Chanse Vigen – Dominating Performance Over First Four Days In Ponoka
Photo By Shellie Scott
It was another sunny Sunday in Ponoka and racetrack conditions were much improved over Saturday night. It was the last chance for the drivers to try and get into the top eight for “Semi Final Monday” at the Ponoka Stampede. When the night was complete, Chanse Vigen, Chad Fike, Obrey Motowylo, Jamie Laboucane, Kurt Bensmiller, Evan Salmond, Mitch Sutherland and Logan Gorst made the cut, and will compose the two semi-final heats on Monday night.
Chanse Vigen qualified in first place overall after posing the best four-day total of 4:57.81 and will get the use of 2025 GMC Sierra Pickup courtesy of Summit Fleet for one year. Chad F3.68 seconds behind the Aggregate Winner Chanse Vigen. The biggest jump of the semi-finalists was made by Logan Gorst who started the day in thirteenth position overall, nearly two-seconds out of eighth place, and grabbed the final qualifying spot after a big run on night 4. Cruise Bensmiller finished just outside, placing ninth overall, just 4 one-hundredths of a second out of the final semi-final spot. D.J. King, who began the day in sixth place overall, fell to tenth place and missed qualifying for the semi-final round by just 23 one-hundredths of a second from eighth place overall.
The eight drivers who qualified for “Semi Final Monday” will have the opportunity to select according to their order of finish which semi-final heat they would like to be in (either heat number seven or heat number nine), as well as which barrel position they would like in the heat they have selected based on availability. The top four times from Monday’s semi-final round will qualify into the $75,000.00 Tommy Dorchester Sudden Death Championship final heat where the winner will be declared the 2025 Ponoka Stampede Champion.
On the night, Chanse Vigen and his McWilliam Automotive & CBI Solar outfit continued his dominating performance by winning his third Alberta AG Centre Fast Time of the Night for the third time in four runs after posting a time of 1:13.32 from barrel position number three in the fourth heat. Chad Fike placed second overall for the second time this week, nine-tenths of a second behind Vigen. Logan Gorst’s third place run vaulted him from thirteenth overall into the semi-final round, with Jordie Fike and Rae Croteau Jr. rounding out the top five on the night.
“Semi-Final Monday” of the Ponoka Stampede Championship can be heard on WPCA Pro Tour LIVE on Monday night, June 30, 2025. starting 7:45pm Mountain time on 96.5 The Ranch, or streaming options are available through the WPCA Website at wpca.com, iHeart Radio website/app or the Radioplayer Canada website/app.
Billy Melville
