Jamie Laboucane – Opens Up Ponoka With The Kirk’s Trail Tire Wheels on Fire Fast Time of the Night
Photo By Shellie Scott
Friday night marked the opening of one of chuckwagon racing’s biggest and most prestigious events—the 90th Ponoka Stampede. Despite cool temperatures and a brief pre-race shower, track conditions held up well, and the capacity crowd at Ponoka was treated to an entertaining evening of racing. When the night wrapped up, Jamie Laboucane captured the Kirk’s Trail Tire Wheels on Fire Fast Time of the Night with an impressive run of 1:17.93.
Coming off barrel number four in the eighth heat, Laboucane, driving the Wild Rows Pump & Compression Ltd. outfit, finished 37 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Chad Fike to take the opening-night lead. Former Ponoka Stampede champion Obrey Motowylo finished third, followed by Preston Faithful in fourth and Dustin Gorst in fifth.
Former Ponoka Stampede champions Luke Tournier and Jason Glass claimed sixth and seventh respectively, while Cruise Bensmiller sits eighth after the opening night. Layne MacGillivray and Evan Magee rounded out the top ten.
The top eight drivers in the aggregate standings following Monday night’s performance will advance to Tuesday’s semifinal round, racing in Heats 7 and 9. The four fastest times from Tuesday’s semifinals on June 30 will qualify for the $90,000 Tommy Dorchester Championship Final Heat on Wednesday, July 1, where the winner will be crowned the 2026 Ponoka Stampede Champion.
Day 2 of the Ponoka Stampede can be heard live on WPCA Radio on 96.5 The Ranch, beginning at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, 8:30 p.m. Central, and 7:30 p.m. Mountain. Fans can also listen through the WPCA website, iHeartRadio, and Radioplayer Canada, while live video coverage will be available via the WPCA livestream at watch.wpca.com.
Billy Melville
