By Laurence Heinen
Kris Molle was overcome with emotion after getting the highest bid at Thursday night’s 2024 Calgary Stampede Canvas Auction, presented by Cowboys, at the Big Four Roadhouse.
After Graf Mechanical Ltd. stepped up to purchase him for $210,000 at the auction, which raised an impressive total of $3.115 million, Molle couldn’t wipe the surprised look off his face.
“You have no idea,” said Molle, who tied for the top bid of $170,000 last year when Graf Mechanical also stepped up to the plate for him. “I’m not going to lie. I got the top bid, went back and shook their hands. I literally couldn’t hold it together. I was very emotional about it. I can’t thank Graf Mechanical enough.”
After all, the 2022 Cowboys Rangeland Derby champion had a disappointing showing at last year’s 10-day show when he took a no time on the eighth night of competition, which wound up dropping him to the bottom of the standings among the 27 drivers.
“I went from being the hero one year to last place last year,” said the 46-year-old reinsman from Chauvin, Alta., who noted that a lot of luck is needed to consistently perform well at the Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth. “It happened, which is unfortunate. You don’t ever want that to happen. You want to go in with that mindset that you’re going to do well and go as best as you can. I feel I have the horsepower to do it, so I want to be at the top again.”
Colton Graf, who co-owns the company with his dad Mike, said they had no qualms about winning the bidding war with VisitLethbridge.com – a former sponsor of Molle’s – to get the rights to have their logo emblazoned their favourite driver’s chuckwagon canvas throughout the 2024 Stampede.
“Last year was lots of fun,” said Graf, while adding that another huge selling point is having the unique opportunity to offer a select group of guests a one-of-a-kind, behind-the-scenes experience with their driver in the chuckwagon barns. “We bring some clients out to come into the back and do the suppers and the things that come along with it. I think it’s very beneficial. It gets our name out there huge. Last year, being the first time for us doing it, you learn a lot and you believe in him for sure. I hope he does really well this year.”
Seeing as how the Grafs and Molle hail from the same hometown of Watson, Sask., the decision to re-up their commitment was pretty much a no-brainer.
“Him and my dad go back a long way,” Graf said. “His parents still live there and are a close family connection. Kris and my dad used to ride horses and do things like that together and Kris sold a couple of horses for my dad when he was gone working. We’ve been following him for a long time.”
Molle would like nothing more than to reward the Grafs for their support by returning to the form that saw him win the Dash For Cash on the final night of the 2022 Stampede.
“Absolutely, there’s more pressure,” Molle said. “You have that in the back of your mind. When you sell to a top seller, you want to perform well. When they give that kind of money, you want to do well as well. I don’t know what to say. It’s a good feeling to have. I sure appreciate the support they gave me.”
Having already purchased 11 new horses over the off-season to prepare for the upcoming World Professional Chuckwagon Association season, which starts with the Grande Prairie Stompede from May 31 to June 1, Molle noted that the money he received on Thursday night will be put right back into his operation costs.
“It’s huge,” he said. “Everything I make off of sponsorship, I put back into the team and to improve and for continuous improvement to make the team bigger, better, faster and that’s what you want. At the end of the day, we all want to be champions and that’s where we put our sponsorship dollars too.”
Like Molle, Kurt Bensmiller had his sponsor from 2023 step up big for him once again. After spending $170,000 to advertise on Bensmiller’s canvas last year, Grey Eagle Resort and Casino upped their bid by $5,000 on Thursday.
Reigning WPCA World Champion Chanse Vigen tied for the third highest bid of $160,000 from KMA Construction Inc. along with Stampede rookie Dayton Sutherland, who secured the same amount from Truman Homes.
Eighteen of the 27 drivers received a bid of $100,000 or more, while the sale set a record with the highest average bid of $115,370.37 in the 44-year history of the event. It exceeded the previous record of $111,528.00 by nearly $4,000.00/canvas set back in 2012.
“Pretty overwhelming — it’s hard to put into words, but it’s great to see the support that the sponsors have for the sport of chuckwagon racing and the Rangeland Derby,” said Will Osler, president and chair of the Stampede board. “The sponsor gets a lot out of their sponsorship, but in this case, it’s more than just seeing their logo racing around the track. It really shows that they are committed to the sport, they’re committed to their drivers, they’re committed to their families.”
With the start of the Stampede just 84 days away as of April 12, Osler said the annual canvas auction serves as the unofficial countdown towards the annual spectacle.
“When you’re in there and seeing what the sponsors are doing and how they want to win and want to have fun and want to succeed, what a great start to the countdown,” he said. “Our volunteers on the chuckwagon committee work hard all year round to make this auction what it is. For me it’s always about the drivers and the families that are involved in the sport. The sport’s been around for a long time. A lot of these families, they’ve been part of the sport since the very beginning. When you’re talking about a sport that’s got that kind of history and so many legacies and so many good family stories, it adds up to the kind of results we saw (on Thursday night).
