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Chanse Vigen leads the wagon train in Ponoka

Opening night of WPCA racing at the Ponoka Stampede
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Heat 2 of the WPCA opening night of racing got off to a late start due to a track incident following the first heat, with the delay lasting about 20 minutes. Photo by Jordie Dwyer

Wednesday, June 26, was the first night of chuckwagon action at the 83rd annual Ponoka Stampede — the first leg of chuckwagon racing’s unofficial “Triple Crown.”

The night kicked off with the first heat of the All Pro Canadian Chuckwagon races followed by the World Professional Chuckwagons.

The racing was fast with close finishes. The fast time of the night was 2019 Saskatoon World Chuckwagon Races Champion Chanse Vigen with at 1:15.68.

Coming off barrel No. 1 in the fifth heat, Vigen, driving the High River Autoplex, RV and Marine outfit, placed first on the night by 24 one-hundredths of a second over Layne MacGillivray. Logan Gorst (Morskate Manufacturing) and Luke Tournier split third and fourth on the night, with Obrey Motowylo rounding out the top five for the night.

Locally sponsored drivers Luke Tounier, Eagle Builders, came in third, Chad Fike flying the Family Meats banner was 10th, Evan Salmond for Calnash Trucking was 13th and Mitch Sutherland, sponsored by Siding 14 Brewery finished in 21st place.

The top eight in the aggregate after Saturday night’s run will go into the semi-final round on Sunday in heats eight and nine. The top four times from the semi-final round on June 30 will go into the TrailBlazer RV Centre $50,000 Tommy Dorchester Championship Final Heat where the winner will take home the 2019 Ponoka Stampede Championship.

See full results from night one below:

Day 1 Results

Rank

Driver

Sponsor

Total Time

1

Chanse Vigen

High River Autoplex, RV and Marine

1:15.68

2

Layne MacGillivray

Service Plus Inn and Suites

1:15.92

3

Logan Gorst

Morskate Manufacturing

1:16.11

3

Luke Tournier

Eagle Builders

1:16.11

5

Obrey Motowylo

Topline Oilfield Hauling Ltd.

1:16.13

6

Cody Ridsdale

Rai-Lynn Trucking Ltd.

1:16.15

6

Vern Nolin

Crowbourne Capital Corp.

1:16.15

8

Mark Sutherland

Friends of Sutherland Racing

1:16.20

9

Jason Glass

Birchcliff Energy Ltd.

1:16.43

10

Chad Fike

Family Meats 2011 Ltd.

1:16.46

11

Darcy Flad

Wetaskiwin Ready Mix

1:16.48

12

Chance Flad

Multi Rack Systems

1:16.49

13

Evan Salmond

Calnash Trucking

1:16.50

14

Ross Knight

The Orville Hays Group

1:16.67

15

John Walters

Pidherney’s

1:16.71

16

Troy Dorchester

PureChem Services

1:16.73

17

Doug Irvine

Irvine’s Saddles and Western Wear

1:16.77

18

Kirk Sutherland

Red Deer Motors

1:16.83

19

Codey McCurrach

King Oilfield Contracting Inc.

1:17.00

20

Bob Van Eaton

Horseshoe Paving Ltd.

1:17.02

21

Mitch Sutherland

Siding 14 Brewing Company

1:17.03

22

Mike Vigen

Reinhart Oilfield Services Ltd.

1:17.19

23

Kelly Morin

Central Alberta Tile One

1:17.24

23

Roger Moore

Wild West Meats

1:17.24

25

Jordie Fike

Viking Projects

1:17.27

26

Wade Salmond

Vold, Jones and Vold Auction Co. Ltd.

1:17.51

27

Troy Flad

5 Star Propane Ltd.

1:17.82

28

Layne Flad

Quick Moves Concrete Pumping

1:17.86

29

Curtis Morin

Watts Projects Inc.

1:18.09

30

Chad Harden

Ja-Co Welding and Consulting Ltd.

1:18.84

31

Gary Gorst

Crystal Kids

1:19.02

32

Blaid Flad

Stagecoach Saloon

1:20.21

33

Josh Hrynyk

Quick Mats Ltd.

1:21.44

34

Dustin Gorst

Sims and Associates Insurance Services

1:22.09

35

Roy Romanow

Wild West Suites

1:23.55

36

Kurt Bensmiller

Versatile Energy Services

1:35.73

* Kirk Sutherland drove for Layne Flad.

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Wade Salmond in the VJV sponsored wagon heads out of the infield trailing the rest of the Heat 3 competition. Photo by Jordie Dwyer
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Chanse Vigen races to the lead in the backstretch in Heat 5 at the Ponoka Stampede’s first night of WPCA action, holding on to win the heat and take the evening’s top time of 1:15 68. Photo by Jordie Dwyer
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It was a big bunch up in the final turn for the rigs competing in Heat 7 on opening night of the WPCA races at the Ponoka Stampede. Photo by Jordie Dwyer


Emily Jaycox

About the Author: Emily Jaycox

I’m Emily Jaycox, the editor of Ponoka News and the Bashaw Star. I’ve lived in Ponoka since 2015 and have over seven years of experience working as a journalist in central Alberta communities.
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