Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Ticket feature: Events center hosting barrel racing event

If you like barrel racing, accompanied by little else, the Curry County Event Center will have plenty of action next weekend.

Courtesy photo: Pixel Worx II

JJ Thompson, originally of Lubbock, and her gelding, Easy, make asecond barrel turn at the 2011 Double Da$h barrel race. The Third Annual Double Dash will take place June 22-24 at the Curry County Events Center.

The center is the site for the third annual Double Da$h barrel racing event. With competition scheduled for 5 p.m. June 22 and 23 and Saturday and 10 a.m. June 24, there are about 200 barrel racers are expected to be part of the event.

Angie Moore of CBT Productions, which is putting on the race, and Events Center Manager Kevin Jolley said the event is free for anybody who is interested, but noted that the spectators will mostly be racers, their friends and their families.

No membership to a barrel racing organization is required to enter any of the three races, Moore said, but she noted that the event is worth qualifying points in both the Women's Professional Rodeo Association and Better Barrel Races.

Jolley said that the event does give Clovis a little financial benefit because unlike other rodeos where contestants only stay in Clovis long enough to pick up prize checks and drive to the next rodeo, the Double Da$h crowd won't be so quick to leave.

"They come in for the entire weekend," Jolley said. "They'll be racing every day."

Moore said that when racers register, their entry fee is split with part going to a daily prize and part going to an overall prize.

"Each time you run," Moore said, "you're running for two different paybacks."

Fast facts

What: Double Da$h Barrel Racing

When: 5 p.m. June 22 and June 23, 10 a.m. June 24 for open competitions. Practice runs also open to the public 11 a.m.-4 p.m. June 22 and 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. June 23.

Admission: Free.

Information: 935-7000, http://www.cbtproductions.com