CLINTON -- The city of Clinton took time out from day-to-day affairs last week as the town of 2,600 welcomed 25,000 cowpokes to the foothills of the Ozark Mountains.
The annual National Championship Chuckwagon Races drew a crowd of -- as announcer Andy Stewart put it -- "God-fearing, gun-toting, God-bless-America people" to witness the cowboys' version of the Daytona 500.
Thousands of sun-kissed spectators from Southern and Midwestern states sat along bluffs that rimmed the ranchland to cheer on a 31-year tradition of wagon riding, where hurt and pain are an expected feature.
"It's like NASCAR. You don't want to see anybody hit the wall at 250 miles per hour, but you damn sure don't want to miss it either," Stewart said, as though he were predicting the hits and stomps the cowboys would endure after being thrown off their mounts or catapulted from their tumbling wagons while at full gallop.
The official equine participation count was 4,793 by Saturday, and more than 160 wagons and carriages had raced in heats.
The races aren't for the faint of heart. Much like a rodeo, riders were often launched from their saddles and landed under the weight and fury of a stomping horse or a rolling wagon.
On several occasions ambulances were summoned to tend the bones and hides of both horse and man. Numerous participants have been sent to the hospital over the event's 31 years, and one life has been lost.
At the sound of the starting gun, the horse- or mule-drawn wagons -- either a wrought-iron or buckboard craft fixed upon rubber or iron wheels -- take off across the field sending up a thin cloud of dust. Riders whip the reins from the wagon seat, with some blaring air horns or lighting firecrackers for extra encouragement.
Each wagon team includes three cowboys or cowgirls: the driver, to giddyup the horse; the cook, who jumps into the wagon at the starting gun to navigate; and the outrider, who on his own mount gallops alongside the wagon. In order to qualify, the outrider must cross the finish line before the wagon.
It's a chaotic affair that, aside from the bruises, left some stubborn mule teams hung up at the starting line. Wagons would tip, ejected riders were left behind, and loose teams would carry on. On average, it takes about 90 seconds from start to finish line.
An Oklahoma team, "Dumb and Dumber," took the top berth, tightly turning corners and easing up and down a 100-yard incline to finish in 40.5 seconds -- fast enough to be a safe first-place bet in today's final rounds.
B̶u̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶L̶i̶n̶d̶a̶ ̶B̶a̶i̶l̶e̶y̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶a̶c̶h̶i̶e̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶h̶u̶c̶k̶w̶a̶g̶o̶n̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶S̶a̶t̶u̶r̶d̶a̶y̶.̶ ̶B̶a̶i̶l̶e̶y̶ ̶b̶e̶c̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶s̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶w̶g̶i̶r̶l̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶w̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶n̶o̶w̶y̶ ̶R̶i̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶R̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶-̶-̶ ̶a̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶h̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶r̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶S̶n̶o̶w̶y̶ ̶R̶i̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶c̶r̶o̶s̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶r̶a̶n̶c̶h̶ ̶l̶a̶w̶n̶ ̶-̶-̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶2̶ ̶m̶i̶n̶u̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶2̶7̶ ̶s̶e̶c̶o̶n̶d̶s̶.̶
Mark Brown of Hot Springs won the Snowy River Race.*
Clinton enjoys the influx of newcomers, who fill the town's hotels and restaurants. The races have become a cornerstone for the town's economy, which took a hit from an EF4 tornado in 2008 that razed more than 100 homes, from the shuttering of a poultry plant in 2009 that eliminated more than 400 jobs, and from the reduction of oil and gas drilling activity in the region.
"This is a big boost to us, especially since you're always trying to crawl out of a hole," Clinton Mayor Richard McCormac said.
According to Jason Hayes, executive director of the Clinton Chamber of Commerce, the event raised $12,000 in sales tax revenue -- a boon for a town considering raising utility rates for needed sewage and water improvements.
Hayes said one of the biggest benefits of the races is that they give the town a chance to introduce people to the community.
"When you say 'Clinton,' that's one of the first things that they come back with -- the National Championship Chuckwagon Races," Hayes said. "It gives us something they can identify us by."
Metro on 09/04/2016
CORRECTION: Mark Brown of Hot Springs won the Snowy River Race over the weekend at the National Championship Chuckwagon Races near Clinton. The winner of the race was incorrectly identified in this story.