Local man defends his title Wright County Fair is July 24-28th in Howard Lake

By Brenda Erdahl

Although only moving at 6 mph, if that, the amount of weight behind two 8-ton combines when they collide lifts the back wheels off the ground and tips the cabs dangerously close together.

“It’s scary. The first hit, when the two cabs come up they almost hit each other, it’s really, really close… it’s so much fun,” said Ezra Smith of Maple Lake who last year won the combine demolition derby and $1,000 prize at the Wright County Fair with his 1969 Massey Ferguson 410.

The Wright County Fair is one of just a few venues around that host a combine demolition derby, mostly because combines are cumbersome to transport and too valuable to smash up, even 55-year-old ones. But on Thursday, July 25, crowds will once again gather at the grandstand in Howard Lake for the annual event and Smith will be there to defend his title.

The Wright County Fair opens on July 24 for five days of entertainment, education and competition, and grandstand events, like the combine demolition derby are always a huge hit. The crowds, the motors revving, the dust flying, and the crash of metal is thrilling. But the story behind the drivers and their machines is just as interesting.

Smith unearthed his championship rig from a field near Clearwater where it and a twin combine had been left to rust by the owner 30 years ago when the motors went bad. Smith’s family had farmed that field for years, ever since Smith’s grandfather first rented it to work.  When Smith came across the machines tucked back in the woods one day, he knew right away he wanted to make them run and enter one in the derby.

“Ever since I was young and sitting in the stands watching, I’ve wanted to do a demolition derby,” he said.

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