Back where it all began, at the Navy Road pit, the return of Inuvik's demolition derby had the crowd in awe for eight rounds.

The derby had seven regular heats, plus the final championship round that declared the winner.

Cars were smashing and crashing all afternoon Aug. 26 at the demolition derby. There were seven regular rounds before the championship heat to end the day. Richard Kasook won the grand prize of $2,000. The Inuvik volunteer fire department received over $5,000 in admission fees and sports donations.

This year, Richard Kasook won, driving for Arctic Storage Rentals.

Kasook said he had been in one other derby like this, back in Edmonton.

"That was an all right experience, it was about the same size as this derby," said Kasook.

Kasook said the rounds were intense and fun.

"It was awesome out there, it was a good day for sure," he said.

When asked if he had plans for the $2,000 winnings, Kasook said he had none yet.

"I'm going to enter again next year," he said.

Event organizer Kurt Wainman said he also enjoyed the day in the sun.

Wainman said there were 19 cars total in the event.

His green machine (a '76 Cadillac) took Wainman through four of the seven heats before it was put out of commission.

Customizing his car was fun, said Wainman.

"We painted it, put some pipes on it for decoration," he said.

For Wainman, the best part of his car was the custom-made eight-inch pipe out of the top of the car.

Wainman's pit crew was made of eight guys, each with their own specialty.

"We used welders, torches, air hammers, sledge hammers and loaders," said Wainman.

"We used whatever we could to straighten out the cars before the next heat.

"Being in there, was just blurry," he said.

"Everything is going on, people are hitting each other, it's quick."

Winning and coming up with a strategy is something easier said than done.

Wainman said that there are always opportunities, but they need to be acted on quickly.

"There are so many should haves and could haves, but it all happens so fast," he said.

"You just hit whoever is in front of you."

Wainman said that the clean up afterwards was a group effort.

"We got the garbage out, everyone was really good about not littering," he said.

"We cleaned the track out with our loaders and it's like we were never there."

The proceeds from the event went to the Inuvik fire department.