GREENFIELD — At the Daytona 500, drivers race around the track for cold hard cash, but at the “Pork Chop International Speedway” the pigs rush around the track competing for the tasty treat of an Oreo cookie, waiting on a silver platter at the finish line.
As crowds gathered for the annual Swifty Swine swimming and racing pig show at the 171st Franklin County Fair on Friday, the event’s “swine master” asked how many attendees had never seen a pig race before, with only a few newcomers raising their hands.
Elizabeth Reitenbach, of Greenfield, was attending the fair with her five children, all under the age of 6. The kids stood in a row along the racetrack, securing a front-row seat.
“We’ve been attending for five or six years now,” Reitenbach said.
Each showcase from Swifty Swine Productions featured two races; one heat featured baby pigs, with the second heat for full-grown swine. Fairgoers gathered ahead of the show to hear the squealing competitors’ names and place friendly bets on “the fastest swine with the winning time.”
The first race heat on Friday featured a heat full of piglets. In this first race, Brad Pig managed to squeak away with the win, defeating competitors Kevin Bacon, Justin Bie-boar and Elvis Pigsley.
“Little Elvis Pigsley pulled a hamstring,” the swine master joked between heats.
As soon as the gates are lifted, the pigs run as fast as their little legs can take them, chasing that Oreo prize at the finish. After each race, if the pigs don’t stop to take a photo with their fans for $10, they head back into their trailer for a nap before it’s time for the next race.
Heat No. 2 featured a round of full-grown pigs: Nancy Pig-losi, Ba-rack O-ribs-Obama, Hillary Rod-ham Clinton and Donald Trump-Roast.
Hendrick Swanepoel, one of the Swifty Swine employees, said he has been working with the company for 10 years, and has been attending the Franklin County Fair for the past four.
Swanepoel, who is from South Africa, was inspired to join the Swifty Swine team after he witnessed the excitement of pig races firsthand. Now, he travels to nearly all 50 states, bringing this unique form of family entertainment to events nearly every day of the year.
The races were sponsored by the Greenfield Farmers Cooperative Exchange. More Swifty Swine races will be held on Saturday at 11:45 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Sunday at 11:45 a.m., 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.
Zack DeLuca can be reached at zdeluca@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.