Chicken Wing-Off comes to the Carson Station

Get ready for some finger lickin' next weekend when the Carson Station brings its first chicken wing cook-off to town.

The event, presented by the Great International Chicken Wing Society and self-proclaimed Chicken Wing King Willie Davison of Sparks, will kick off Friday and continue through Sunday in the Best Western Carson Station Hotel Casino parking lot, 900 S. Carson St.

"I started this 10 years ago in Reno and it grew from just six or seven cookers up to this year, where we had 60,000

people and went through 20,000 pounds of chicken," Davison said.

"We wanted to do Carson City, and we look at this event as the start of something big that's going to be pretty damned good," he said.

Besides lots of tasty chicken wings, attendees can expect to enjoy live music, and a deejay, while sampling chicken wings and shopping for arts and crafts among the vendors.

Not only are kids welcome, but a Kid Zone will provide them a place to play.

Restaurants and bars will compete to see whose chicken wings are the best with attendees and official tasters - known as Chicken Hawks - who will help choose the winners.

Davison said kids are some of his biggest fans.

"Those 7-10-year-olds just scarf up the hot wings," he said.

Prices for sampler plates start at $3 for four wings and can cost $5-7 for 12 wings or $7-9 for a plate of 18.

Most entrants prepare a sweet sauce for the competition, but if someone requests hot wings, they'll prepare special batches right there, Davison said.

Trophies will be awarded for first, second and third place at 2 p.m. Oct. 2, and there also will be a winner in the People's Choice category.

Carson City BBQ owners Phil Hyatt and Duane Felker are happy to be among the official

cookers.

"We're jumping into the thing because we are a local caterer and we want to promote our catering business," Hyatt said. "We make a wing sauce to die for, and we use our barbecue sauce - which has won 30 first-place awards on the West Coast - as the base for it. We've been in business for 15 years and we have a huge following."

The newly remodeled Carson Station will offer cash giveaways and special promotions throughout the event.

Jennifer Russell, marketing manager for the property, said she is looking forward to the wing-off.

"I'm really excited. I don't think anything like this has been done in Carson City before, so I hope it will catch on and we can do it every year," Russell said.

"We would like it to become a big event that brings the community together."

Six cookers are signed up for the wing-off now, and Davison said he definitely expects it to grow bigger each year.

"I've been in this area for 30 years, and I've done some big events. I expect this to be as big as the rib cookoffs in five years," he said.

"This weekend's cook-off will be a real family event, so don't forget to bring your kids."