With the 2024 Grande Prairie Stompede just over a week away, the lineup and barrel draw is now official. The 2023 Grande Prairie Stompede saw 44 drivers compete for one of chuckwagon racings most coveted titles. A slightly different line up will compete at the first event of the WPCA Pro Tour in 2024.
This year, the 40-driver draw has 4 new faces in comparison to 2023. Two of them have made their mark in the sport in the past and will enter the season as permit drivers.
Returning to the WPCA is veteran driver Luke Tournier from Duck Lake, Saskatchewan. Luke won the World Title in 2016, he is a two–time Calgary Stampede GMC Rangeland Derby Champion, a two–time Calgary Stampede Aggregate winner, and he has over 25 awards and victories to his credit.
Like Luke Tournier, Todd Baptiste will join the WPCA as a permit driver. Todd has emerged to be among one of the elite drivers in chuckwagon racing. He was the CPCA Champion Driver in 2022 and 2019, recorded the CPCA’s High Point Driver title in 2019 and again in 2021. Todd qualified for the Rangeland Derby’s Championship Final for the first time in 2019, and had a horse named to the Calgary Stampede’s Equine Athlete of Excellence.
D.J. DeSutter is another new face for 2024 and will be recognized as one of the WPCA rookies. D.J. spent the majority of his upbringing helping retired driver Rick Fraser and in recent years he has has played a big role as part of Chanse Vigen’s World Championship team.
Dale Young will make his WPCA driving debut at the Grande Prairie Stompede. Dale started driving pony chuckwagons when he was just 15, and has has competed annually for the last 30 years. He won nearly 10 show championships, with his most prestigious win coming at the Ponoka Stampede.
Based on their 2023 results, the top 2 COOLBET favorites to win the Grande Prairie Stompede when the odds come out next week are expected to be Chanse Vigen and Jamie Laboucane. Vigen bookended the 2023 season by winning the first show of the year in Grande Prairie then closing out the season as the World Champion.
Laboucane entered the 2023 WPCA Pro Tour as a permit driver then wasted no time earning a permanent spot on the tour. Jamie has every horse from his 2023 lineup returning this year including “Marshmallow” who was the equine champion left wheeler both at the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby and the WPCA Pro Tour.
While Vigen and Laboucane certainly have a good case to be favored, they also aren’t ironclad choices. This year’s Grande Prairie Stompede has a wide-open list of talented drivers and horses that will provide fans with another high energy, entertaining experience.
Find the list of drivers, heats and barrel positions at WPCA.COM
- LOCATION: Evergreen Park in Grande, Prairie, Alberta
- DATES: May 29 – June 2
- START TIMES: 7:00 p.m. nightly
- LIVE STREAMING: watch.wpca.com
- RADIO: New Country
