By Greg Hertzog
WHITE LAKE — September 30, 2005 – Unlike the weekly racing program at Catskill Mountain Speedway where running into fellow competitors is often met with a penalty, the vehicles that showed up at the track last Saturday had the sole intention of running into each other.
The speedway played host to the second event of the 2005 Demolition Derby series. A total of 21 cars were towed to the track to participate in the crash and wreck fest.
Just to whet the appetite of the fans, the program started with the 4-Cylinder and the lone Mini-Van.  The final two cars of Alexander Bennett and Jason Card tried to gang up on the minivan of Patrick Rake. Each car suffered a couple stalls and restarts before finally sitting quiet in the infield of the track.
In the end, it was Rake’s minivan that prevailed in the first event.
The 8-Cylinders were divided up into three heat events, which gave drivers the opportunity to beat up their cars before the money event.  Once the heats were down to two cars running, the event was stopped, and the fans determined the winner.  Based on crowd noise, Todd Gadoury, Jamie Rake and Andy Smith each won their heat events.
All 8-Cylinder cars were eligible to compete in the feature event.  Unfortunately, only 14 of 17 cars entered were able to make it out for the start of the event.
But those that made the final put on a great show for the fans. There were plenty of hard hits from all the competitors. The final four cars of Charlie Hummel Jr., Todd Gadoury, Jamie Rake and Anthony Rivera outlasted the rest of the field, and battled down to the end. First Hummel went down, then Gadoury.
The final two of Rake and Rivera went for quite awhile, even though both cars were heavily battered.  Rake was fired up, but not able to move and return the hit from Rivera, who took home the winners share of the purse.
Based on the reaction from the fans and drivers, another demo derby has been added to the schedule. It will be held on Saturday, November 5. The pits and grandstand gates will open at noon and the car crashing action will begin at 2 p.m.