Wood County Demolition Derby champions Memphis Springer and Brad Menard say to win, you have to “just keep the car going,” one way or another.

“You just got to keep them running. It’s not about making them strong, it’s about making them run,’ Menard said.

Sometimes that means a little luck, too. Menard was in a jam until someone came along and got him out of it, proving that sometimes it’s better to get hit than to be the aggressor.

“I got hung up down here and it looked like somebody hit me and knocked me out, otherwise I would have been stuck,” Menard said. “I got lucky.”

Menard, from Sylvania, won the mini-compact welded division with his No. 26 Toyota Camry at the Wood County Fairgrounds Sunday.

There were supposed to be 12 cars, but one scratched before the derby even began, and soon after four cars quit, two got hung up, and one got stuck between two cars that were already out of the competition.

When it was down to five cars, it seemed that at the same time, four of them just couldn’t move, and Menard was the only one able to put his Camry into gear and drive it back and forth, so he was declared the winner.

“It just kept going. I got lucky,” Menard said. “I couldn’t believe it. I was like, ‘Where did everybody go?’”

It was his fourth demolition derby victory all-time, winning in the same class at the Wood County Fair last year, and this year he wasn’t even supposed to be entered.

The car, sponsored by Gentle Hippo Junk Removal, had already been in one derby — the first one of the night that saw underaged drivers go at it.

In the Youth Class for ages 12-15, where they must have a licensed driver in the car with them, Menard’s nephew, 12-year-old Clayton Carlson drove the same car, but he did not win.

Before the mini-compact weld division took the track, Menard was able to rehab the car, pay the entry fee, and he became the 12th entry into the division.

“My nephew ran the car, and one of the parts popped off, and we popped it back on and I ran back out here and I won it,” Menard said.

Finishing second in the mini-compact division was Thomas Russell in the No. 828 sponsored by Allied Concrete Services and Dean’s Tree Service, and winning the Angry Beaver Award for most fearless driving was Ed Decker in the No. 7778 sponsored by B&B Derby Parts, even though he finished 10th.

The youth winner was Springer, a 14-year-old who will be entering the ninth grade at Findlay High School.

Springer’s No. 38x, sponsored by Ohio Boys, was also a Toyota Camry. He was involved with his family preparing the car for the derby, his older brother rode in the car with him, and he adds that demolition derbies have always been a family affair.

Finishing second in the six-car youth derby was 13-year-old Lilly Garner, who’s No. 88G was also sponsored by the Ohio Boys and 419.

The 10-vehicle Truck Division came down to two vehicles — Allen Swayne’s Mr. Chevy and Jason Crowe’s Bad Attitude, but the Bad Attitude prevailed.

Despite the violent face-off between the two trucks colliding for 10 minutes, the two drivers, Swayne and Crowe, got out of their cars and hugged once Swayne’s vehicle was finished. With Crowe winning the derby, Swayne got the Angry Beaver Award.

The Full Size Semi Stock Division used to be the main feature class, but because the bigger sedans, which longtime public address announcer Greg Whitacre calls “the boats,” are rarely seen on the road anymore, it has become a smaller class reduced to five entries.

Braden Anderson, in his 10x, won the championship, and Garrett Browne, in his No. 901 sponsored by LBO, won the Angry Beaver Award in the full size car division.

The biggest class was the Front Wheel Drive, which had 22 entrants and had to be divided into two heats with the top six of each heat advancing to the main feature.

Clay Bowman, in his No. 26c sponosred by DeWalt Building, took the championship and Brad Stemen in his No. 383, sponsored by the Ohio Boys, took second, but it wasn’t easy.

Bowman and Stemen were caught in a 15-minute standoff where they were the only two cars left, and they continuously went after each other with straight on collisions, and at times they were chasing each other around other cars that were already out of the competition.

Taking third place and the Angry Beaver Award was Bradley Sttemen Jr. in his 16s sponsored by the Ohio Boys, and Justin Kleinhas in his No. 109 sponsored by Risch Farms took fourth.