Anderson, but he made it across the line and into the lead! Van Allen was clear all the way until Turn 3 when McGuire tee'd off on him in a massive crash that exploded parts and pieces in every direction!
Within seconds, nearly every car convened in Turn 3, including Anderson whom sandwiched Van Allen right back into McGuire for more damage! Turn 3 was completely stuffed with cars.

Gursky managed to re-fire and was now a free man to collect laps against two heavily damaged Full Throttle opponents. Milette threw block after block and did everything possible to hold down the leader. Gursky eventually broke free and onto Lap 3. Milette re-grouped and had Gursky in the cross hairs in Turn 4. Gursky slipped the attack and Milette careened into the wall and almost off the track. Van Allen's car was mangled, but he was back in the running game on Lap 2 with Gursky bearing down on his 4th lap.Van Allen became a non-factor and Gursky's biggest challenge was making the corners with a busted front suspension and mismatched tire treads.
Van Allen mustered one final attempt to stop Gursky on the final stretch, but it fell short and Gursky took the checkered!

Reckoning survived and wins Round 1 of the 2011 Team Demolition Derby "Tournament of Destruction!"

The rookies held their own, the Champs fall in the opening round, vicious impacts and incredible racing all encompassed in a successful debut of the "new" Team Demolition Association and a wild opening night for the 2011 Tournament of Destruction.
Don't miss your chance to witness all carnage, drama and excitement for yourself! There are still 4 Rounds to go this summer! Join us at Route 66 Raceway for what is sure to be another season to remember!