DESTRUCTION DERBY
Records on the Destruction Derby action at Stockton Speedway are next to non-existent, as the papers through the years seemed to treat this class of cars as an ugly stepchild, or a one of a kind type of event, not worthy of coverage. But in fact, the crash and bang boys were very popular at all the area tracks of the era, plus many-many fairground arena's to boot.
Little one-line stories pop up almost from the very beginning of the Speedway's history, and continue into the decade of the 80's showing one or more events each year as the division traveled from track to track.
Through a chance encounter in my history research, records from 1969 to 1973 were uncovered in the possession of Roger Bentz of Lodi, that showed that he and Joe Reyes, both from Stockton at the time, were the heavy hitter's, (pardon the pun) at Stockton during those season's and that both were state champion's in the art of smash and bash (Reyes-1970, Bentz-1971).
Roger had seen some derby action in 1961, before a hitch in the Navy, but the early 70's were his hot years, with close to forty feature wins in a five year span. Roger continued with the division at a reduced pace throughout the 1987 racing season, filling the gap with Early Model and Hobby racing before switching to strictly 'roundy-round'action as his growing family reduced the needed travel time.
The cars were strictly stock, with no roll bars or glass, and a single lap belt for protection. The gas tanks were removed for safety and replaced with five gallon Jerry Cans behind the driver's seat.. One of the key items needed in the car was a strong reverse gear, as that's the proper direction in destruction action, with your first target being your competitor's radiator. Another key shot was a hit into a front tire that hopefully broke your opponent's spindle and left him out of control. Roger says a trick he learned early on was to crank the wheel either direction at the last moment, two to three feet before contact, so as you impacted, you ricocheted off, with less chance of getting hung up and unable to break free, in turn leaving your own radiator exposed to another driver.
Just like any other racing division, past or present, 'over-engineering' tactics could also be found in derby cars, with tricks like large tires that also contained smaller tires with tubes inside them, and attempts to add strength to frames and bumpers. Roger of course said he never did this type of thing, (as the thunder rolled above his head) and relied instead on his choice of 56 and 57 Mercury's to best his fellow driven for the first place money that usually ranged from $125 to $200 dollars depending on the track. During those five years, NASCAR payoff records showed Roger with a total earnings of just over five thousand dollars and Reyes just a tad more. A few of the other drivers in the competition at Stockton included David Inch, Dutch Holland, and Lee Damon. Roger still enjoys the competition here at 99 Speedway with weekly Pure Stock action, and has also watched his son's Ron and Rick become a part of the Stockton racing history over the years.
