Austad wins poster model contest

If you see this year’s Buffalo Chip poster model and swear she looks familiar, you’re probably right.
That’s because this year’s contest winner is Denaye Austad, a part-time Custer resident, content creator for a variety of brands on social media and bartender at the Gold Pan Saloon.
In fact, it was at the Gold Pan where Austad initially qualified to advance in the competition to become the poster model, as she began her journey to beat out dozens of other girls for the right to be the face of the Buffalo Chip Campground during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
It was Austad’s second year entering the competition, and like many of the competitors who throw their hat into the ring, it was the allure of free concert passes at the Buffalo Chip that drew her interest. Women who enter get free passes to the concert of their choice, regardless of how far they advance.
“I didn’t know anybody my first year, so it was just for fun,” Austad said. “I had a good time, and I got some tickets out of it.”
The Gold Pan has become one of the hosts of the preliminary rounds of the competition, and this year Austad actually competed in that round while she was working a shift. The preliminary round consists of each contestant answering a few quick questions and giving basic information about themselves.
If one qualifies for the semifinals, which this year were in Spearfish, they compete against 48 other women, and answer more questions in front of a crowd. Each round also has a theme for which the women are expected to dress, although Austad points out women can dress as conservatively as they wish.
Photos of the competitors with sponsors’ drinks are factored into the competition, as they are placed on social media, where they are judged on their “likes” and other interactions. 
When she advanced to the finals in Rapid City, Austad and 24 other girls had another round of questions, but were also judged on how they interacted with those in attendance both on and off the stage and their public speaking prowess.
Being the Buffalo Chip Poster Model comes with plenty of doing that.
Austad said she didn’t feel nervous as the finals went along, saying she worked for the Rapid City Rush as an in-game host for some time and has also done emceeing and paid public speaking in the past. Being on stage—although doing so in a bikini for the finals is—is nothing new to her.
“That part is not nerve- wracking to me at all,” she said. “I was just excited to be there.”
Austad said she felt while all of the girls in the finals would have done a wonderful job as the poster model, she felt there were 10 women in particular who had an outstanding chance at winning. She felt like she was among those.
“I’m pretty confident, so you know, I was like, ‘OK, maybe I have a shot at this,” she said.
Austad said when the third- and second-place women were announced, it started to hit her she could have won, as she thought those two were exceptionally good candidates.
“When they called my name I was very surprised,” she said. “I was so excited. I had a pretty large supporting crowd there from friends and regulars at all the bars I work at. I think my friends were more visibly excited than I was.”
Austad won $19,000 in cash and prizes, of which $9,500 was cash. She also won a pair of VIP passes to the Buffalo Chip for the rally, which gets her into every concert as a VIP. Other prizes include a $1,200 tattoo voucher, a free night at a Deadwood casino, free tanning for the summer, coffee, Buffalo Chip merchandise and a camper to stay in while at the Chip.
Then, of course, there is the photo shoot and modeling contact, along with other paid public appearances she is now obligated to make as part of being named poster model. The photo shoot took place almost immediately, while the rest of the obligations last through the rally.
She has already been on hand for the Black Hills Motorcycle show and the Sturgis Battle of the Bands, and this weekend will be in the July 4 parade in Belle Fourche.
“There will be other things that come up. I know I’ll probably be at Gold Discovery Days,” she said. “It’s pretty much every weekend through the end of summer, but I’m having such a great time.”
Austad is the second Custer resident to win the competition, following in the footsteps of Taylor Koch, who won the competition in 2021.
Ironically, Austad, who is originally from Denver, has never actually been to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Last year it didn’t work out for her to use the tickets she won for entering the competition.
“I don’t think I quite knew what to expect getting into a role like this, and it just gets more and more fun,” she said. “I just feel lucky to participate.”
Of all the things she will be doing in the next few weeks, Austad said she is most looking forward to the actual rally itself. She is also excited about the reality of seeing an actual poster on which she is featured.
“I’m excited about the rally itself. That will be quite the experience,” she said. “I’m very thankful that I have a home base and that I live in Rapid so I can go home and do laundry  occasionally when I need to and get a little bit of a break.”
And while this will be her first rally she is all the way in, saying another thing she is looking forward to is taking a motorcycle riding course at Black Hills Harley Davidson in Rapid City, one of the poster model contest sponsors.
“I want to learn to ride,” she said.
With the rally roughly four weeks away, Austad is staying busy with her Buffalo Chip Poster Model obligations, watching documentaries to learn about the rally and stocking up on sunscreen. She’s looking forward to a few concerts in particular (Nickelback and Jason Aldean, specifically), the bare knuckle boxing, and most definitely ZZ Top, a band her father loves. Thirty years ago he dressed up as a member of the band for Halloween.
“I really want to meet ZZ Top so I can take a picture with them for my dad,” she said.
As now somewhat of a local quasi-celebrity, Austad has enjoyed strangers coming up to her to congratulate her, and would like to pay forward all the blessings she has received since winning the competition by helping out any other women interested in doing the competition in subsequent years.
“I’m happy to answer any questions about the experience,” she said.
As she’s learned more about the rally, she has been happy to learn that her preconception that the rally was a boys club and women were just “a pretty prop” have been shattered.
“The women at the rally have carved out quite the experience for themselves and have been incredibly welcoming,” she said. “Just being in the competition in general, I met so many women who were really kind and supportive and encouraging.
“I made like 60 new friends just by being a part of it. If any women are considering competing next year, I would say definitely do it, because it’s been a really good time.”