Sheridan, Wyoming’s annual WYO Winter Rodeo attracted a different kind of high-society cowboy this past weekend with five expensive Rolls-Royces rolled into town.
Four Rolls-Royce Cullinans and a Spectre were sent from across the country for the event.
The luxury vehicles might have seemed out of place in a small Wyoming community, but they cruised along the snow-covered roads quite well, especially after being equipped with snow tires.
“They handled pretty well, from what I heard,” said Shawn Parker, executive director of Sheridan County Travel and Tourism. “We thought it was the perfect opportunity to showcase all the beautiful winter things to do here in Sheridan, and Rolls-Royce agreed.”
Lap Of Luxury
The annual Sheridan WYO Winter Rodeo features several seasonal events in and around Sheridan, with the centerpiece event being the skijoring races at the Sheridan County Fairgrounds.
Parker decided this would be the perfect event for a collaboration with Rolls-Royce. He contacted the company and suggested it bring some luxury vehicles to Sheridan as an added attraction.
“Rolls-Royce has been in Sheridan a few times,” he said. “I was speaking with their PR folks last year thinking that the rodeo would be a cool reason for them to come back out here with some cars and some media.”
Rolls-Royce has several media vehicles that tour the United States. Parker said the luxury cars came to Sheridan from Los Angeles, Chicago and other places.
“They gathered them together and trucked them into Sheridan the week before the rodeo,” he said. “They did a lot of work to coordinate and get them all out here.”
Putting the luxury vehicles in an unlikely spot certainly turns heads, and it’s not a new concept.
Last summer, 50 rare $4 million Pagni supercars converged on Jackson where it takes something truly exceptional to turn heads.
Everyone Has An Opinion
Along with promoting Roll-Royce’s brand and the Winter Rodeo, the small parade of uber-luxury vehicles caught the attention of Scott Stalick, owner of 307 Wyoming, a local clothing and apparel store.
A photo of the cars parked in front of Black Tooth Brewing Co. he posted to his company’s Facebook page generated a lot of buzz — and not all positive.
“Yeah, I was surprised by that. I thought it was a throwaway post,” Stalick told Cowboy State Daily. “Those comments, I mean, they were brutal. To not even take into consideration these are high-quality, hand-built vehicles.”
While many people had fun with the unusual happening, others politicized it by making snarky and rude remarks about how the owners of the cars must be Democrats and telling them to go home to Jackson where they belong.
“They were saying things like, ‘Sheridan is Jackson lite,’ ‘go back to drug dealing’ and stuff. I was a little bit surprised,” Stalick said. “A lot of people didn’t take the time to see why they were here. The comments were absolutely startling.”
But there were others who had fun with the Rolls-Royces in town.
One person commented how Sheridan must be hosting “a rich Dbag convention,” and other who speculated they belonged to “drug lords ‘hiding’ in Wyoming,” and another who observed a connection to inflation that, “I bet they sell eggs.”
The one Stalick said he liked the most was one commentor who tongue-in-cheek boasted that, “I never gave permission for my car to be photographed …”
The Right Rubber
The Rolls-Royces were an immediate hit when they were seen on the streets of Sheridan.
However, Parker said they did more than show up for appearances.
“The media folks who came for the cars did drives all over the county,” he said. “They went over the mountain and down to Buffalo and Johnson County.”
The weather wasn’t exactly cooperative, and there certainly weren’t conditions where a Rolls-Royce would be a vehicle of choice. Heavy snow had fallen across Sheridan County, and the roads were “a little slick,” said Parker.
“A couple of them had all-season tires on when they got here, so they were a little slippery, but they’re big, heavy luxury vehicles,” he said. “Once they had snow tires on, they were pretty great.”
The Rolls-Royce brigade got the most attention during a public showcase in downtown Sheridan on Friday during the skijoring registration. Parker said it was a highlight of the winter rodeo for residents and a PR success for Sheridan County.
“We had media from all over the country coming to Sheridan, writing stories to help us celebrate winter at a time of year when it's largely pretty quiet,” he said. “We were pretty happy to do this to help our local businesses during the rodeo.”
Already in town for Rolls-Royce, the media coverage extended to the Saturday skijoring at the Sheridan County Fairgrounds. The vehicles drove to the fairgrounds for another public exhibition, providing luxury seating for the skijoring.
“All the feedback we’ve received is that everyone had a great time,” Parker said. “We couldn’t have asked for a more successful event.”
Snowy Sheridan
Parker said the Sheridan WYO Winter Rodeo was very successful, especially with the bonus of Rolls-Royce coming to town. He hopes the exposure to the winter elements will increase Sheridan County’s visibility as a winter destination.
“We'd like to see more visitor economy spending throughout winter when our businesses really need it,” he said. “We have great weather in the mountains and a good snowmobile industry. This year, we had national media coming in and showcasing how amazing Sheridan County and all of Northeast Wyoming is during winter.”
Bringing Rolls-Royce luxury vehicles was an unorthodox but successful way to highlight Sheridan County’s winter wonders. Parker suggested it won’t be the last time Rolls-Royce rolls into small-town Wyoming.
“Rolls-Royce and our community had some good coverage from this event,” he said. “Once we see how we benefit from these stories in the next year, there could be another wild adventure we could collaborate on that would be great for everyone.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
