Demo derby part of the fabric of Westmoreland County
Before they even knew how to drive, brothers Nick and Owen Patrick of Unity had attended the demolition derby series held every summer across Westmoreland County.
“Mom would take us almost every weekend to the derbies,” said Owen Patrick. “Since we were probably five or six.”
The pair have been building, testing, and wrecking demo derby cars for years — just to see how much a car can take before it’s totaled.
The annual Westmoreland Summer Derby Series features categories including tractors, compact cars and full-size cars. This year’s series concludes with a championship on Sept. 21 at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds.
In addition to the series finale, fans can watch the smash-em-up pasttime at this year’s Westmoreland Fair at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday, Aug. 24, at the Peoples’ Grandstand Arena on the fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township.
Shane Dunlap is a TribLive photographer covering Westmoreland and Allegheny counties. He grew up in the Ohio Valley near Pittsburgh and has worked for newspapers as far away as Fayetteville, N.C., where he covered the U.S. Army at Fort Liberty. He can be reached at sdunlap@triblive.com.
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