By Laurence Heinen
A distinct-looking and colourful chuckwagon made its return to the World Professional Chuckwagon Association scene in fine fashion last season.
Aboard his iconic rainbow wagon, Rae Croteau Jr. returned to compete on the WPCA Tour circuit last year following a six-year absence and impressively he finished in fifth spot in the 2022 driver standings.
“I had six years off from racing and was able to buy out another driver (B.J. Carey) that had a good core group of horses,” recalled Croteau, who won the Battle of the Foothills title in High River late last July. “We had a good year and now were going to build around that core group.”
After finishing fourth in the $35,000 final heat of last weekend’s Grande Prairie Stompede, Croteau has his sights set on improving upon that performance in his hometown of Bonnyville.
“We’ve been decent, but we’ve never won it,” said Croteau, who posted the fastest time of the first night of the 2022 Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship before falling to 12th in the aggregate standings. “We’ve been in the top 10 or whatever. You’re looking to always come and do well at every show. Being your home-raised show would be extra fun.”
If the 41-year-old reinsman could qualify for and win this year’s Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship final heat on Sunday afternoon, he would duplicate what fellow driver Chanse Vigen (and 2022 Bonnyville champ) accomplished last week when he won his hometown Grande Prairie Stompede show title.
“That would be ideal,” said Croteau, who was pleased as punch with how his horses performed at the season-opening show in Grande Prairie. “You know the outfits are working and running because they got you there in the first show. Obviously, things change show-to-show – your draw and who you’re hooked with and track conditions usually change. You’re always gunning for consistency and running clean and to perform right – perform for your sponsors, perform for everybody.”
Growing up just south of Bonnyville, Croteau idolized his legendary grandfather Ray.
“He’s the reason why we got involved and why dad (Bert Croteau) did it and his passion for it all is what fueled two more generations,” explained the youngest Croteau, who proudly boasted that his grandpa was involved in the community by hosting events at his racetrack and indoor riding arena. “I grew up outriding there.”
As for how the iconic rainbow wagon came about, Croteau explained that his grandpa asked for help from his daughters back in the mid-1970s.
“Grandpa had four daughters and he told them to go paint the wagon and that’s what they did,” said Croteau, who kept on the tradition of driving the colourful wagon as did his father Bert. “It’s one of the heritage wagons, like grandpa, Jason Glass and Troy Dorchester. They’re pretty much the only three that are left.
“I think it’s important to carry on the tradition and when I’m old and grey I can look back and still see that the rainbow’s there racing and hopefully somebody else will carry it on.”
Following his extended break from the racing life, Croteau has no regrets about making his return to the sport he loves last season.
“It’s a bit of an undertaking,” said Croteau, who now resides in Rapid View, Sask., with his wife Ashley and their daughter Hadley and son Kix. “My dad kind of told me that I was crazy. I bought into it once when I was younger with family support and then decided to retire in 2016 and then just jumped back into it by myself the last year or so.
“There’s lots of support, lots of people that I reached out to when it comes to sponsors and advertisers and stuff like that, that it was the snap of fingers and they were back in. It’s a great way to raise your family. You’re together travelling across the countryside and participating in all the races and enjoying the horses.”
PHOTO CREDIT – Shellie Scott Photography
