By Laurence Heinen
Ever since he got the call last fall that he was invited to compete at the 2024 Cowboys Rangeland Derby, Dayton Sutherland has had April 11 marked on his calendar.
The up-and-coming World Professional Chuckwagon Association driver has been eagerly anticipating taking part in the 2024 Calgary Stampede Canvas Auction on Thursday night at the Big Four Roadhouse.
“I’m certainly looking forward to it,” said the 26-year-old third-generation chuckwagon driver, who originally hails from Grande Prairie but currently resides in DeWinton, Alta. “I’m sure there’ll be lots of people there. I’ve heard that there’s going to be tons of bidders, a record amount. It’s always a good gauge of the economy or seems to be a relative gauge of the economy, so it’ll be interesting.”
Also up for auction will be the likes of 2023 Cowboys Rangeland derby champion Layne MacGillivray, 2023 WPCA world champion driver Chanse Vigen as well as runner-up Jamie Laboucane, among other high-profile drivers (see full list at bottom of the story).
“I’m excited to see where we end up or who we end up with,” said Sutherland, who’s hoping he draws interest from the companies and groups vying for the exclusive opportunity to advertise on a chuckwagon canvas during the 2024 Stampede. “It’s always exciting developing a new partnership, especially of that scale. That’s part of the reason why a guy wants to go to Calgary. It’s certainly for the sponsorship opportunities that make it sustainable to compete year-round.”
Sutherland will be one of three rookie Albertans on the auction card at this year’s event. The others are 32-year-old reinsman Chance Flad, of Arrowwood, and 36-year-old driver Chance Thomson, of Buck Creek.
“Those guys are really, really competitive wagons,” said Sutherland, while noting that both of the Chances most likely improved the horsepower in their barns – just as he did – over the off-season in order to be as competitive as possible. “I’m sure they’ll be very competitive and I’m happy for those guys as well.
“They’ve probably made some of the same financial decisions I made. I’m sure they used some of the money that they’re going to make during Stampede this year already to bolster their barns as well. As soon as you make Stampede the first thing a guy should do is make sure he stays there. They’ll be tough.”
A student of the sport of chuckwagon racing, Sutherland likes to think he’s picked up enough driving tips from his grandpa Kelly – a 12-time Rangeland Derby champion – as well as from his dad Mark, who retired following last year’s Stampede. In addition, he’s studied the likes of fellow competitors Kurt Bensmiller, a four-time Derby champ, and Jason Glass, a perennial contender who finally won it all in Calgary in 2013, four years before Sutherland was named the WPCA’s Top Rookie Driver.
“I’ve paid a lot of attention to guys like Glass and Bensmiller and my grandpa and my dad and I think I know what it takes to win,” said Sutherland, who finished 22nd in the WPCA driver standings last season. “I don’t think I have the exact same horsepower as the rest of the guys, but I think if I get a couple more pieces I’ll be right there. It’s mostly just consistency and giving yourself an opportunity to win (and) to get lucky in the dash. I’m always overly optimistic. I always go in thinking that I can win. It hasn’t necessarily happened yet, but hopefully this is the year that it finally turns around.”
Sutherland is expecting that his dad will be around helping out during the Stampede and that his grandpa is always only one phone call away if he needs advice.
“I call him every now and then,” he said. “He says I don’t call enough and ask enough questions. Grandpa’s one of the guys that … monkey see, monkey do. That’s kind of how you learn from grandpa, I find. I spent a lot of time, when I was a kid growing up, watching him and hanging out with him and talking to him daily.”
He’ll also be able to rely on support from his great uncle Kirk Sutherland and cousin Mitch Sutherland, who both still compete on the WPCA Pro Tour and will be at the Calgary Stampede as well.
“Those are probably the guys that I hang out with the most on the circuit is Mitch and Kirk,” said the youngest Sutherland reinsman. “I used to work for them and we hang pretty closely, so I’m excited to be back there. Dad’s not there obviously, but uncle and Mitch are still there. I’m not sure if this will be uncle’s last year or not, but it’ll be nice to at least race there when he’s still there.”
Thursday’s canvas auction is just one step along the way to Sutherland’s ultimate goal of finally competing at the Rangeland Derby. His plan is to have his outfits peaking to be ready for that first Friday night of competition and right on through the 10 days of racing action at the Calgary Stampede from July 5-14.
“I’m really excited for that part,” said Sutherland, who will do his best to make his sponsor proud. “I really, really enjoy the tension and the nerves that build up to it.
“I really do love the competition side of it and I love the horses, the way that they get when the stakes rise. They can sense all that stuff. They can definitely feel the tension themselves, so for us I think that’s a positive. We’ve basically been thinking about those 10 days and that first night since we got the invite in the fall, so I couldn’t be more excited.”
2024 COWBOYS RANGELAND DERBY DRIVERS
Todd Baptiste
Kurt Bensmiller
Chance Bensmiller
Rae Croteau Jr
Troy Dorchester
Dallas Dyck
Preston Faithful
Chad Fike
Jordie Fike
Darcy Flad
Chance Flad
Jason Glass
Doug Irvine
Ross Knight
Jamie Laboucane
Layne MacGillivray
Kris Molle
Obrey Motowylo
Cody Ridsdale
Danny Ringuette
Evan Salmond
Wade Salmond
Mitch Sutherland
Kirk Sutherland
Dayton Sutherland
Chance Thomson
Chanse Vigen
101 (demonstration) drivers
Ryan Baptiste
Layne Flad
