The first car Tony Dunn bought for the sake of wrecking was a 1970 gold Buick Skylark Wagon purchased for $75.
A quarter of a century later, Dunn remembers the pre-race nervousness he felt in the moments leading up to his first fender-bending and door-collapsing experiences competing in a demolition derby.
“It was 1993. I was young,” said Dunn, referring to the derby at the Johnson County 4-H Fair, an event he’s since won multiple times. “It was exciting, but it was pretty intimidating, too. I didn’t place at all, but I’m in the mindset of just having a good time.”
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Dunn has had his share.
The 47-year-old has been behind the wheel of everything from the aforementioned Skylark to a Cadillac. He’s scratched, dented and basically abused the exteriors of Buick LaSabres, Chevy Impalas and more.
Dunn has been out of events early and stayed late to where it was just he and another driver slowly circling their badly busted rides while plotting strategy. A year ago in Franklin, he finished last in the Friday night feature, regrouped and a few hours later won the Saturday night derby.
Overall, he estimates he’s competed in 200 to 300 demolition derbies, including county fairs in Indiana and out-of-state venues such as Danville, Illinois; Orlando, Florida; and Woodstock, Georgia. He’s earned as much as $5,000 for a win (Lawrenceburg) and left other places with only his pride.
Former Franklin driver Mark Hommel, who is a year older than Dunn, started derbying around the same time.
“When we first started out, we were enemies. I knew he could win and he knew I could win, but we became friends and are friends to this day,” Hommel said. “Tony has been in it a long time, but he can still drive with the best of them.
“Tony goes out and he thinks ahead. Thinks to win. There are two ways to go out there and do it. You can go out there to have fun or you can go out there to win.”
Like most demolition drivers, Dunn has traditions when setting up the heap he’s about to repeatedly crash.
The car, regardless of make or age, is always No. 89 — a tribute to the year 29-year-old Anthony Dunn, the oldest of his four children, was born.
This year’s derby ride, a gray 1991 Mercury Marquis, was found in Brown County. It’s since been painted red and silver, and covered on the left side with the names of his wife (Kris), daughter (Jalynne) and the business he has with his best friend, Bill Callon (Goat Flooring).
Dunn paid $300 for the car, $30 for paint and $45 for the decals. With Callon’s help, Dunn built the 355 Chevy engine, while the front fender, a well-worn hunk of steel that’s about to experience its 10th or 11th derby, has been welded on.
From 1993 to 2008, Dunn competed in approximately 20 derbies annually.
“They used to say if there was a green flag flying in Indiana somewhere on any day of the week, Mark Moss and I would be there,” Dunn said.
He stepped away from derbying in 2009 after Kris underwent a liver transplant. Dunn returned a few summers ago with a shortened list of events and a new perspective on life.
He now competes every year in a few demolition derbies. The Johnson County Fair is always one of them, while the others are just whatever Dunn feels like running at the time.
Working on cars for Callon’s dad, David, as a boy is what got him hooked on derbying in the first place.
“My wife’s family were all derbying when I was young,” Dunn said. “I grew up helping them work on their cars from the time I was 11 or 12. My wife mentioned that if I was going to work on everyone’s cars the way I did that I should get my own car.”
Eventually, he did. Many cars.
Dunn has found derby cars from junkyards, on Craigslist and through word of mouth. In an Amity barn, he, Callon and Mike Patton fine-tune them to the best of their mechanical abilities for the sole purpose of Dunn crashing them.
Although Dunn’s love for demolition derbies hasn’t changed, his strategy has.
“When I was young I always had this philosophy there’s two kinds of derbiers. There’s chess players and there’s checker players,” Dunn said. “When I first started I was a checker player. I wanted to hit or jump on anything I could.
“As I got older, I realized I could have just as much fun playing chess and strategizing to see if I could get you in a position to put you out.”
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Tony Dunn
Age: 47
Residence: Nineveh
Family: Wife Kris; sons Anthony, 29, Jacob, 22, and Brandon, 19; daughter Jalynne, 11
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Johnson County Fair demolition derbies
When: July 20 and 21, 7:30 p.m. (both nights)
Where: Johnson County 4-H Fairgrounds
Admission: $10 grandstand, $15 pit pass
Events: July 20 — Power wheels, full-sized stock class, mini cars, minivans, mid-size; July 21 — Power wheels, full-sized stock class, mini cars, mini mods, powder puff
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