Seventeen days before the demolition derby, Rick Fields was in the shop welding and grinding a make-shift gear shifter. He spent weeks working on his car, a 1988 Ford station wagon, all in preparation to destroy it in minutes.
“It works in theory, right?” he said as he inspected his rebar and angle iron gear shifter in the Wasilla garage. “But until we get in the car and smash it up, then we don’t know.”
Each year at the Alaska State Fair, demolition derby drivers like Fields deliberately crash cars into each other in a big muddy pit. They do this until there is only one car left running, and the winner receives $3,000.
The drivers have a lot of different reasons for competing. For some, it’s just an adrenaline rush. For others, it’s a unique way to bond with family. And for Fields, it’s a way to spread a message.
“I come from a background of addiction and I’ve struggled with it myself,” Fields said. “Part of what we do is just showing people that there’s fun on the other side of it. You get out the other side of the darkness that is addiction and there’s a whole world, and you get to do some pretty cool things – like build a car and smash it up with your friends.”
Fields is the director of facilities and maintenance at True North Recovery, an addiction treatment center in Wasilla.
“It’s painful and it’s scary to get sober,” Fields said. “If I can show just one person, ‘Hey, this is fun,’ then it’s all worth it.”
On demolition derby day, Fields went up against 14 other drivers in the large cars division of the demolition derby. Fields was definitely the underdog: Many of the drivers have been competing for decades, including Brian Bess, the organizer of the derby.
He’s been competing in derbies for 37 years. Ten years ago, the fair canceled the derby, and Bess convinced fair organizers to bring it back. He’s been running it ever since. For Bess, competing in the derby isn’t about winning.
“It’s just an adrenaline rush and it’s fun,” Bess said. “You know, people climb mountains and people climb icebergs and all of these crazy things.”
Two hours before showtime Bess was busy inspecting cars as they came in. He went through a printed out checklist on a clipboard for each one.
“There’s no glass, there’s no metal, no emblems and no mirrors,” Bess said, standing in front of a black car and marking off his checklist as he read each item aloud. “There’s a hole in the hood for the fire department. Fuel tank has been removed, it’s secured down, covered.”
Fields and LaFond stood next to their car, waiting for the event to begin. The car was adorned with a shiny new paint job, the side of the car said “SMASH THE STIGMA,” as in, the stigma that can often surround conversations about addiction and recovery.
Fields said he wasn’t nervous.
“I imagine once we get lined up it’ll start to kick in, but I’m feeling pretty good so far,” Fields said.
A few cars away, Fred Sayer, another competitor, geared up for the event. If Fields is David, then Sayer is Goliath. Sayer is an institution of demolition derby. He travels from Fairbanks each year for the event, and so does his son.
“I won last year, the year before my son won, I won the year before that, my son won the year before that,” Sayer said. “Between us, we’ve probably won it the last six years, I think, straight now.”
Sayer’s son, Chris, has been entering demolition derbies since he was 14.
“He kind of raised me how he grew up and I got to do the fun stuff that he gets to do,” Chris said. “I love doing it, it’s fun.”
Fred said he wasn’t worried about having his son compete in derbies, even when he was much younger.
“We’ve had a few injuries here and there, nothing real serious, some broken ribs and fingers and stuff,” Fred said. “There’s a lot of time that we spend in the garage together. Not many people do that with their kids and that’s one thing that needs to happen more. Kids spending more time with their parents and parents spending more time with their kids.”
But if the competition came down to just the two of them, Chris said he’s sure his father would never deliberately give him the win.
“It has come down to my dad and I multiple times and we both have given it our all,” Chris said. “So no, he won’t give it to me.”
In the minutes before the derby started, crowds of people filed into the bleaches — the derby sold out this year.
The cars rolled out. Fields’s car with its “SMASH THE STIGMA” paint job was shinier than the others. At the beginning of the round he drove in a wide circle, getting used to the mud pit traction. He got a couple of crashes in himself, but then he was quickly slammed on the left side and got stuck together with another car, unable to move. A different car took the opportunity to smash into Fields over and over and over. Reverse, smash! Reverse, smash!
After an excruciating amount of time, Fields finally freed his car, but the damage was done. In the end, Fields’ was the third car out in the first round.
Both Fred Sayer and his son, Chris, plus three other cars moved on to the final round.
These are the toughest cars with maybe the most aggressive drivers.
In the end it does come down to Chris and Fred Sayer. Their cars just wouldn’t quit. Father and son kept crashing into each other, both cars smoking.
And then, Chris jumped out of his car, his transmission cooler lit on fire briefly. The MC called it, making his dad the winner.
After the derby, Fred signed autographs and reflected on the match.
“Nothing like going up against your kid when it’s you and him,” Fred said. “It’s been him and I, back and forth, first and second, first and second. Now I got two in a row, so he’ll probably beat me pretty good next year.”
Chris, for his part, was not a sore loser.
“I’m just glad it came down to him and I, that was a blast,” he said. “He taught me everything I know, so I’m happy.”
Fields stood farther away, mud covering his black hoodie.
“I think I broke a couple ribs, and I think I got my shoulder dislocated,” he said. “It was good though. We learned a lot for our first year.”
Fields and LaFond have already bought three cars for the 2025 state fair derby. They’ll be back again next summer.
Anisa Vietze is Alaska Public Media's 2024 summer reporting fellow. Reach her at avietze@alaskapublic.org.
