By Scott Fisher
Some records will likely never be broken.
There’s Wayne Gretzky’s career-points mark of 2,857. And Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak.
In the chuckwagon world, WPCA track announcer Les McIntyre keeps adding to his own remarkable numbers.
McIntyre will kick off his 40th year calling races when the WPCA Tour kicks off with the Grande Prairie Stompede (May 28-June 1).
So, if the Guinness Book of World Records came calling, how many races has McIntyre called?
“Billy (Melville, chuckwagon historian) and I went through it awhile back and we think the number is around 17,000 or something like that,” McIntyre says. “I see the little buggers in my sleep at night.
“I don’t know if I’d call it Guinness Book worthy.
“(I’m) just some coconut who couldn’t find a real job.”
Make no mistake. It’s a real job and no one has done it better or longer than the Vulcan cowboy.
In addition to chasing the chuckwagons around Western Canada all summer, McIntyre is also the voice of the Calgary Stampede’s Rangeland Derby.
“It’s been real good to me,” he says. “When I first started, I didn’t really know how far it was going to go.
“I set some goals 40 years ago. Some day, I wanted to be involved with the Calgary Stampede if Joe (Carbry) were to retire. He retired (in 2009) and I was fortunate to be chosen to do that.
“I knew it would be a good thing once it got going. I just didn’t know how long it would go on. But, time flies when you’re having fun.”
McIntrye’s voice has served as the soundtrack to the sport’s greatest achievements over the past four decades.
He finds it impossible to select one from his memory bank that stands out among the rest.
“I don’t know if any of them stand out,” he says. “Every time there’s a championship given out at the Calgary Stampede, or a world championship, it’s pretty special. When Kelly Sutherland set the record (for most career Rangeland Derby titles), that was pretty cool.
“Calling someone’s last race who is retiring, like most recently Kirk Sutherland, or guys like Jerry Bremner or Rick Fraser, that’s pretty special.”
There was also one bizarre incident that he says he’ll never forget.
“I think the craziest one was when Mark Sutherland toured the Grande Prairie track underneath his wagon, hanging onto the reach (centre pole),” he says. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. He should not have survived.”
McIntyre has also witnessed almost every major evolution the sport has undergone over the past half-century.
There’s been countless safety improvements that have made chuckwagon racing much safer for both the drivers and the equine athletes.
“After an incident at the Calgary Stampede in the 1980s, they moved the stove rack inside the wagon box,” he says. “There were other changes to rules and barrel settings and safety measures led by the Calgary Stampede.
“Horsepower is another one for sure. The thing that has changed the horsepower is the sponsorship that has come into the sport in the past 20 years. This year, every tarp sale we’ve done has exceeded the previous record. And when you have sponsorship money coming into the sport, it can be directed to better horses.
“Now you combine better horses with the better safety aspects and quality drivers, better screening. The health management of horses has changed a bunch over the past four-five-six years. When the veterinarians got involved in scanning the horses and monitoring their health conditions, heart rate, stress levels, it’s provided the drivers and their families with some insight into what can be done to manage the horses’ health better.”
And as both sponsorship and prize money continue to climb, drivers continue to — as McIntyre is known to say — find “the speed you need to take the lead.”
“And because there’s more prize money up at the (race) venues, and I still don’t think it’s enough, it’s given the drivers the incentive to do things right,” McIntyre says when asked what he’s looking forward to seeing in 2025. “We’ve got some new guys coming aboard the WPCA and they should strengthen the competition.
“It’s already hard enough to win at any show, but when you increase the level of competition through good drivers and better horses, it’s exciting to watch. It’s kinda like the Stanley Cup — it’s the hardest Cup in the history of sports to win. It’s not getting any easier in the wagon business either because of the level of competition and the horsepower involved.
“When you have a passion for it, I just love watching everybody do what they do.”
