GRASS DRAG HISTORY

History of The Grass Drag Nationals

In the 1980’s, the Byron Snow Bears began to hold “Winter Expo’s” in Byron. In 1990 the event moved to the Rochester fair grounds and added a swap meet. Then in 1995 the event was moved to the current site just north of Douglas MN and this was the birth of the first “Great Southern MN Grass Drag Nationals and Swap Meet”.

A great deal has changed over the years since the beginning, however this event is still the largest and most exciting snowmobile event in southeast MN. To read more about the “History of the Byron Snow Bears” as a club Click Here.

Anyone interested in snowmobiling or ATVs would enjoy attending this event. The excitement of the racers revving up their engines, the smell of race fuel in the air and the competition is just awesome. In addition, anyone looking for new or used equipment, sleds, or ATVs, this is the place to be. The event displays many area dealerships and the largest swap meet in southeast MN.

During the event we are host to around 3500 people and have exceeded 4000 at times. The Grass Drag event has large variety of vendors selling everything you can imagine, and there are hundreds of swap units with all kinds of used goods being sold. The Swap Meet has become a major attraction for us and the word is out that this is the event to find used sleds and parts.

In addition to the Grass Drags and Swap, we have an Vintage Sled Show. This event alone attracts the old-time riders who come to relive their childhood memories and to talk about what it was like to ride a “REAL MACHINE” with 20 HP and no suspension! A few years back we added Vintage Sled Drag Races and it was a huge success from the start. This event is growing with interest and is drawing a new younger crowd as well. After all of that if you are the least bit hungry, we have many food vendors with everything from pronto-pups to steak sandwiches as well as refreshments from Pepsi and Budweiser. The whole event is like a fair—lots of fun and excitement. Our race venue is promoted by Perry Schlueter, President of NSRA. He has done a super job for us annually and we love having him and his crew.

Over the years we have made several improvements such as extensive tiling to make sure we have a drier site for the fans and vendors in case of wet weather and the clay starting line which was an awesome addition that allows the sleds to hook up so well that the riders have a hard time keeping the skis on the ground. Our starting line is very well known and appreciated within the industry.

Also, on the day of the event, we raffle off a New Snowmobile along with dozens of other prizes. Be sure to get your raffle tickets so you don’t miss out!

Come on out and smell the racing fuel and see the excitement!!