Photo by Bill Green Nick Fogle (87) of Myersville makes a solid hit to another car during Tuesday night’s Demolition Derby at The Great Frederick Fair. Fogle finished first in the overall competition in his 1976 Chrysler New Yorker.

About a dozen rag-tag cars lined up to begin each of the evening's heats. When Delbert Rudolph shouted the "go" signal, engines revved, and cars barreled across the track, slamming into the other cars in their paths. For a few minutes, the scene looked like a giant version of bumper cars.

Rudolph watched the action carefully, calling cars "out" if they couldn't move after about a minute. Everything became a target, except the drivers' doors, which were off-limits. When the smoke and dust cleared at the end of each heat, the two cars still moving reigned supreme.

Smaller cars started the heats early in the evening, but later the track was filled with huge station wagons that probably began their lives as family vehicles. Most of them ended with the indignity of being dragged off the track by chains from a tow truck.

"It's a fun thing to do," said Rudolph, owner of R&R Productions, promoter of the event. He's responsible for officiating the event, providing prize money and trophies, and securing insurance. R&R promotes about 40 derbies each year, mostly on the East Coast. Rudolph lives in Kentucky.

"It's an interesting way to make a living; I meet an awful lot of nice people," Rudolph said. He encouraged both the drivers and the crowd with his booming enthusiasm. "I hit my sister harder than that last night," he shouted, after a particularly lackluster slam.

What's the allure of the demolition derby? "It's an opportunity to smash an automobile in a confined area and win some money," Rudolph said. The bragging rights are also an important part of the win.

Brian Burrier, 20, of Thurmont , drove a 1983 Cadillac in his very first derby and he was looking forward to "just hitting somebody." He said he's been watching the event from the grandstand since he was about 10. Friends at work encouraged him to enter.

Nick Fogle, 22, of Myersville , has more experience. He's been entering derbies for about three years. Like Burrier, he became interested in the event as a youngster watching from the grandstand.

"I won $1,200 in July in the derby in Arcadia," Fogle said. The prize for the fair is less, at about $300. He's won second place at the fair for the past two years.

But the fun doesn't come without its share of potential injury. "I was hit in the driver's door in Richmond," explained Fogle. "The guy drove right into my car."

What did he do to avoid injury? "Reflexes took over and I just laid down on the seat."

While that may sound like enough to make someone angry, Fogle sees that as a plus. "That's probably why I'm so good at it," Fogle said. "Somebody hits me and I just get mad."

By day Fogle works to repair cars at his family business, Fogle's Auto Repair.

His brother, Brandon, 16, is part of his derby pit crew. "Everywhere he goes, I go," said the younger Fogle, who hopes to drive in the derby next year.

It's the job of the pit crew to do "whatever it needs to get (the car) running again," said Matt Huffer, also a part of Fogle's crew.

"We beat the doors out," said crew member Greg Stottler. "If it's broken down, we try to get it running and get it back out there," in a later heat.

It looked rough for Fogle at one point in Tuesday's show when another car ran up and over Fogle's hood, keeping his car from moving in one of the last heats. He walked off the track and threw his helmet down. "I was hot," he said.

But Fogle returned, energized, in the feature event and captured first place in his 1987 Chrysler New Yorker. "It feels great!" said Fogle after.

As the 2007 derby winner, he held his trophy up to show the crowd. His car was still running as it left the track.