Raymond Felix brought a brand-new bike to Sturgis this year. New to him, that is.
“We bought it about two weeks ago,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I traded my Sporty in. I said, ‘We’re going to Sturgis, so I want a better bike.’”
The bike is a 2017 Softail Slim FLS with 5,000 miles on it, “practically new” for what was Felix’s first trip to Sturgis. He went with his family — his mom and dad, Leon and Alisa, and his girlfriend, Yessenia Marenco.
The four were among hordes of bikers — literally thousands — riding the Devils Tower loop for a Sturgis Rally tradition called Wyoming Wednesday.
Sundance’s claim to fame on Wyoming Wednesday is a burnout contest that’s been going on for more than half a century in front of the historic Dime Horseshoe Bar.
The Legend Of The Burnout
Local legends say the Dime Horseshoe Bar’s burnout actually started inside the establishment, which takes its name from a horseshoe pattern inlaid into the bar top with dimes.
The story goes that a bar patron decided to do a burnout inside the bar and the owner chased him out.
Other riders joined the fun, putting on their own spontaneous burnout event on the street in front of the bar.
It started a tradition that has continued ever since, though these days it’s more of a planned thing, complete with bike mechanics who swap used tires for new, saving the bikers’ good tires for their return trip to either the Sturgis Rally or home.
The bar has since also built a stage for the bikes, elevating them above the crowd so everyone can see. That also helps keep the smoke over everyone’s heads.
A set of fans blows the clouds of acrid, billowing smoke away from the bikers.
Dime Horseshoe Bar owner Jess Jones urges the crowd to cheer during a contestant's burnout ride in Sundance. The burnout happens every year during the Sturgis Rally. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
The flat tire after the Dime Horseshoe Bar's annual burnout in Sundance. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Bill Snider holds is bike while mechanics work to remove its good tire and swap in a used tire for the Dime Horseshoe Bar's annual Burnout in Sundance. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Bill Snider helps mechanics as they work to swap in a used tire for his good one during the Dime Horseshoe Bar's annual burnout in Sundance during the Sturgis Rally. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
A Big Father-Son Moment
Felix had a dream for his first Sturgis, and watching the Dime Horseshoe Bar’s Burnout in Sundance was it.
But he didn’t just watch the burnout as he’d planned.
Jess Jones, owner of the Dime Horseshoe Bar along with her husband, Casey, is persuasive that way.
She kept calling for entries, and Felix’s dad, Leon, kept urging Raymond to enter.
“They talked me into it,” he said. “I was like, ‘All right, let’s do it. I’m down for it.’”
Felix’s parents have been coming to Sturgis — and to Sundance’s burnout — since 2011. But until this year, Raymond couldn’t join them. All four work for the same delivery-driving business, which makes planning time off together tricky.
“It’s hard for all of us to take vacation at the same time,” Leon said. “This is the first year we got to do it.”
A friend showed Leon and Alisa all the cool places to go, including Sundance.
“We love it,” Alisa said. “It’s amazing. Seriously, every year we look forward to coming.”
For Leon, finally sharing Sundance with his son — and seeing him compete so well in the burnout — was not just a great memory. It is a father-son milestone he cherishes.
“It’s like a father’s dream to have your kid come ride with you,” he said.
Dime Horseshoe Bar owner Jess Jones urges the crowd to cheer for Raymond Felix's burnout ride in Sundance. Felix took third place in the contest. The burnout happens every year during the Sturgis Rally. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Bill Snider, from Michigan, poses with his daughter Erica Goble in front of the Dime Horsehoe Bar just after winning first place. Snider is a regular in Sundance during the Sturgis Rally week. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Dime Horseshoe Bar owner Jess Jones urges the crowd to cheer during a burnout ride in Sundance. The contest is held every year during Sturgis Rally week. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily) 
Raymond Felix, center, poses with mom and dad, Alisa and Leon Felix, during the Dime Horseshoe Bar's annual burnout in Sundance during Sturgis Rally week. (Renee Jean, Cowboy State Daily)
Hitting Sixth Gear
Felix had been told he probably wouldn’t be able to cycle his engine past fourth gear.
But when he hit four without signs of strain, he kicked it up to five and then six.
Smoke, he explained, is the whole point of a burnout.
“The bigger the cloud of smoke is, the better,” he said. “So you go through first, second, third. You want to keep the gears shifting. But so it handled six just fine.”
Family and friends replayed the moment he hit sixth gear, and Raymond’s eyes lit up.
“Check this out,” he exclaimed. “The sixth-gear pin! I was in sixth gear!”
That ultimately earned him enough crowd appreciation that he took third place, along with a $250 cash prize.
Where They Treat You Like Family
First place, and the $750 in prize money, went to Bill Snider, a regular from Michigan who said he will put the money back into his bike.
Snider was in Sundance hanging out with his daughter, Erica Goble, and her fiancé.
Goble drove to Sundance from Colorado to be with her dad, and said she thought the event was “pretty cool.”
Snider told Cowboy State Daily he spends little time at the Sturgis Rally itself, preferring to spend his rally time in tiny Sundance and Hulett in Wyoming.
“We go over there, but we go over there once, buy a T-shirt and leave,” he said.
In Wyoming, he said, he has found people are welcoming and treat you like family — and that’s what keeps him coming back.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
