Rae Croteau Jr. – Top Bid At 2023 Grande Prairie Stompede Chuckwagon Canvas Auction
Photo By Bryan Hebson
As we celebrate 100 years of chuckwagon racing in 2023, the unofficial start to the 2023 WPCA Chuckwagon Season kicked off tonight with the start of chuckwagon canvas auctions. The Grande Prairie Stompede is a one-of-a-kind event, offering exclusive advertising opportunities on the best 44 chuckwagon drivers in the World today.
The 2023 Grande Prairie Stompede Canvas Auction was a tremendous success, cracking the Half-Million Dollar Mark with a total of $514,650.00 bid on the 44 participating drivers, up $143,600.00 over the 2022 total. For the second consecutive year, 2010 Grande Prairie Stompede champion Rae Croteau Jr. received the high bid of $30,000.00 for the five day show, $4,000.00 above Croteau’s top bid in 2022 of $26,000.00. The low bid for the sale was $5,000.00 which matched the low bid in 2022, while the median bid was $9,375.00, down slightly from the median bid of 2022 which was $9,500.00.
The next chuckwagon canvas auction will be on Thursday, April 13, 2023 for the Calgary Stampede Cowboys Rangeland Derby Canvas Auction at The Big Four Roadhouse on Stampede Park in Calgary, Alberta.
Billy Melville
| Driver | Sponsor | Amount Bid |
| Rae Croteau Jr. | Cinch Oilfield Hauling Ltd. | $30,000.00 |
| Chanse Vigen | Sundown Oilfield Services Ltd. | $23,000.00 |
| D.J. King | Swamp Donkey Oilfield Services Inc. | $22,500.00 |
| Todd McCracken | CLHbid.com | $22,000.00 |
| Evan Magee | FluidPRO Oilfield Services Ltd. | $21,000.00 |
| Tuff Dreger | Compass Access Solutions Ltd. | $20,000.00 |
| Dean Dreger | Northern Mat & Bridge | $18,500.00 |
| Kurt Bensmiller | Half a Dime Contracting | $18,000.00 |
| Derek Aebly | Friends of Aebly Racing | $17,500.00 |
| Wade Salmond | Pidherney’s | $16,000.00 |
| Mark Sutherland | Nordic Energy | $15,500.00 |
| Cody Ridsdale | Fraction Energy Services | $14,000.00 |
| Mitch Sutherland | CDN Controls Ltd. | $13,000.00 |
| Dustin Gorst | Grande Prairie Airport | $13,000.00 |
| Jordie Fike | Full Force Ventures Ltd. | $12,000.00 |
| Preston Faithful | Grande Prairie Stompede Board | $11,500.00 |
| Codey McCurrach | Friends of McCurracing | $11,000.00 |
| Kirk Sutherland | Jim Hansen’s Gateway Ford Lincoln Sales | $10,500.00 |
| Evan Salmond | WE Logging | $10,000.00 |
| Dayton Sutherland | Sutherland Racing | $10,000.00 |
| Cruise Bensmiller | Prairie Iron Rentals | $10,000.00 |
| Troy Flad | Mr. Fireplace | $9,500.00 |
| Obrey Motowylo | Dynamic Energy Group Inc. | $9,250.00 |
| Jason Glass | Friends of Jason Glass | $9,250.00 |
| Layne MacGillivray | Cascade Energy Services | $9,000.00 |
| Troy Dorchester | Zedcor Energy Services Corp. | $9,000.00 |
| Vern Nolin | Triple Threat Diesel | $9,000.00 |
| Logan Gorst | Northstar Hydrovac | $9,000.00 |
| Jamie Laboucane | Wild Rose | $9,000.00 |
| Doug Irvine | Swab Pro (2018) Ltd. | $8,000.00 |
| Jamie Tom | Prime Towing & Recovery | $8,000.00 |
| Chad Fike | Ken Sargent GMC Buick Ltd. | $7,800.00 |
| Chance Bensmiller | Pinnacle Picker Services Ltd. | $7,500.00 |
| Chance Thomson | Hills Vac & Steam Services Ltd. | $7,500.00 |
| Kelly Morin | Jeff & Julie DeSutter | $7,500.00 |
| Brad McMann | CIMS Corp | $7,500.00 |
| Gage Flad | Events GP | $7,000.00 |
| Kris Molle | Farm Boys Oilfield Services Inc. | $6,700.00 |
| Roger Moore | Envolve Energy Services Corp. | $6,500.00 |
| Darcy Flad | Sniper Servies | $6,200.00 |
| Layne Flad | Keddie’s Tack and Western Wear | $6,200.00 |
| Josh Hrynyk | Triple B Crane Ltd. | $5,750.00 |
| Chance Flad | Control Tech | $5,500.00 |
| Ross Knight | Jeff & Julie DeSutter | $5,000.00 |
| Total Amount Bid | $514,650.00 | |
| Average Bid | $11,696.59 | |
| Median Bid | $9,375.00 | |
| High Bid | $30,000.00 | |
| Low Bid | $5,000.00 | |
| 2022 Total | $371,050.00 | |
| Difference Over 2022 | $143,600.00 |
