NASRA Swampin' Series

By: © Nelson Taylor 2008

Festival Location: Fellsmere, FL, USA

Festival State: Florida Festivals

Festival Type(s): Bizarre Sports Events, Bizarre Festivals

Although the North American Swamp Racing Association is still in its infancy, the sport has been around for about 50 years now. The fact that there are only about 115 swamp racers in America doesn't say much for the potential of the sport, but NASRA operations manager Mathew Graney is banking on his new organization helping to legitimize the sport. And he better hope so, because the NASRA and the town of Fellsmere recently spent over six million bucks Mesa Mark, a new fifty-acre motor sports arena.

The sport of swamp buggy racing is a combination between a car and boat race across 15" of muddy water. The crafts, which fall into six different categories, are made by the racers and completely from scratch. Graney says, "It's not like there's a swamp buggy store where they can buy the skin. They build them from the ground up." In the Pro Mod class, for instance, crafts that have 1,000 horsepower engines that reach 90 MPH can cost up to $30,000 each. If you're thinking that speeds like that can make for some excellent end-over-end wipeouts, you're right.

Drivers each pay $50 to enter the races, which are held every January, July, and September. The entire purse for the NASRA Swampin' Series for the year is over $120,000, with an average of $4,000 going to each winner. For $14 a day ($25 for a weekend pass), you can witness the birth of a new extreme sport. You can also expect some good foot-stomping country and western entertainment from names like John Anderson and Neal McCoy.