Rubber Check Race returning to Cheyenne County as first in the series

Fair Board discusses ‘goat-roping’ event
SIDNEY – The Cheyenne County Fair Board is looking for new and attractive events for the 2025 Cheyenne County Fair.
The board is planning on the Rubber Check Race returning for 2025. The event was introduced to Cheyenne County in the 2024 fair. Heather Shaw, alternate member of the board, said the Rubber Check Race is organizing a circuit or series in the Panhandle. She said Cheyenne County is the first in the series, followed by Scottsbluff County and Kimball County. The finale will be the Hill Memorial Rubber Check Race back in Scotts Bluff County.
The Terry Hill Memorial Rubber Check Race will be separate from the Scotts Bluff County Fair, Shaw said.
"Terry Hill is one of the gentlemen who started the Rubber Check Race years and years ago. They have done a memorial Rubber Check Race in the winter in. Torrington, but their indoor arena is so small they've decided to move the Terry Hill Memorial to be the series finale, to the Scotts Bluff County Fairgrounds. We are the first in the series. They are in the process of setting up a book of rules. So, that rule book will be for every race," she said.
Shaw added the rules will be exactly the same for each location. The difference will be specifics such as track length.
The Rubber Check Race is a relay event simulates the business of farming and ranching; racing to the bank on horseback, on an ATV, pushed in a wheelbarrow until the last stage at a sprint.
Another option discussed in the January 27 meeting is “goat-roping.”
New voting board member Travis Sprenger said he was approached with the concept recently. The concept is an event where contestants run into an enclosed space and try to rope a goat. The United States Goat Roping Association advertises goat-roping as an event for nearly any age.
“Basically what it is, it’s like team roping. No horses, and they run a goat, and one guy heads and one guy heels ... on foot,” Sprenger said.
Sprenger said a goat-roping event was held in Julesburg with an estimated 40 contestants. Contests have also been held in North Platte.
The board also held an election of officers, retaining the same officers as in 2024: Troy Kurz president, Pat Finney vice-president, Shelby Roelle secretary and Kip Miller treasurer.