The hardest hits were saved for the feature.

When the smoke finally cleared, a familiar name was on top. And the top trophy again went to Glenville.

Kelly Ellingson of Glenville outlasted 16 other cars in the feature heat for the championship in the

Albert Lea Jaycees Demolition Derby at the Freeborn County Fair Tuesday night. It’s the fourth year in a row the first-place trophy went to a Glenville driver.

&uot;It feels great,&uot; said the 26-year-old Ellingson, who drove a 1976 Chrysler New Yorker. &uot;Especially when you’ve got friends out there.&uot;

Friends, relatives and probably some neighbors. Ellingson’s brother Shawn, who won the derby in 1997, finished in seventh place. John Hornberger of Glenville, last year’s champ, placed sixth. And three-time champion Mike Gaines of Glenville placed second.

Kelly Ellingson, second to Gaines last year, has been entering demolition derbies since he was 18 and usually drives in four or more each summer. It’s the first time he’s won at Albert Lea, though he took first at Austin previously and at Osage, Iowa earlier this year.

Ellingson received a check for $1,000 for first place. Gaines got $400 for second while third-place finisher Mark Thimmesch earned $200. Chad Mills finished fourth, earning $150, while Jamie Neilon got $100 for fifth. Hornberger’s sixth-place finish was worth $75 and Shawn Ellingson got $50 for seventh.

The Hardest Hitter trophy, voted on by the fans, went to Neilon.

Another capacity crowd &045; estimated at upwards of 5,000 &045; filled the grandstand and the pit area despite threatening weather conditions.

Also qualifying for the feature heat were Casey Ellis, Adam Fredrickson, Matt Jacobs, Jeremy Knudtson, Luke Parnell, Richard Ferguson, Jason Olson, Rob Krebsbach, Lincoln Cole, Jeff Olson and Wayne Borneman.