Fair board reaches deal with derby promoter

The Sanders County Fair Commission held a special evening meeting to review a proposed demolition derby contract submitted by 406 Promotions, based in Three Forks.  

Tim Denson, the owner of 406 Promotions, attended the meeting alongside head derby judge Levi Falck and his wife and assistant, Breanna Denson. Sanders County Commissioners John Holland and Dan Rowan were also present.

406 Promotions initially submitted a bid of $71,000 for the 2025 Sanders County Demolition Derby. The bid was accepted by the Commission during the regular January meeting. However, the following day, Denson withdrew the bid, citing a personal issue with the newly appointed Commission member, Richard Sanders.

Denson later submitted a new bid for $95,000 to the commission.   

Commission Chair Randy Woods asked about the price hike. 

“When the books are all said and done, we probably made two grand last year in our pocket and as soon as we start promoting, we’ve got to go to work,” Denson said.  

“It’s a stretch up here, we bring in a lot of equipment. We bring people in from the Midwest. It doesn’t make sense for us to do it for anything less than that.” 

Fair Manager Kristy Sheehan asked Denson if the initial $71,000 bid was a mistake.  

Denson replied, “Nope, the show has clearly grown, we’ve added stuff. That $71,000.00 was from three derbies prior. Everything has pretty much doubled if not tripled in cost,”  

Woods proposed that the fair reserve a section of bleachers exclusively for derby members and their families. The first 160 seats in the section would be provided to the derby promoter free of charge. Breanna Denson confirmed that a total of 400 seats would be used. Any seats beyond the initial 160 would be sold to the promoter at a discounted rate, allowing them to sell the seats and make a profit of around $12,225 on the sale of the seats. With the potential for this additional revenue, 406 Promotions agreed to lower their bid to $87,500.

For the 2025 derby event, the pit area will be off-limits to the public for safety reasons. 

Commission member Jolene Burke and owner and CEO of Chase N Three Productions raised a concern about the amount of metal found in the arena area.  

“We’re going to clean the arena the best we can,” commented Tim Denson.  

The Commission members voted to accept a bid of $87,500 from 406 Promotions, with some modifications. Richard Sanders was the only Commission member who voted against the proposal.  

Additionally, Sanders County Commissioner Dan Rowan recommended that the Commission have the county attorney review the contract before it is signed.

    Sanders County Fair Commission member Jolene Burke speaks about the condition of the arena grounds. (Tracy Scott/Valley Press)