From left are Pro-Stock finishers including Tim Haniszewski, third; Wayne Clemens, second; Dylan Clemens, Mad Dog winner with most hits, and Jacob Lewczyk, first. Submitted photos

DUNKIRK — Rain didn’t slow momentum at the demolition derby Sunday evening as people welcomed its return following the Chautauqua County Fair’s three-year hiatus.

The fair showcased five events and there was no shortage of entertainment to be had.

To lead things off for the evening children around ages 5 took their power wheels into the ring, giving spectators quite a show as they crashed into each other.

The Powder Puff run, or women’s run came next featuring 12 competitors clamoring to take home the top prize, but it was ultimately Kellie Paluch of Dunkirk who took home the first place win.

“My son, who’s 17 built the car,” Paluch stated. “I usually run with the guys and I usually run big cars. This was all a new thing for me.”

Pictured is the Powder Puff run on Sunday.

Also in the event were Karen Burgess of Clymer who took second and Jade Dillenburg of Fredonia who placed third.

The second event, Wire Class Full Size was the smallest event of the evening, featuring nine competitors.

In this show third place went to David Blackman of Ripley, second to Aaron Robinson of Stockton and the winner was Todd Ellman with a ’67 Chrysler Imperial.

“It took months of work to get the car ready, but it was worth it.” Ellman said. “First place!”

Ellman went on to explain that it is an all front-end car. “You want to use the front end, don’t use the rear end with something like that.”

Drivers in the demoltion derby battle it out in the wire class full size.

Following on the heels of his win came the Wire Class Compact with 17 entries. In this heat third place went to Craig Bedell of Little Valley, while second and first went to the Nickerson brothers, second to Mark and first to John respectively.

“It took me two weeks to get the car ready,” John said. “I mean that’s working everyday, it takes a lot to get these done. It’s a lot of work, takes a lot of time to get them to run perfect. You have to get them to bend a certain way. It’s awesome! I love it!”

Pro-Stock Compact came up next and brought with it rain that cleared out a portion of the grand stand, however that did little to deter the competitors and the die hard fans that had waited years for the return of the fair.

This round saw 12 cars with third generation competitor Ethan Wright of Gowanda placing third, Craig Bedell, in his second placing of the night coming in second and James Glasier of East Otto taking the event.

Soon after the main heat of the event, Pro-Stock Full Size, came into the ring with 22 competitors looking to take home the win. During an astounding 17-minute run that saw a couple fires and a few stops to remove fallen auto parts from the ring it was Tim Haniszewski of Ransomville who took home third, Wayne Clemens of Fredonia winning second and Jacob Lewczyk of Lancaster achieving first.

“It was great taking home first,” Lewczyk said. “It was a hard fought run, but a good one.”