Evan Magee – Breaks Fifteen Year Old Track Record On Saturday Night In Medicine Hat
Photo By Shellie Scott
It was a warm evening of racing on Night 3 of the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede. The races were contested under cloudy skies with temperatures hovering around 18°C. Track conditions were excellent, and with a berth in Sunday’s Championship Final Heat on the line, the competition was fierce from start to finish. When the final heat was complete, it was Chanse Vigen, Layne Flad and Logan Gorst who secured the three coveted spots in the 2026 Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede Championship Final.
Chanse Vigen and his Volker Stevin Canada outfit maintained the aggregate lead they had held since opening night, qualifying first overall with a three-day aggregate time of 3:06.29. Layne Flad advanced to the first Championship Final Heat of his WPCA career after qualifying second overall, 2.63 seconds behind Vigen. Logan Gorst produced one of the night’s biggest moves, climbing from fifth place overall—more than a second and a half out of a qualifying position at the start of the evening—to claim the third and final berth in Sunday’s Championship Final. Jason Glass narrowly missed advancing after slipping to fourth overall, just six one-hundredths of a second behind Gorst, while Preston Faithful rounded out the top five in the aggregate standings.
The night’s fastest run, however, belonged to Evan Magee, who etched his name into the Medicine Hat record books. Coming off barrel number three in the second heat, Magee, driving the Crush It – Hard Iced Tea – Made with Provincial Vodka! outfit, captured the Kirk’s Trail Tire Wheels on Fire Fast Time of the Night while establishing a new Medicine Hat track record of 59.72 seconds. His record-breaking run eclipsed the previous mark of 1:00.17, set by Kurt Bensmiller in 2011, by nearly half a second.
Preston Faithful and Chanse Vigen also broke the one-minute barrier, finishing second and third fastest on the night, while Logan Gorst and Jamie Laboucane completed the top five.
The Finals of the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede can be heard live on Sunday afternoon, June 14, 2026, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 3:00 p.m. Central and 2:00 p.m. Mountain Time on 96.5 The Ranch. Streaming is also available through the WPCA website at wpca.com, as well as on the iHeartRadio and Radioplayer Canada websites and apps.
Billy Melville
