Check Yourself

The sound of horses galloping mixed with ATVs speeding around the arena got the crowd cheering for the inaugural Carbon County Rubber Check Race at Encampment-Riverside Lions Club Arena on June 29.

Six teams—Mead Lumber, The A-Team, KYPH, The Ranch Hand Rebels, Turnpike Terrors, and JB Trucking—competed to be the winner of the first-ever Rubber Check Race in Carbon County.

Each team raced for the best time by getting batons across the finish line as fast as possible. The race began with two horse riders before the baton was transferred to a rider on an ATV and finally a wheelbarrow team with one person in the wheelbarrow and the other person pushing it. The competitors appeared to get an adrenaline rush as each team pushed themselves to qualify for the next round.

Like with any race, it was the teams with the best times that would advance to the championship round. JB Trucking and Mead Lumber faced off for the Championship.

JB Trucking from Cheyenne won the inaugural Carbon County Rubber Check Race with a time of 1 minutes, 3 seconds. Mead Lumber finished as Reserve Champions and The A-Team finished 3rd place.

JB Trucking—Alex Pugsly, Corey Duchenaux, Hayden Hill, and Wyatt Campbell—donated their winnings to Carbon County Search and Rescue.

“It was a great time to come out for a great cause,” Pugsly said. “We donated our winnings to the Carbon County Search and Rescue. It was also great we were able to put on a show for the Carbon County community,”

Pugsly said he has competed in Rubber Check Races up in Cheyenne. He said it was a great experience being a part of Carbon County's inaugural race.

“It was an adrenaline rush for sure,” Pugsly said. “I have been doing rubber check racing for the last four years in Cheyenne.”

Hill said his team brought a great show to Carbon County. He said everyone was having a fun time racing and the crowd showed their appreciation.

“We just wanted to come out and show everyone what it was and bring something great to the community,” Hill said. “I felt we did a great job and the crowd was excellent. This is my first time doing a Rubber Check Race and overall we had such a great time.”

Campbell said the community showed great support and events like this help Rubber Check Racing—which doesn’t have many followers right now—expand.

“It's not very popular but once everyone starts to notice Rubber Check Racing, it will get everyone's attention,” Campbell said

Mead Lumber—Dori Fritz, Coy Fleming, Rick Fisher, and Casey Panique—were the reserve champions, coming in 2nd place to JB Lumber. Fitz said this was her first time competing in a rubber check race and that it was rewarding to compete for a good cause.

“What was given to Carbon County Search and Rescue was phenomenal,” Fritz said. “It was a fun race and the community involvement was great.”

Fritz competed in the Saratoga Skijoring Races in February and talked about the differences between the two events. According to Fritz, in skijoring the rider and skier are competing alone with nobody else on the track. In the rubber check race, however, two riders are on the track and must avoid running into each other.

“This race was so exciting. I want to do it again,” Fritz said. “ I got recruited by Sam [Samantha Buffington] because I had no team. She contacted me and said a team was looking for a horse rider and I immediately accepted.”

Fleming, who has competed in rubber check races in Nebraska, said this one was a lot of fun and turned into a head-to-head battle.

“I had great horsepower,” said Fleming. “The crowd was excellent for the first year at Carbon County. I love the atmosphere here. I came in last night and everything looked cool to me.”

Fisher—who has competed in rubber check races for 16 years in Nebraska—said he was impressed with Encampment’s track and with the people.

“It's a nice track and Encampment has such nice people,” Fisher said. It is exciting to be a part of this amazing Inaugural event. It was a blast and I had fun. I hope everyone enjoyed watching the race.”

Like Fritz, this was Panique’s first time competing in a rubber check race. He said it was an amazing experience and it was great to see people show up and have a great time.

“I love a good competition,” Panique said. It was a unique experience to push my brother-in-law in the wheelbarrow. and It was kind of crazy. I want to come back next year.”

According to a social media post made by the event organizers for Carbon County Rubber Check Racing, $3,600 was raised for Carbon County Search and Rescue. This includes award money donated by the competitors.