Engines were roaring, dirt was flying and the crowd was cheering Saturday night at the rodeo arena at the Fremont County Fairgrounds in Riverton. Wyoming Rubbin’ Is Racin’ Figure 8 Racing had 48 cars inside the arena racing in a figure eight pattern between two large berms.
Owned by Jermey and Jessica Schooner, it was their second event of the year after timing a Figure 8 race in Thermopolis.
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They have three more planned for this season, a six-cylinder race on July 26 to open the Fremont County Fair and another, this one a four-cylinder race, the following week on August 2.
Their final event will be a de facto state championship race in cooperation with a racing group from Powell at the Fremont County Fairgrounds on August 16.
“The majority of our drivers come from Riverton and Powell,” Jessica said. “I don’t always know where everyone is from since the fair takes care of that.”
The couple started racing in 2021 with 17 cars in their first event at Riverton.
Jeremy is a seasoned demo derby driver with 20 years of experience and a knack for organizing events.
“People asked him to put on a demo derby, but he won’t do it if he can’t get the cars,” Jessica said. “The derby circuit has become professional in many areas.”
They held five races in 2024, including a six and four-cylinder at Riverton.
“It is so fun, it started because they wanted Jermey to run a derby and he said I can’t put my name to something that’s going to flop,” Jessica said.
They started with 42 cars, seven heats of six.
“We had much more demand, so we decided to try 48,” Jessica said. “We had enough transponders for 50, I could run 60 every race, there is so much demand for.”
Their May entry date was filled within 24 hours.
In the confines of a rodeo arena, with six cars blazing around the tight oval, keeping track of the laps in a race is a challenge. Originally, they did it by hand.
“We hand-counted laps the first year with hand clickers; that was interesting,” Jessica said. “The second year, we went to a flip chart method with a guy in the arena giving the laps.”
The key to accurate racing, much like track and field, is technology. Transponders take the guesswork out of the equation. A transponder is attached to each car, and every time that car passes a wire buried in the arena, a lap is ticked off. It breaks ties as well, just as timing systems in swimming and track do.
“Rented a transponder system. Then last year purchased a new transponder system,” Jessica said. “Every car has a transponder that counts their laps. It calculates very closely, that’s been our saving grace.”
Jessica spoke of the new owners of the Figure 8 team in Powell.
“We’re good friends with them, they’re going to calculate points throughout the year, on August 16, we’ll see who is at the top,” Jessica said.
An event like this, especially when it’s held multiple times, isn’t done in a vacuum; it needs a lot of outside support.
“The Fair Board support has been huge in this,” Jessica said. It has just blown up. It’s a good time. My absolute live or die is that if this quits being fun, then we’re done. It’s a wonderful group of people.”
Last Saturday’s race had plenty of action. There weren’t any midpoint collisions, but enough close calls to keep the crowd on the edge of their seats.
One driver, Carl Osborne, had mechanical problems and was high-centered on the edge of one of the berms. He was hit from behind when two cars collided, trying to pass each other, and snapped his head back. He was unconscious for a few moments, but EMTs and firemen rushed to his aid, and he was a little shaken, but okay.
Reagan VonKrosigk won the event, followed by Mike Mallado in second, and Brad Lehman in third. Terren Plenert, Baltazar Rodriguez, and Sorrell Williams were also in the money, finishing fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.