Dallas Dyck (R) – First Career Calgary Stampede Day Money Run On Day 9
Photo By Shellie Scott
There was a lot on the line on night number nine of the Cowboys Rangeland Derby, and Mother Nature made her presence known halfway through the evening. The evening started off with perfect weather and racetrack conditions. But at the midpoint of the program, the clouds opened up producing heavy rains and some hail, slowing the racetrack down by nearly five seconds for the last 4 heats of the night. When the night was complete, and after nine days of competitive chuckwagon racing, the championship final heat for the 2023 Calgary Stampede Cowboys Rangeland Derby Championship has now been set as Kurt Bensmiller, Layne MacGillivray, and Ross Knight will make up the 2023 championship final heat.
Kurt Bensmiller qualified for Sunday’s Championship Final in first place overall after recording the fastest aggregate time over nine nights with a 10:48.22. Layne MacGillivray qualified in second place overall with a nine day aggregate time of 10:50.77, and Ross Knight, who was just shy of two and three-quarter seconds out of that ever so important third place at the start of the day, was the beneficiary of a dry track in heat number five, and snuck into third place overall with a nine day total of 10:50.79.
The slowing track proved costly to Chanse Vigen who was running in heat number 9. Vigen was the odd man out, just 59 one-hundredths of a second out of a spot in Sunday’s final, with Mark Sutherland rounding out the top five overall. It will be the first time that Ross Knight will compete in the Cowboys Rangeland Derby’s Championship final heat, the second consecutive appearance for Layne MacGillivray, while Kurt Bensmiller – a four-time champion – will be making his seventh appearance in the championship final heat. The winner of the championship final heat will be declared the 2023 Calgary Stampede Cowboys Rangeland Derby Champion.
As far as the day results go, Dallas Dyck’s Northback outfit won the day money with the top time of the night after posting a 1:12.23 from barrel number two in the fourth heat. That put him just 4 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Ross Knight, followed by Vern Nolin, Troy Dorchester and Jason Glass who filled out the top five for the night.
The finals of the 2023 Calgary Stampede Cowboys Rangeland Derby can be heard Sunday night, July 16, 2023 on WPCA Radio starting 7:45pm Mountain time on Real Country 910am and can be seen on Sportsnet One starting at 8:30pm local time. Check your local listings.
Billy Melville
