Jamie Laboucane – Day Money Run On Opening Night At Wild West WPCA World Finals In Ponoka
Photo By Shellie Scott
| Rank | Driver | Playoff Points |
| 1 | Jamie Laboucane | 12 |
| 2 | Rae Croteau Jr. | 11 |
| 3 | Jason Glass | 10 |
| 4 | Chanse Vigen | 9 |
| 5 | Luke Tournier | 8 |
| 6 | Chad Fike | 7 |
| 7 | Wade Salmond | 6 |
| 8 | Kris Molle | 5 |
| 9 | Obrey Motowylo | 4 |
| 10 | Kurt Bensmiller | 3 |
| 11 | Cruise Bensmiller | 2 |
| 12 | Layne MacGillivray | 1 |
After all day rains on Wednesday postponed the start of the Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals in Ponoka, Alberta, the chuckwagon races resumed for the opening day on Thursday night. The temperature was a warm 19°C and racetrack conditions had drastically improved, and night one is in the books and was a tremendous success. The postponement will mean that the show will be carried over to Monday afternoon at 2:00pm Mountain Time.
For the 36 drivers who are racing for the Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals Aggregate Championship, it was Jamie Laboucane who was the fast man with a penalty free run of 1:16.79. In heat number 9 from barrel number 4, Laboucane, driving the Wild Rows Pump & Compression Ltd. outfit, put him just one one-hundredths of a second faster than Layne Flad. Rae Croteau Jr., Jason Glass, and Chance Bensmiller rounded out the top five on opening night. The driver posting the best 4-day aggregate time after Monday’s run will be declared the champion of the Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals race meet.
In the main event, Jamie Laboucane was also tops among the elite twelve drivers who qualified for the Century Downs Racetrack and Casino “WINNERS’ ZONE” Series Playoff round and earned 12 playoff points for his outstanding run. Rae Croteau Jr. was right behind in second place, with Jason Glass, Chanse Vigen, and Luke Tournier rounding out the top five. The 4 drivers in the playoff points standings after Saturday night will compete in the Championship Final Heat where they will be racing for $50,000.00 cash and the prestige of being recognized as the Century Downs Racetrack and Casino “WINNERS’ ZONE” Series Champion.
In the race for the World Chuckwagon Championship, Chanse Vigen in search of second consecutive World Chuckwagon Championship, came into the final show of the season with an 80.5 point lead over Rae Croteau Jr.. After the completion of the first night of racing, Vigen’s lead is now 76.5 points over Croteau. The World Champion Chuckwagon Driver will be declared on Sunday night as the driver who accumulated the most number of points over the course of the season.
Night 2 of the Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals can be heard live on Friday night, August 30, 2024 starting at 8:30pm Eastern, 7:30pm Central and 6:30pm Mountain Time on New Country 92.5 FM Drumheller, 93.3 FM Stettler, 105.7 FM Brooks, 94.9 FM Blairmore, 92.7 FM Pincher Creek, or streaming options are available through the WPCA Website at wpca.com, iHeart Radio website/app or the Radioplayer Canada website/app. The Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals can also be watched live on the WPCA Livestream at watch.wpca.com.
Billy Melville
