2023 Battle of the North Champions
Cinch Oilfield Hauling/Pioneer Offroad Rentals/Pioneer Sanitary Solutions/Jeff & Julie DeSutter Outfit
(L-R): Jeff DeSutter, Outrider Tyler DeSutter, Driver Rae Croteau Jr., Hadley Croteau, Ashley Croteau, Kix Croteau,
Outrider Brendan Nolin, Julie DeSutter
Photo By Billy Melville
The 2023 Battle of the North Championship is in the books and Rae Croteau Jr., driving the Cinch Oilfield Hauling/Pioneer Offroad Rentals/Pioneer Sanitary Solutions/Jeff & Julie DeSutter outfit, and along with outriders Brendan Nolin and Tyler DeSutter who captured the title in a thrilling Championship Final Heat.
Croteau Jr. won the sudden death final with a penalty free run of 1:15.93 from barrel position number 4, by just 14 one hundreds of a second faster than Jamie Laboucane who placed 2nd from barrel position number 1, followed by Chance Thomson who placed 3rd from barrel position number 2, with Chanse Vigen finishing 4th from barrel position number 3. Vigen and Laboucane actually tied for 2nd place, but a 2 second penalty dropped Vigen to 4th in Sunday’s final. It was the 1st time that Rae Croteau Jr. – who holds the Dawson Creek track record set back in 2015 – has won the Battle of the North title.
As far as the day results go, Chad Fike, driving the TOMCO Group of Companies Outfit, won the day money after posting the fast time of the night with a 1:14.87. Coming off barrel number 3 in heat number 8, Fike placed first overall for the day by 1.06 seconds over champion Rae Croteau Jr. who had the second best time on the evening. Jamie Laboucane, Brad McMann and Layne MacGillivray rounded out the top 5 for the night. Todd McCracken won the Kenn Borek Memorial Award for being the Most Sportsmanlike Driver.
The WPCA Pro Tour now moves onto Rocky Mountain House, Alberta for the Battle of the Rockies Championship starting Thursday, August 17, 2023 and running through to Sunday, August 20, 2023. Racing will go Thursday through Saturday evenings starting at 7:00pm with Sunday’s finals starting at 2:00pm. Live radio coverage of the Battle of the Rockies can be heard on the on Real Country 910.
Billy Melville
