ALTAMONT – Demolition Derby drivers went head to head in five events for thousands in cash prizes during the 2025 Effingham County Fair’s Demolition Derby. The event attracted hundreds of fans to the Effingham County Fairgrounds in Altamont Saturday for a riveting night of competition.
Devan Vandeveer, 25, started competing in demolition derbies five years ago with his friends. Vandeveer competed against some of them on Saturday, and he won first place – and $2,000 in prize money – during the All Years Semi Stock class.
“I kinda had a good feeling about it [winning]. I wasn’t quite sure. I mean, there’s a lot of people out there,” said Vandeveer. “You just kinda hit people and just drive smart. Keep people off the front tires, and you pick your shots.”
This is the second time Vandeveer used the demolition derby car he used for Saturday’s event. He prepared for the derby by working on the car for several hours to make sure everything was prepared as it could be.
“It was nice and cool. It wasn’t 100 degrees, so you can’t beat that,” said Vandeveer. “It was the perfect night for it.”
Terry Pelczynski Jr. of Ashley, Illinois, competed against Vandeveer in the All Years Semi Stock class. Pelczynski won second place that came with a $1,000 prize.
Pelczynski, 23, started competing in demolition derbies when he was 15 because his dad participated in them. Now, Pelczynski competes in five to seven demolition derbies annually.
“Being in a demolition derby, it just takes your mind off stuff,” said Pelczynski. “Being out there with your buddies, there ain’t nothing like it.”
Like Vandeveer, Pelczynski also spent multiple hours of work on his car.
“Just being out there with my buddies and just getting everybody together. That’s probably the best part,” said Pelczynski.
Demolition Derby Supervisor Jon Becker used to compete in demolition derbies before retiring to be an announcer for them.
This year, he enlisted the help of his daughter for the commentary.
“She’s a good public speaker, and I could use a little bit of relief so I can sort through papers and all that,” said Becker. “So that worked out well.”
One of his favorite parts was seeing Karsen Manuel from Pana compete because she was the only female in Saturday’s derby.
“She’s come out here and become a pretty talented demo driver. She held her own very well against the guys,” said Becker. “It was nice to see her come down and be successful.”
Since Manuel was the only female in both her class and the derby, she automatically won the extra $200 bonus for being the highest placing female driver.
Becker also enjoyed seeing Rodney Will come out of retirement to compete against his son, Brayden Will, on Saturday in the Weld Mini Car class. Brayden has placed in the Effingham County Fair’s Demolition Derby in the past.
“He said, ‘I just wanted to race with my son one time’ because Brayden wasn’t old enough to be doing this back when Rodney retired,” said Becker. “He [Rodney] didn’t finish well, maybe halfway through the event, but he hit awful hard and basically broke his car doing it. But he did get to be on the track with his son.”
Because of his energy, Rodney won the “Punisher” Aggressive Driving Award for the Weld Mini Car class.
“Sometimes people make family memories doing a lot of things – fishing, hunting, whatever. We do it out here,” said Becker.