By Laurence Heinen
What a difference a year makes.
Just ask Tuff Dreger, who came into this past season wanting to put a disappointing 2022 outing behind him.
The 20-year-old reinsman from Grande Prairie did just that as he finished 20th in the 2023 World Professional Chuckwagon Association driver standings to improve immensely on his 37th-place showing from one year earlier.
By virtue of his impressive accomplishments, Dreger was awarded with the Herman Flad Memorial Award as Most Improved Driver sponsored by the Troy Flad Family at the WPCA Awards Banquet last Saturday at the Grey Eagle Resort and Casino.
“It’s a huge honour,” said Dreger shortly after accepting the award. “It’s the Herman Flad Memorial and my best friend (and fellow driver) Layne Flad, that’s his grandfather. It’s a big honour for me to get it.”
Among his goals heading into this year was performing well enough to finish among the top 34 drivers who automatically lock down a WPCA Pro Tour spot for 2024.
And he did just that.
“Going into this season, my idea was to at least make the Tour coming from a permit spot,” said Dreger, who started off the 2023 campaign with a bang by finishing ninth in the aggregate standings at his hometown Grande Prairie Stompede show. “We lucked out and I was able to throw quite a few good runs in and we locked down a spot.”
Although his son finished four spots ahead of him in the standings, Tuff’s dad Dean wasn’t upset at all and was pleased as punch to see him go up on stage to accept the Herman Flad Memorial Award.
“Absolutely, we worked hard as a team to get him there,” said the proud papa. “He earned every bit of it, for sure. Tuff was a different guy this year. He just really focused and kept his eye on the prize from Day 1.”
In turn, the younger Dreger praised his dad for all his wisdom and assistance, especially commending him for the help with the tough job of getting down the road from show to show throughout the gruelling season.
“He packs me down the road as much as he can,” Tuff said. “If I need a certain horse that I need to make a run, he’s going to give it to me. He’s completely on my side. He puts me first ahead of himself all the time.
“He’s the hardest working guy I know. Probably 90 per cent of the success last year was all because of him.”
An influx of horsepower helped both of the Dregers achieve consistent results in 2023.
“We were presented with an opportunity from Vern Nolin to purchase his herd and we joined them up with our herd and switched some things around and really focused on training for the first part of the season and it paid off,” explained Dean. “We made sure that Tuff had the right horses that got along with him.
“There was lots of care and control and lots of practice involved with the goings on prior to the first show. We changed up our training to get a little bit more air in them horses before the first show, so we’d have the edge on some of the other competitors.”
Like his father and grandfather Kelly Sutherland (Dean is married to Kelly’s daughter Tara), Tuff quickly realized when he started driving at the young age of 15 that he’s only as good of a driver as his horses will let him be.
“We treat these horses so well in regards to nutrition,” he said. “They’re top tier athletes is what they are.”
Making a connection with his horses is also something he learned from his grandpa Kelly, who was on hand last Saturday to see his grandson accept his award.
“There’s nobody on the planet that could ever drive a horse like he could,” said Tuff, who – like his cousin Dayton Sutherland – ties a feather into his cowboy hat in honour of his grandfather. “You watch and he’s just a complete natural. What he always tells me is let the horses work. Don’t overdrive. Let the horses do what they want to do.”
The inspiration that Tuff takes from his grandfather is immeasurable.
“He’s who I’ve always wanted to be growing up,” Tuff said. “All I’ve ever wanted to do is drive a chuckwagon.
“Even getting to Calgary one day, that would be surreal for me. He won 12 World Championships and 12 Calgary Stampede Championships. Those are really big shoes to fill. Going to the Ponoka Stampede for the first time was just a surreal moment. I imagine if I ever do get the chance to compete in Calgary, it would be the same.”
Getting his Pro Tour card back was just the first step. Now, Tuff wants to prove that he belongs.
“It’s definitely a stress reliever,” said the confident young driver of earning a regular spot to compete on the WPCA circuit, “but I’m still looking to win. That’s the whole goal. This is just the beginning, in a sense, to just get here. Now the easy part’s over. Now you’ve got to go beat (2023 World Champion) Chanse Vigen, who is unbeatable.”
