As told by: Raelene Kajkowski  |  Contributing Writer

My “Sunday funday” consisted of attending the Day of Destruction Competition in Irwindale, an event that definitely “crushed” the dreams of many participating race drivers. Before then, the only thing I knew about race tracks or any events that took place at one came from the movies “Talladega Nights” with Will Ferrell and “Herbie: Fully Loaded” starring Lindsay Lohan. And boy, were those movies far from what I witnessed Sunday at Irwindale Speedway.

Gates opened at 11 a.m. and the crowd was roaring as the cars began to line up on the track. Hitting about 85 degrees outside the race track, I second-guessed my outfit many times. I felt a bit overdressed in black boots and Diesel jeans while everyone else just strolled around in Chucks, cut-off shorts and T-shirts.

Taking a seat on the bleachers with the other 500 attendees, we all waited impatiently for the cars to start their engines. I was excited to see the suited-up drivers and their pit teams; however, I soon found out I was not at that type of race. Really, I was not really at a race at all. This “Day of Destruction” was indeed a day of destruction, meaning cars deliberately ram their vehicles into one another. The winner is determined by which car has a driver still able to move it off the track.

I was in awe of how many people came out to see drivers purposely crash their cars into each other at speeds of at least 80 mph. The Day of Destruction consisted of Skid Plate races, trailer contests, Demolition Derby and many more. Still, the only differences I found among the races were the number of cars used or the objects they were speeding around.

Each event featured vehicles flipping over and losing their bumpers, blowing tires and being forced into head-on collisions. I could not sit through an hour of the destruction. My nerves went out of control as I continued to cringe at every blow. For the same reasons I do not watch “America’s Funniest Home Videos” or “Ridiculousness” on MTV, I cannot watch demolition derbies.

People getting hurt is not entertaining to me. It’s horrible. I wanted to stop the Irwindale event as soon as it began. Do not get me wrong; it was entertaining to see the crowd get so excited when two cars even came close to crashing, but when the cars actually piled up on top of each other, I wanted to scream and stop the madness. The driver’s helmet would do little for protection in a car crash at an estimated 110 mph involving two or more vehicles.

I found myself leaving the speedway shaken up and praying for each driver who participated, even more so for those possibly injured. I hit the 210 Freeway heading back home when I realized I was going about 85 mph. I guess you can say the Irwindale Speedway does have an influence on you, whether you like it or not.