“When the depression began, the guys that had their teams of horses would go to the dairy farms to take the milk to the creameries.”īut the depression financially affected the industries – thus, fewer creameries. Historically, the sport traces its roots to Wyoming creameries, Newman related. In an SVI interview last week, Newman clarified that an Ogden association, called the American Chariot Racing Association, also hosts a championship this weekend in Ogden but is unaffiliated with the WCC & CRA, and is actually a split-off from the World Association.īut no matter the affiliation, cutter (or chariot) racing – where you race some 40 miles per hour in an average 23 seconds on a quarter-mile track (440 yards) with a side-by-side team of two horses - is definitely a “family thing.” For many chariot families, it began with a grandfather or even great-grandfather. Typically, he related, the Worlds are held in South Jordan, Utah, but because of COVID restrictions, the local association was asked to host in Afton this year. The current World association, he said, includes most western associations, including the AACCRA. “I’d say everybody who runs the Worlds is family.”Īnd especially this year, he continued, with “people coming out of hibernation from COVID,” it’s a good time for a “family-oriented” day. Entrance fees are $7 per person, with 12 and under, free admission.Ĭome as a family because cutter racing is “family oriented,” said Mike Newman, president of the All American Cutter and Chariot Racing Association (AACCRA), which is hosting The World Championship. Beginning at noon each day with about nine or 10 races per day, the worlds – for the first time in Star Valley – will be at 1489 Allred Road, west of the fair grounds and softball diamond. To that end, the Lincoln County Commission and the county fair board welcome to Afton the World Championship Cutter and Chariot Racing Association (WCC&CRA) this weekend, March 27-28. And he’d like to see this tradition carried on by his generation and beyond.

The muddy athlete gained a passion for the sport he learned from his father and grandfather before him. He won a suitcase with the name “Shriners” on it.

That day, Valentines weekend 2020, racing in his green chariot running a team of his neighbor’s horses, the teenager won both his first races.

The very first time you break out of the gates, it’s an adrenaline rush.” “You don’t think of anything else,” the 17-year-old told SVI Media about the first time he broke out of the gates last year at the Shriners race in Afton. That’s the only way Jaxson Newman can describe how it feels to burst out the gates at a cutter race. Post Views: 215 Teams left to right: Luthi Ranch, driven by Coralia Robinson Hollis Concrete driven by John Robinson and Demler/Newman/Skelly driven by Mike Newman.

Motorcycle chariot races photos