The sport is controversial, as horses and drivers have been injured or died, prompting animal welfare groups to call for it to be banned.

The National Championship Chuckwagon Races are held over Labor Day Weekend in Clinton, Arkansas on The ōf Ranch, owned by Dan and Peggy Eoff.

With over 6,000 horses and mules on the ranch throughout the weekend, and over 20,000 campers and spectators, the National Championships have grown into a yearly tradition and celebration of old Western culture.

Each race typically involves three or four teams, and begins with the outriders "breaking camp", by tossing two tent poles (with four outriders only) and a barrel representing a camp stove into the back of their wagon before mounting their horses and following the wagons as they complete a figure eight around two barrels before circling a race track.

[2][3] Guy Weadick, who had founded the Stampede eleven years previously, invited ranchers to enter their chuckwagons and crews to compete for a total of $275 in prize money.

It operates the GMC Pro Tour, a 10-event season with events held throughout Alberta and northeastern British Columbia.

They currently race in venues across the Peace River Country with major shows in Grande Prairie, AB and Dawson Creek, BC.

While the sport's popularity is greatest on the Canadian prairies, chuckwagon racing has been held in conjunction with many rodeos across North America.

[14] In 2013, a 12-year-old thoroughbred ridden by an outrider collapsed with a burst lung artery and died shortly afterwards, a death attributed to exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage.