Chanse Vigen – Dominating Performance At The Ponoka Stampede
Photo By Shellie Scott
There was a lot on the line Friday night at the Ponoka Stampede, as it was the last chance for drivers to try to get into the top eight overall and qualify for “Semi-Final Sunday” and ultimately a spot in Sunday’s $75,000.00 Tommy Dorchester Sudden Death Championship final heat.
When the night was complete, it was Chanse Vigen and his driving the Wentworth Oilfield Services Ltd. outfit, and along with outriders Rory Armstrong and Ethan Motowylo, who topped the overall aggregate with a four-run total of 4:56.44 and will drive off in a new 2023 GMC Truck as the Aggregate Winner at the 2023 Ponoka Stampede. He will be joined in the semi-final round by Layne MacGillivray, Jamie Laboucane, Ross Knight, Evan Salmond, Codey McCurrach, Wade Salmond and Kris Molle. Obrey Motowylo ended up in the crying hole, 9th place overall, and just missed the semi-final round by 98 one-hundreds of a second.
The top 4 times from the two semi-final heats on “Semi-Final Saturday” will qualify into the $75,000.00 Tommy Dorchester Sudden Death Championship final on Monday where the winner will take home the 2023 Ponoka Stampede Championship.
As far as day results are concerned, Chanse Vigen continues to defy the impossible by winning his fourth consecutive day money. It’s believed that it is the first time a chuckwagon driver won four consecutive day monies off of all four barrel positions. Vigens 1:14.30 from barrel number 3 in heat 8 was 21 one-hundredths of a second faster than Jamie Laboucane. Obrey Motowylo placed third on the night; Kirk Sutherland was fourth, with defending Ponoka Stampede Champion Ross Knight rounding out the top five on the night.
The Semi-Finals of the Ponoka Stampede can be heard on Saturday night, July 1, 2023 on WPCA Radio starting 7:30pm Mountain time on Real Country 910am, and can be watched live on the watch.wpca.com streaming platform.
Billy Melville
