Then Dave Cumpston climbs out of the No. 29 car through the space where the windshield should be and grabs a shiny trophy at the Valley District Fair Demolition Derby.
It's his first win in six years, he says, but possibly his last: After a decade of building then gleefully crashing cars, the 35-year-old mechanic from Buckhannon is giving up his increasingly unaffordable sport.
Soaring scrap metal prices are making crashable cars more expensive and harder to find. Owners who used to sell their worn-out wheels for $50 to $100 are turning to scrap dealers instead, getting nearly triple the price. That creates a double whammy for drivers like Cumpston, who must burn more high-priced gasoline in an ever-expanding search zone.
"This one sat in a hayfield for six years," says Jamie Wolfe, a tree trimmer from Kingwood who drove No. 42. He bought the body for $100 and considers himself lucky; many drivers are paying $300 to $400 per car.
Demolition derbies are more than an outlet for road rage and a rite of summer in rural America: They're a mainstay of country fairs and a revenue generator for volunteer organizations like the Reedsville Volunteer Fire Company. When participation drops, so does the size of the crowd -- and the host's profit margin.
The Midwest is taking an exceptionally hard hit this summer because of regional scrap-metal prices, though Tory Schutte of the Demolition Derby Drivers Association says participation is down nationwide, "easily cut in half."
Every state but Hawaii stages at least one derby a year, and Schutte, of Genoa City, Wis., is accustomed to seeing more than 100 cars at a single event. This year, there are only 40 to 50 as drivers of modest means are forced out.
Aggravating their situation is growing interest by a new breed of participants -- doctors, lawyers and other professionals willing to spend more money on the vehicles. Some sink as much as $5,000 into a single engine.
"It's really weeded out the little guy that's building on a limited budget," Schutte says. "He's not going to be able to afford to stay in the sport."
Scrap metal prices are likely to continue to rise, says Bruce Savage, spokesman for the Washington-based Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries. Strong consumption by domestic steel producers is driving up prices, along with demand from developing nations.
While scrap iron and steel prices vary regionally, Savage says they've easily doubled in the past two summers, from about $240 per ton in July 2006 to $523 per ton now.
Although more money is changing hands at the Charles Caracciolo Steel Yard in Altoona, Pa., employee Lori Bagley said no one is getting rich. Caracciolo is paying car owners $120 per ton, compared with $60 two years ago. But dealers' costs are rising, so the profit is not increasing.
