The Stories of Second Night 2017

The Stories of Second Night 2017

I was sitting in the pit bleachers Second Night chit-chatting with the parents of a figure-8 racer and Mrs. Booger (that’s Lori Walker for the uninformed). During one of the lengthy periods of downtime between races, I was asked why I liked the demos so much. Correction, I was actually...
The 2015 TDA Preview: Part Five - Storylines to Watch

The 2015 TDA Preview: Part Five – Storylines to Watch

If you like what you’re reading and want to support this site, click on an ad to the right.  You don’t even have to wait for the ad page to fully load, just the clicks help! There are a some interesting storylines unfolding this year in the TDA.  They include:...
Thinking Positively About the Future of the TDA

Thinking Positively About the Future of the TDA

It’s not much of a secret that I haven’t written that much about the TDA this year.  I wrote a couple of columns on the First and Second Night of racing, but that was it.  I started columns about the other races and decided against finishing them.  Because no matter...
Mean Green Machine, Orange Crush
Latest entries

#9 Demolition Derby in the Olympics

Chris Neumer and Steve Gursky Jr. get inside the possibility of having demos in the Olympics and what a demolition derby World Cup might look like.   Click here to download this episode of the Behind the Destruction podcast from iTunes.com.   You can both download and listen to the podcast there.  Please click ‘subscribe’...

#8 Inside the TDA’s Third Night: Part 2

Chris Neumer and Johnny Ryan (again filling in for Steve Gursky Jr.) go over what transpired in the Team Demo Association’s Third Night of racing, getting inside each team’s ups and downs.  Together the two ponder how to turn around the fortunes of Stranglehold (it involves Channing Tatum), Reckoning’s dynasty-in-the-making and the most surprising stat...

#8 Inside the TDA’s Third Night: Part 1

Chris Neumer and Johnny Ryan (filling in for Steve Gursky Jr.) go over what transpired in the Team Demo Association’s Third Night of racing, get inside what constitutes a finish line, whether Reckoning is one of the two best demolition derby teams ever and why scorekeepers need to be able to count to at least...

#7 Concussions, the Movie Drive and Reverse Strip Clubs

Chris Neumer and Steve Gursky Jr. discuss concussions and whether demolition derby leagues are doing enough to prevent long-term brain injuries for their drivers, how to make a lot of money in a charity auction and why the movie Drive could be the most misleadingly titled movie in history.   Click here to download this...
Minor Points Second Night: Part 1

Minor Points Second Night: Part 1

Minor Point #1: Junkyard Dogs’ Owner Mark Ziesmer Did Not Lose His Mind When The Junkyard Dogs trotted out both Gerritt “Big Kahuna” Vanderbilt and Brice Martin as their runners Second Night, I experienced a combination of emotions that ranged from utter confusion to anger to depression to absolute joy; the latter coming when my...
Born to Run... and Crush

Born to Run… and Crush

As with almost every sport, the team demolition derby has an offense (the runners) and a defense (the crushers).  The offense tries to obtain the elements that help their team win (in this case, laps) and the defense tries to stop them from completing this goal. While it’s not 100% accurate to suggest that half...

#6 Inside the TDA’s 2nd Night

Chris Neumer and Johnny Ryan (filling in for Steve Gursky Jr.) go over what transpired in the Team Demo Association’s Second Night of racing, get inside why six man teams don’t work and break down why drivers do different things on the track… including cutting tires.   Click here to download this episode of the...
Second Night Thoughts

Second Night Thoughts

Two things to note before getting to my thoughts on Second Night: 1)    I live-tweeted Second Night’s races.  You can read this at www.twitter.com/truedestruction  It’s great if you like things 140 characters at a time.  I want to again mention that you do NOT need to have a twitter account to read this; you do, however, need...

#5 NASCAR Drivers in Demos & Tory Schutte

Chris Neumer and Steve Gursky Jr. discuss what would happen if NASCAR drivers attempted demos and talk to Metal Mayhem legend, Tory Schutte.  Metal Mayhem will be taking place in Pecatonica, Illinois June 8-10.  See www.derbyicons.com for more info. UPDATE: An updated version of this episode podcast was uploaded on Friday, June 8. Behind the...

#4 The All TDA Edition

Chris Neumer and Steve Gursky Jr. get inside the Team Demo Association’s first night of racing. Behind the Destruction is now available for download on iTunes.com.  Click ‘subscribe’ to get all the latest episodes. This episode of the podcast was recorded live at Kosher Studios in Woodridge, Illinois (for more info, please visit: www.koshersounds.com).  As always, we...
First Night Minor Points: Part 2

First Night Minor Points: Part 2

Minor Point #5: Slow and Steady Wins the Day Speed sells, high horsepower engines are sexy and chicks dig fast cars (and demo drivers dig fast chicks).  Yet, in the first round, two of the drivers who got the checkered flag, Mean Green Machines’ Matt Pierce and Reckoning’s Wally Hartung, got it by driving slow and...
First Night Minor Points: Part 1

First Night Minor Points: Part 1

Two things I’d like to note before getting to the First Night Minor Points: 1)    I live-tweeted the First Night of racing.  You can read this at www.twitter.com/truedestruction  It’s great if you like things 140 characters at a time.  You do not need to have a twitter account to read this; you do, however, need to...