2024 was a special year for Dean. Not only did he receive the WPCA’s most prestigious annual award – the WPCA Chuckwagon Person of the Year, but his wife Tara was the recipient of the Ty Tournier Memorial Award as well. It was the first time a married couple took home both honours in the same year. On the racetrack, Dean recorded seven top ten runs, with a tenth place overall finish at the Strathmore Stampede being his best of the year.
Dean started his career on the WPCA Second Circuit in 1999, and was named the WPCA Second Circuit’s Top Rookie Driver. Dean was a founder of the Western Chuckwagon Association (WCA) in 2001, and spent the next 20 years competing on the WCA circuit. Dean was the WCA Champion in 2016, and won several shows during his career on the WCA Circuit at the Rio Grande Rodeo and North Peace Stampede, and has twice won the Rycroft Race the 8 and the Teepee Creek Stampede, and on numerous occasions has received the WCA’s Masters Award.
Dean is the son-in-law of chuckwagon legend Kelly Sutherland and father to fellow driver Tuff Dreger. He enjoys watching NASCAR in his spare time, and sits on numerous boards for shows in the Peace Country and the WPCA. He is the owner of Underground Enterprises – an oilfield construction and consulting company, and Rebel Rentals – an oilfield equipment rental and leasing business. Dean has three children – Cheyenne, Tuff and Dakota. Dean and his wife Tara make their home in Grande Prairie, Alberta.
