By Laurence Heinen
The venue may have changed, but the goal remains the same.
Heading into the final World Professional Chuckwagon Association show of the season, Chanse Vigen has high hopes that he can defend the World Champion driver title he won in 2023 at Century Downs Racetrack and Casino.
To do so, he’ll have to maintain his position at the top of the driver standings until the conclusion of Saturday night’s races at the Wild West WPCA World Chuckwagon Finals in Ponoka.
Thanks to winning the aggregate title at the Battle of the Rockies in Rocky Mountain House, Alta., on Aug. 19, Vigen moved atop the World Standings with 1293.5 points, which is just 80 ahead of his cousin and fellow driver Rae Croteau Jr.
“There’s a little bit of a gap, but you’re never safe until it’s over,” said Vigen, who also won show titles this season in Medicine Hat, High River and Strathmore. “We’ll see how the horses respond to the week off that we had after Rocky Mountain House.”
Sitting in third spot in the driver standings with 1203.5 points, veteran reinsman Jason Glass has an outside shot to win his fifth world title.
“The horses have had a little rest now, so we should be strong,” Glass said. “It’ll be a bit of a fight here until the end. Chanse has got a pretty healthy lead, so we’re going to have to run really fast.”
After a disappointing start to the season in his hometown at the Grande Praire Stompede, which he won a year earlier, Vigen steadily rose up the driver standings to eventually get to the top.
“I’m just doing my thing,” said the 40-year-old reinsman, who now calls Calgary home. “It’s actually been more of a like a five-to-six-to-seven driver race for the most part. It’s just kind of tightened up near the end of the season between a few guys, but there’s still a number of drivers that can win it. All year it’s been a very close race with numerous drivers in the hunt, which is very unusual, so it’s cool.”
The season-long title isn’t the only thing that will be on the line in Ponoka from Wednesday to Sunday.
The Century Downs Racetrack and Casino Winners’ Zone Playoff Round will feature the top 12 drivers in the final three heats each night earning points based on running and aggregate times.
“It’s a neat system that gives the top 12 guys a lot to run for,” said Vigen, who’s hoping to improve upon his fourth-place showing in last year’s Winners’ Zone Championship Dash. “It’s an exciting format. The fans like it and hopefully we’re there come Sunday.”
The top four drivers with the most points after the first four nights of racing will advance to Sunday night’s final heat.
“It comes down to a horse race in Ponoka with that long homestretch there,” said Chad Fike, the current fifth-ranked driver, who finished second in last year’s championship dash behind winner Layne MacGillivray. “The horses are feeling as strong as they have been all summer and I feel like that they can carry their speed on and it probably should play into our favour in Ponoka. It’s nice to have something to look forward to for the last half of the year and build towards.”
After finishing second behind Vigen by just three points last year, Jamie Laboucane doesn’t have any grand illusions of being able to challenge for the title this weekend.
“I’m not too worried about the world title,” said Laboucane, who’s currently sitting in fourth spot, 40 points behind Glass. “I’d just like to go out and try to make that dash and try to win a little bit more money. My horses are really running. I think I’ve got a good shot at it if I can get the right barrel and do well the next four days.”
Qualifying for the playoff round in sixth spot, MacGillivray believes he has a shot at defending his Winners’ Zone Championship Dash performance from one year ago.
“I’m feeling good,” MacGillivray said. “We’ll take it one day at a time and see where we’ll end up. A guy’s got to have a good start, for sure, and keep picking away and see where we end up at the end of four days.”
Also qualifying to compete in the Winners’ Zone Playoff Round are Obrey Motowylo, Kurt Bensmiller, Luke Tournier, Cruise Bensmiller, Wade Salmond and Kris Molle.
“Once Wednesday starts, we all start at zero,” said Cruise Bensmiller, who will make his debut in the playoff round after qualifying in 10th spot overall. “It’s kind of any man’s game. If a guy can have a good four days and get enough points, then yeah, anybody can win it.”
Salmond agreed with Bensmiller’s assessment of the situation.
“You’ve got to have a little luck on your side, but you have to also be driving and go for broke every night, too,” said Salmond, who was edged out by Vigen by just 29/100ths of a second for the Battle of the Rockies aggregate title in Rocky Mountain House. “We’re certainly looking forward to the finals for sure. I think we’ve got as good a shot as anybody the way the horses are running (and) if we can just throw a few good runs together. I guess we showed that in Rocky Mountain House. You never know what can happen.”
CENTURY DOWNS WINNERS’ ZONE DRIVERS
CHANSE VIGEN – 1293.5 Points
Sundown Oilfield Services Ltd.
“I love Ponoka,” Vigen said. “I love coming here and we’ve had good luck on the track. At the same time, Century Downs was a meet that we really liked going to. We were sad to see that show get taken off the tour.”
RAE CROTEAU JR – 1213 Points
TeKh Group Inc.
“It just comes down to one race every night – doing your job, making sure horses are healthy and just being ready,” Croteau Jr. said. “You’ve got to beat the guys in your heat and you’ve got to be clean.”
JASON GLASS – 1203.5 Points
Birchcliffe Energy Ltd.
“I’m feeling good,” Glass said. “I just want to continue doing what we’re doing and let these horses do their jobs and we’ll see how it falls. It’ll be fun.”
JAMIE LABOUCANE – 1163.5 Points
Wild Rows Pump & Compression Ltd.
“We’ve been looking after the horses and keeping them fit,” Laboucane said. “I had a lot of adversity this year. We’ve got two outfits that I’m pretty confident in to do well. I don’t know if we can win it all, but I think we’ll be competitive.”
CHAD FIKE – 1155.5 Points
TOMCO Group of Companies
“You’ve kind of got to go for it just because of the way the point system is,” Fike said. “You’ve got to get there (to the championship dash). You’ve got to be in it to win it. We’ll work on getting to the final heat first and then go from there.”
LAYNE MACGILLIVRAY – 1138 Points
Pidherney’s
“Definitely the plan’s always to try and win it, for sure,” MacGillivray said. “We’ll see how it goes. We’ve kind of tailed off here a little bit of late. Hopefully, this little break we’ve had is good for the horses. Hopefully they come out running fast.”
OBREY MOTOWYLO – 1123 Points
The Co-operators
“I’m the local guy here,” Motowylo said. “I’m only about 45 to 50 minutes from the track, so it’s kind of nice. My chances are good. Hopefully the horses are well rested.”
KURT BENSMILLER – 1097 Points
Versatile Energy Services Ltd.
“Any time you can have these bigger shows with the dash format, I do like this,” Bensmiller said. “The World Champion still gets what he’s owed, because he gets his truck (a one-year lease) and his bronze and all that. Then it allows the guys that have been kind of knocking on the door to take their shot (at getting to the championship dash).”
LUKE TOURNIER – 1046.5 Points
Optimum Equipment Solutions
“That was one of our goals was to get in there,” Tournier said. “It keeps you interested in the whole season that way. You’ve got something to shoot for all the way to the end of the season, so that’s good. We kind of had a weak second half. We looked like we’re starting to turn it around in Rocky, so we hope to keep that going to give us a shot in Ponoka.”
CRUISE BENSMILLER – 991 – Points
Jones Boys Saddlery & Western Wear
“It’s awesome,” Benmsiller said. “I’ve had a great year. The horses have been working really well. It’s pretty cool. I’m excited. There’s no doubt about it, I’m one of the young guys in a pool of veteran guys. I’m hoping just to be clean and consistent and just keep what I’ve been doing all year.”
WADE SALMOND – 985 Points
De Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd.
“You’ve got to stay clean, that’s the main thing,” Salmond said. “I’ve been trying to do that all summer. My dad used to always say, ‘If you don’t hit the odd barrel once in a while, it means you’re not trying hard enough.’ I kind of took it to heart maybe a little bit too much.”
KRIS MOLLE – 969 Points
VJV Livestock Marketing Group
“I just want to run clean and have a good show and end the year on a good note is the biggest thing,” Molle said. “That’s the goal. The horses seem to be feeling good and looking good. I’ll just go in and try to finish the season strong and try to get up a few placings.”
