In the blistering heat of late summer the town of Clinton starts gearing up for the event of the year, The National Championship Chuckwagon Races.  Each Labor Day weekend the town of Clinton is transformed as thousands of people descend onto the otherwise small town.  The National Championship Chuckwagon Races are held Thursday thru Sunday of Labor Day weekend.  

The National Championship Chuckwagon Races are a time of good friends and memories that are hard to forget. Even after the 32 years that Dan Eoff and friends have hosted the races, he is always willing to tell how the races got their start. Eoff starts the story by telling about the time that he and his friends were still competing in the rodeo circuit. When they were at a rodeo, Cheyenne Frontier Day, and saw their first chuckwagon race. When Dan and friends saw it, they knew that racing wagons was something they wanted to try!  After the rodeo they all returned home.  Some time had passed and Dan was hosting a get together. Dan was getting bored, he didn’t just want to sit around and talk. He wanted to do something! As they were thinking of something  to do, Dan remembered the chuckwagons, and how he wanted to try that out. From then Dan decided to have all of his friends bring their chuckwagons. That is how the Eoffs brought Chuckwagon Racing to Clinton.  They decided to host a Chuckwagon Race.  Dan recalls, “We had eight wagons and 200 people showed up one Sunday evening and next year promoted it a little, had 16 wagons and just kept promoting it and it’s got real big. One year, some 30,000 people attended.” After the first wagon races were held it had the whole town talking.  The next year it grew in racers and spectators, and more people were talking about the races! After about the 4th year of the Arkansas Chuckwagon Races the name was changed to the National  Championship Chuckwagon Race.

The National Championship Chuckwagon Races has seen amazing growth since its inception.  Now at the 32nd NCCWR, 30,000 people are expected to come watch the races, bronc riding, trail rides, and the Snowy River Race. Over 150 teams are expected to race in five races. Beyond the races there are nightly concert performances, dances, and vendors.  People come in a week before to get a good camping spot, camping is free once the entry fee is paid.  The winners will share in prizes including buckles and cash prizes in excess of $20,000.   

Dan wanted to make sure everyone knew that the NCCWR could not happen without the help of Dan’s closest friends and the Clinton community!  The NCCWR is a great source of revenue for the community of Clinton.  Community members help the family run the day to day operations.  Local students participate in the Flag Ceremonies held during the races.  It really is a community wide effort.  

Having a great family equals great times! Eoff runs this as a family business, with his wife (Peggy) , daughter (Dapple), son (Sky), Dapple’s kids (Sterling, Clancy, and Blaze). Peggy and Dapple work at the western store here in town. Sky is in the Navy and has made every wagon races except for this past year because he was deployed.  The NCCWR will be going on this weekend at the Eoff Ranch.

Pictured below, Dan and Peggy Eoff with their sweet grandbaby Blaze at the Eoff Western Store in Clinton.

Natalie Alexander