JERSEYVILLE - The Jersey County Fair ended with smashes, crashes and sputters Sunday evening.
The annual tradition of concluding the fair with a demolition derby brought as many as 4,000 spectators to the grandstands and track-side areas of the Jersey County Fairgrounds, Jersey County Fair Board President Phil Ringhausen said.
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"We put on the best fair we could with the budget cuts," he said. "We appreciate everyone coming from this and the surrounding counties to support us."
Ringhausen said the demolition derby, which sold out the grandstand at $10 a ticket, has been a part of the fair since the 1970s.
"In the late 70s, people were doing the demo derby thing around here, and we decided to end the fair with one," Ringhausen said. "It was a pretty big success, and we kept it going. People love watching people smash each other up."
The object of a demolition derby is to be the last car still running. This is achieved through a nearly-graceful art of avoiding being smashed while simultaneously trying to smash the hardest. There were three categories of car-smashery included in Sunday night's fury. Andrew Wadlow took the compact, Jerod Beatty won stock and Cory McKinnon won modified.
Those awards concluded this year's fair, which Ringhausen said was in his "top five" fairs. He has been the president of the fair board for 19 years.
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