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It's bumper cars. For grown-ups. But many insist they do it for the kids.

Mufflers roared and radiators overheated during Saturday evening's demolition derby at the Monroe County Fair. Hundreds of spectators filled the grandstands' bleachers and watched as spray-painted cars smashed, crashed and rammed each other up dirt embankments around a muddy racetrack.

"Everyone's got that (driving) pet peeve," explained David Brummett, of Mitchell. He called it a "thrill" to be able to take out those daily driving aggressions by hitting other derby cars hard.

Before the mash-up, Brummett and his pit crew put the final touches on his 1978 Ford LTD, painted purple and nicknamed the Barney-mobile. The names of his children were painted on the trunk of the car, as well.

He called preparing cars for the derby a family affair, one his family's done off and on for about a dozen years. "They end up having more paint on them than the car does," he said. "So the kids are a big factor in this."

The Turner family car, a 1985 Chevy Impala, took on a SpongeBob SquarePants theme, with portraits of the popular yellow cartoon character painted on the roof and down the trunk. SpongeBob's pink sidekick, Patrick, graced the hood.

"It's just kind of a fun, family thing," said Heather Turner. Her 6-year-old son, Cash, picked this year's motif. "We fought him for a while and finally gave in," she said with a laugh.

Saturday night marked the family's second appearance in the contest. Although she was asked if she wanted to drive, Turner said she'd let her husband take the wheel, considering the car didn't have a bumper.

The demolition derby wasn't all fun and games. Firefighters had to extricate a driver who got trapped in a car. He was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital as a safety precaution, fire department and fair officials said.