Buck’s Spectacular Fourth of July: Demolition Derbies and Fireworks Extravaganza

While fireworks are commonplace for Fourth of July celebrations, it’s not too often that venues pair them with a night filled with muddy, smashed cars vying to outlast the others. 

But at the Quarryville-based Buck Motorsports Park & Entertainment Complex, commonly just called “the Buck,” that’s just what they do.

The Buck will host its annual Fourth of July fireworks show and demolition derby this Saturday, with owner and general manager Zane Rettew estimating between 4,000 and 5,000 attendees.

“We don’t run every weekend anymore, so it’s like every weekend the Buck is open is like a big weekend,” Rettew says.

In advance, admission costs $18 for adults (12+), $10 for children ages 5-12 and free for children ages 0-4. There’s also a family pack of tickets available, with two adult (12+) tickets and two children (5-12) tickets for $52. The day of, tickets cost $20 for adults (12+), $10 for children (5-12) and $55 for a family pack.

Rettew estimates that this Fourth of July event has been a yearly tradition at the Buck since at least 1989. Other events at the Buck that have fireworks include celebrations for Memorial Day, Labor Day and New Year’s Eve.

Here’s what you need to know before celebrating Independence Day at the Buck.

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Demolition derby

The demolition derby kicks off at the Buck at 7 p.m. Saturday, featuring six classes of derbies: small car, youth full size, super stock, street stock, van/SUV and pro stock. Cars will intentionally slam into each other, and whichever car remains operational by the end is deemed the winner.

Rettew says that its youth class, featuring 12- to 16-year-old drivers and their parents, has become a popular endeavor. Rettew started it around three years ago, after he bought the motorsports park.

There will be around 100 cars there for the derbies, Rettew estimates, coming from locations as far as Philadelphia, Baltimore and Annapolis.

“The Buck’s been around for so long, and everybody knows we do our demolition derbies on the same weekends every year,” Rettew says. “We have a really good group of loyal participants that just support us every day. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to have the show.”

As for safety measures, medics with the Wakefield Ambulance Association in Peach Bottom are on site, as well as firefighters from the Holtwood-based Rawlinsville Volunteer Fire Company.

Fireworks show

This year, the show returns with a new fireworks vendor — Whitenight’s Fireworks, based in Danville, Montour County — and the hope of a spectacular, big show, Rettew says.

“We’ve put more money into these Fourth of July fireworks than we ever have, and we’re also getting more bang for our buck with this company,” Rettew says.

The fireworks show will last somewhere between 12-15 minutes, says Kolby Whitenight, co-owner of Whitenight’s Fireworks alongside his dad, Brian Whitenight. The show will start around 9-9:15 p.m., when the derbies are about 75% done. The derbies continue after the fireworks show.

“Over the years, we have learned that firework displays compliment motorsports wonderfully,” Whitenight says. “However … it’s important to remember that the audience’s main focus, and the primary reason they are there, is for the motorsport event.”

The goal is to jam pack the fireworks show with action, to have it be “busy and much faster-paced” than the company’s usual 20-25 minute shows, Whitenight says.

While the fireworks will have music set behind them, this won’t be a “pyromusical” show, that incorporates music and fireworks together into a cohesive unit, Whitenight says. The Buck will play the accompanying music.

Whitenight says the show will end with an “intense patriotic finale.”

For more information, visit buckmotorsports.com.