Verdin wins media demolition derby

When Andrea Verdin arrived at the San Diego County Fair on July 4, she wasn’t expecting to drive in the media demolition derby. The Fallbrook/Bonsall Village News reporter not only drove in the VIP Demolition Derby but also won the competition.

“I just kept moving,” Verdin said.

Andrea is one of two Verdin siblings affiliated with the Village News. Jordan Verdin is a photographer for the paper. Both Verdin siblings signed up for the VIP Demolition Derby at the fair media party June 3, and Jordan’s name was drawn to represent the Village News.

Andrea planned to take photographs of her brother’s demolition derby and arrived in the pits approximately an hour before the starting time. That made Andrea available when one of the other selected drivers did not show.

Although WGAS Motorsports supplies the cars, the drivers are responsible for required equipment. Jordan, who rides off-road vehicles, brought his helmet. Andrea had a good idea where she could obtain one by 1:00 p.m. Henry Lopez, a family friend who also lives in Fallbrook, was en route to the fair. Lopez engages in off-road riding and usually has his helmet in his truck. “I called and asked for a helmet,” Andrea said.

Lopez arrived with the helmet. “By sheer luck I got the helmet. I had to borrow Henry’s shoes as well,” Andrea said.

“I was wearing a summer dress and flip-flops,” Andrea said. “I actually had to borrow my friend’s shoes. I didn’t have any.”

Lopez wears a size 10 men’s shoe. Andrea wears a size 8 ladies’ shoe. “I don’t even know what size they are, but they’re huge,” Verdin said.

The proper gear allowed Andrea “Venom” Verdin to join Jordan “Broken Bones” Verdin in the demolition derby, but Andrea’s late entry produced another predicament. When a driver arrived he or she selected from among the available cars. Jordan, who was the first driver present, opted for a Toyota GT-S converted into a demolition derby car by Dan Pachella of Signal Hill and Louise Johnson of Long Beach. “I kind of told him to pick that one,” Johnson said.

Pachella and Johnson built six of the 13 cars in the demolition derby, and all of their cars had automatic transmissions. Once Andrea was confirmed as a driver, the only cars available were stick shifts. Andrea had not previously driven a manual transmission. “I tried it once. I almost hit a wall,” she said.

Jordan let his sister drive the Toyota while taking the wheel of the Saturn with manual transmission. “There was one car that nobody wanted, and that was the car that I got,” he said.

WGAS Motorsports also provides cans of spray paint so that the drivers can spray numbers, affiliations, or other information on the outside of the car. The Toyota had been car #4, and Jordan had sprayed “Death B4 Defeat” on one of the sides. When Andrea took over the car, the Saturn became #4 and the Toyota was changed to #14, so an additional numeral had to be painted in the middle of the slogan.

Andrea had her own audience appeal as the only woman driver, which has been the case when Johnson has driven in some of her demolition derbies. “You’ve got to keep going because they’ll make a big deal out of it,” Johnson told Andrea.

Pachella and Johnson also gave Jordan and Andrea driving advice prior to the demolition derby, which was the first for both Verdin siblings. Andrea has covered automobile crashes during her three years with the Village News. “That’s about as far as my extent goes,” she said.

“They train you for years to not do it,” Andrea said of crashing.

The advice given to Andrea included going forward following the start in the middle of the competition area so that she could back into cars from the edge. Andrea was also advised to avoid being sandwiched between two other cars, and she took that a level further when she saw two other cars together. “I would use my tail end to hit them,” she said.

The track was watered down prior to the demolition derby, and mud soon obscured the paint on the Verdins’ cars. Since all glass is removed from the car, some of that mud went into the driver’s compartment. Andrea was not expecting the mud in her face. “I would have worn goggles or sunglasses. I was blinded a couple of times,” she said.

Lopez had muddy shoes and a muddy helmet returned to him. “It doesn’t matter,” he said.

Andrea spent about an hour that afternoon removing all the mud from her hair and the rest of her body.

Andrea’s contact included some with Jordan’s car. “It’s no mercy, even if it’s your sibling,” Andrea said.

Jordan knew that he had an inferior car. “I was just having fun,” he said.

Eventually the car rather than a hard hit eliminated him. “The gearing went out,” he said.

While his car was still running, Jordan entertained the fans with a donut spin. “I knew I wasn’t going to win because my car was already going out,” he said. “I might as well go out in style.”

Jordan also had a minor situation while he was driving the Saturn when his key fell out of the ignition slot. “I got hit so hard that my key flew out,” he said.

Jordan, who has been a freelance photographer with the Village News for two years, would drive in the 2012 media demolition derby if he is given that opportunity. “So much fun,” he said of his first demolition derby.

Andrea spent much of the derby shouting yells of excitement. “I think I was yelling most of the time,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.”

Andrea also spent part of the crashfest putting her seat belt back on, as it came off during the derby. Her neck brace also came undone. “I didn’t care. I just kept going,” she said.

Andrea, who is left-handed, incurred a bruise on her left clavicle and an abrasion on her left arm, but neither minor injury kept her from returning to the Village News office the following morning.

“I’d do it again,” Andrea said of driving in a future demolition derby.