Staff writer
Though it was his first time to compete in a demo derby, Hillsboro High School senior Dusten Plenert said it was “not too bad.”
This is not the first time he has competed at the fair, however.
“I ran a couple of the Figure 8 competitions so I got that out of my system,” Dusten said. “This was different and a lot of fun. There was a lot of adrenaline.”
Dusten started preparing his vehicle July 25, the Monday before the derby, and was finished by Thursday.
“I should have worked on it sooner but I pushed it off because of farm work,” Dusten said. “But I got it done.”
Before he could prepare a vehicle for the derby, Dusten needed to find an automobile.
“We go around and find an old car that’s 1980s or newer and strip everything out of the inside,” Dusten said.
His uncle, sister, and a few of his friends helped prepare the car.
Dusten test drove it at his parents’ house.
“We ran them around the pasture before the derby, having fun,” he said.
Dusten painted his car to look like an American flag, with his number being 1776 — the year America declared its independence.
“I figured the flag means freedom, and if we didn’t have freedom, we wouldn’t be doing stuff like this on the weekends,” Dusten said.
Dusten may not have gotten first, but he felt good with the outcome of his first demo.
“It could have gone better, but I didn’t get out first,” Dusten said. “It was a learning experience. I need to try and look what to do for the cars for next year. It’s just my first time learning how to drive and where I need to beef the cars up for next year.”