The 116th annual Weyburn Fair Days are only a month away as the Weyburn Agricultural Society gets ready for a week of fun over at the Weyburn Exhibition Grounds. One of the many fan-favourite events that are taking place that week is their Rumble in the Ring. On Thursday, July 3rd, engines will roar as there’s everything from quad pulls, lawnmower races, and their demolition derby.
This year, the demolition derby is running under the theme 'Crushin’ the 80’s'. This allows vehicles from 1980 and newer to participate. Tyler ‘TJ’ Metheral, Weyburn Agricultural Society president, is hoping the rule change will entice more cars crashing in the derby.
“The Rumble in the Ring this year, we moved it to the Thursday night, and we are looking for more cars to enter. We're struggling to get cars and people involved with the Demolition Derby, but we kind of moved it back a bit. We changed some of the rules. We're calling it Crushin’ the 80’s. So, we’re looking for 1980 and newer vehicles.”
They’re hoping that with this change in day and ruling on the vehicles, more participants will be interested in throwing their car in the ring. This allows not only more vehicles to enter, but also more affordable ones. They’re still hoping they can have a good, safe derby; but with more vehicles in the ring as last year’s derby only saw seven entries. Metheral says a bump in the prize money and more affordable cars should hopefully draw a crowd.
“We're hoping to entice some new guys to get involved with the sport and come out and have some fun. We bumped up our entry prize fee. We're at $2000 for first place. We're trying to get it easier for guys to build cars and more affordable. I realize everything costs money, but you know, find Grandma's car in the backyard or in the back alley. Tell her you’re going to borrow it for the weekend and maybe you can win $2000 with it.”
It’s probably recommended if you’re borrowing Grandma’s car to smash it up in a derby for the chance to win $2000; you might want to give her a cut of it. For more information about the Rumble in the Ring or any of the events taking place at the Weyburn Fair Days, visit the Weyburn Agricultural Society’s website and follow them on their Facebook page.