After unsafe track conditions caused an unscheduled day off, the chuckwagon races resumed in Rocky Mountain House for the final day on Monday night. The temperature was a warm 23 C under partly cloudy skies, and the dust was flying as racetrack conditions drastically improved. Officials say a capacity crowd was on hand to watch the finale of the Battle of the Rockies.
In the chase for the Battle of the Rockies Championship and for the second year in a row it was Chanse Vigen, driving the Terrafirma Resources outfit, and outriders Rory Armstrong and Ethan Motowylo, who emerged as champions of the 2024 Battle of the Rockies after posting the best 4-day aggregate time of 5:20.64.
That put Vigen just 29 one-hundredths of a second in front of runner-up Wade Salmond. Luke Tournier was solidly in third place overall, with Chance Thomson and Kurt Bensmiller completing the top five overall. It’s the fourth win on the season for Chanse Vigen, and the third in the past four shows for Vigen who captured the Medicine Hat Stampede, the Battle of the Foothills, and the Strathmore Stampede earlier this season.
As far as the nightly results go, Kurt Bensmiller was the fast man after posting a penalty free run of 1:16.04. From barrel number 2 in the 8th heat, Bensmiller’s Versatile Energy Services Ltd. outfit was just 12 one-hundredths of a second faster than second place finisher Jason Glass to take the top time on the night. Reserve champion Wade Salmond placed third, with champion Chanse Vigen and Cruise Bensmiller filling out the top five times on the night.
The win has Vigen in first place atop the World Standings heading into Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals which start Aug. 21 in Ponoka.
The World Champion Chuckwagon Driver will be declared on Saturday night as the driver who accumulated the most number of points over the course of the season. Vigen currently has an 80.5 point advantage over Rae Croteau Jr., Jason Glass is 90 points back, with Jamie Laboucane and Chad Fike 130 and 138 points back respectively in the chase for the World Chuckwagon Championship.
The twelve drivers who have now officially qualified for the Century Downs Winner Zone Playoff Round include Chanse Vigen, Rae Croteau Jr., Jason Glass, Jamie Laboucane, Chad Fike, Layne MacGillivray, Obrey Motowylo, Kurt Bensmiller, Luke Tournier, Cruise Bensmiller, Wade Salmond and Kris Molle. Evan Salmond ended up in the crying hole, 107 points behind Kris Molle.
The top 4 drivers with the most playoff points in the Century Downs Winners Zone Series will advance to the Championship Final at the Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals.
The 2024 WPCA Pro Tour will move back to Ponoka for the second time this season for the season ending Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals starting on Wednesday, Aug. 28 and running through to Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024.
(By Billy Melville)
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Day 4 Results |
|||
|
Rank |
Driver |
Sponsor |
Total Time |
|
1 |
Kurt Bensmiller |
Versatile Energy Services Ltd. |
1:16.04 |
|
2 |
Jason Glass |
Birchcliff Energy Ltd. |
1:16.16 |
|
3 |
Wade Salmond |
Pidherney’s |
1:16.20 |
|
4 |
Chanse Vigen |
Terrafirma Resources |
1:17.29 |
|
5 |
Cruise Bensmiller |
Bonnett’s Energy Corp. |
1:17.39 |
|
6 |
Obrey Motowylo |
Topline Oilfield Hauling Ltd. |
1:17.63 |
|
7 |
Dean Dreger |
Regulator’s Oilfield Hauling Ltd. |
1:17.81 |
|
7 |
Dayton Sutherland |
Nordic Energy Canada Corp. |
1:17.81 |
|
9 |
Roger Moore |
Red Deer Lock & Safe Ltd. |
1:17.89 |
|
10 |
Layne MacGillivray |
Rocky Mountain Hydraulic & Bearing Inc./GT Hydraulic & Bearing Inc. |
1:18.02 |
|
11 |
Darcy Flad |
Royal LePage Tamarack Trail Realty |
1:18.05 |
|
12 |
Ross Knight |
Henry’s Western Wear |
1:18.06 |
|
13 |
Chance Thomson |
Nelson Bros Oilfield Services Ltd. |
1:18.09 |
|
14 |
Jordie Fike |
XACT Pressure Services |
1:18.19 |
|
15 |
Dale Young |
Howell’s Excavating Ltd. |
1:18.27 |
|
16 |
Preston Faithful |
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. |
1:18.37 |
|
17 |
Mitch Sutherland |
Edwards Garage – Chevrolet, GMC and Buick |
1:18.48 |
|
18 |
Chad Fike |
TOMCO Group of Companies |
1:18.50 |
|
19 |
Luke Tournier |
Optimum Equipment Solutions |
1:18.55 |
|
20 |
Doug Irvine |
Redline Athletics |
1:18.58 |
|
21 |
Todd Baptiste |
Oly’s Trading Post & Trucking |
1:18.64 |
|
22 |
Evan Salmond |
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. |
1:18.72 |
|
23 |
Troy Dorchester |
Eldorado Pressure Services Ltd. |
1:19.13 |
|
24 |
Chance Flad |
Boot Hill Ranch |
1:19.14 |
|
25 |
Cody Ridsdale |
O’Chiese Business & Investment Centre |
1:19.20 |
|
26 |
Kris Molle |
Hayshakers Bobcat Services Ltd. |
1:19.34 |
|
27 |
Dustin Gorst |
BrokerLink |
1:19.37 |
|
28 |
Chance Bensmiller |
Garnet’s Oilfield Trucking |
1:19.64 |
|
29 |
Evan Magee |
Crush it – Hard Iced Tea – made with Provincial Vodka! |
1:19.74 |
|
30 |
Layne Flad |
K&C RV Service |
1:20.34 |
|
31 |
Tuff Dreger |
Les David Foundation |
1:20.44 |
|
32 |
Kirk Sutherland |
Rob Knight Truck Lines Ltd. |
1:22.22 |
|
33 |
Rae Croteau Jr. |
TeKh Group Inc. |
1:22.31 |
|
34 |
Jamie Laboucane |
Wild Rows Pump & Compression Ltd. |
1:24.04 |
|
35 |
Troy Flad |
Mountainview Safety Services Ltd. |
1:24.67 |
|
36 |
Josh Hrynyk |
Mud Creek Medics Ltd. |
N.T |
|
4 Day Aggregate |
|||
|
Rank |
Driver |
Sponsor |
4 Day Total |
|
1 |
Chanse Vigen |
Terrafirma Resources |
5:20.64 |
|
2 |
Wade Salmond |
Pidherney’s |
5:20.93 |
|
3 |
Luke Tournier |
Optimum Equipment Solutions |
5:23.62 |
|
4 |
Chance Thomson |
Nelson Bros Oilfield Services Ltd. |
5:24.48 |
|
5 |
Kurt Bensmiller |
Versatile Energy Services Ltd. |
5:25.37 |
|
6 |
Todd Baptiste |
S.O.R.E. Oilfield Services Inc./Oly’s Trading Post & Trucking |
5:25.52 |
|
7 |
Cruise Bensmiller |
Bonnett’s Energy Corp. |
5:26.08 |
|
8 |
Layne MacGillivray |
Rocky Mountain Hydraulic & Bearing Inc./GT Hydraulic & Bearing Inc. |
5:26.67 |
|
9 |
Roger Moore |
Red Deer Lock & Safe Ltd. |
5:27.66 |
|
10/11 |
Doug Irvine |
Tytin Rentals Inc./Redline Athletics |
5:28.47 |
|
10/11 |
Mitch Sutherland |
Edwards Garage – Chevrolet, GMC and Buick |
5:28.47 |
|
12 |
Obrey Motowylo |
Topline Oilfield Hauling Ltd. |
5:28.50 |
|
13 |
Layne Flad |
Sniper Services/K&C RV Service |
5:28.56 |
|
14 |
Chad Fike |
TOMCO Group of Companies |
5:29.03 |
|
15 |
Ross Knight |
Henry’s Western Wear |
5:29.18 |
|
16 |
Kris Molle |
Hayshakers Bobcat Services Ltd. |
5:29.24 |
|
17 |
Dustin Gorst |
BrokerLink |
5:29.85 |
|
18 |
Dayton Sutherland |
Nordic Energy Canada Corp. |
5:30.50 |
|
19 |
Jason Glass |
Birchcliff Energy Ltd. |
5:31.12 |
|
20 |
Tuff Dreger |
Les David Foundation |
5:31.96 |
|
21 |
Chance Bensmiller |
Garnet’s Oilfield Trucking |
5:32.92 |
|
22 |
Rae Croteau Jr. |
Cinch Oilfield Hauling & Cranes Ltd./TeKh Group Inc. |
5:33.03 |
|
23 |
Jamie Laboucane |
Wild Rows Pump & Compression Ltd. |
5:34.87 |
|
24 |
Dean Dreger |
Regulator’s Oilfield Hauling Ltd. |
5:35.96 |
|
25 |
Evan Magee |
Crush it – Hard Iced Tea – made with Provincial Vodka! |
5:36.30 |
|
26 |
Cody Ridsdale |
O’Chiese Business & Investment Centre |
5:36.39 |
|
27 |
Darcy Flad |
Royal LePage Tamarack Trail Realty/Kelts Transport Ltd./Rocky Mountain Dodge |
5:36.51 |
|
28 |
Preston Faithful |
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. |
5:37.94 |
|
29 |
Troy Dorchester |
Eldorado Pressure Services Ltd. |
5:38.45 |
|
30 |
Kirk Sutherland |
Rob Knight Truck Lines Ltd. |
5:38.95 |
|
31 |
Dale Young |
Howell’s Excavating Ltd. |
5:42.61 |
|
32 |
Chance Flad |
Boot Hill Ranch |
5:43.63 |
|
33 |
Jordie Fike |
XACT Pressure Services |
5:44.72 |
|
34 |
Troy Flad |
Mountainview Safety Services Ltd. |
5:52.37 |
|
35/36 |
Josh Hrynyk |
Mud Creek Medics Ltd. |
N.T |
|
35/36 |
Evan Salmond |
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. |
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