Kris Molle
Defending Champion Has The Fast Time Of The Week On Night 3 In Medicine Hat
Photo By Shellie Scott
It was a windy and wild night of racing on night 3 of the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede. The races ran under cloudy skies and 22°C. Racetrack conditions were very good, and a lot was on the line as it was the last night for drivers to try and qualify for Sunday afternoon’s Championship Final Heat. When the night finally played out, it will be Mark Sutherland, Jamie Laboucane and Codey McCurrach who survived the cut and will compete for the 2023 Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede Championship.
Mark Sutherland made a big jump from 4th place overall at the start of the day to qualifying in first place overall with the best three-day aggregate time of 3:07.58. Jamie Laboucane, who after many years with the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association, has joined the WPCA as a Permit Driver, and will make his debut in a WPCA Championship Final Heat after qualifying in second place overall, 85 one-hundredths of a second behind the aggregate winner Mark Sutherland. Codey McCurrach competes the Championship Final after jumping from 8th place overall into the third and final qualifying spot. Evan Salmond, who began the day in 2nd place overall, fell out of the top three and missed Sunday’s final by just 16 one-hundredths of a second, with defending Medicine Hat Champion Kris Molle completing the top five overall. None of the finalists were in the top three to start the day.
As far as the day results go, It was defending Medicine Hat champion Kris Molle driving the Benoit Oilfield Construction who had the fast time on the night from barrel number 1 in the 9th heat. His 1:01.04 is the fast time for the week so far and was 74 one-hundredths of a second faster than Jaime Laboucane who placed second on the night. Codey McCurrach was third, Mark Sutherland was fourth and Kurt Bensmiller filled out the top five times on night number three.
The finals of the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede can be heard live on Sunday, June 25, 2023 on Real Country 910 starting at 2:00pm Mountain Time.
Billy Melville
