FROG LAKE – The Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association rolled into Frog Lake’s Stampede Park on Friday, July 26 for the three-day Midwest Chuckwagon Classic, starting off the show amid very strong winds bringing with them a pall of wildfire smoke and increasingly strong threats of rain.
That first night saw Ryan Baptiste’s second wagon, sponsored by Red Pheasant Farms, running in the first heat of the show, set the bar for all the wagons that followed with a time of 1:21.03, a time that could not be equalled until Sunday’s final heat, when Logan Gorst and his Meadow Lake Chrysler outfit crossed the finish line in a time of 1:20.77 to take the show championship.
Friday’s turbulent weather could possibly be blamed for some of the 22 minutes in penalties that night, and was no doubt the reason for Saturday’s considerably slower times, which ranged from Colby Stanley’s top time of 1:27.91 with the W & R Concrete wagon in the seventh heat to a slow as a disappointing 1:41.06 penalty-free run for Darwin Kaseco in the fourth heat. Only one penalty, 10 seconds for a missed barrel, was recorded that evening, however.
Sunday’s sunshine, smoke-free skies and light winds brought out the weekend’s best crowds to enjoy the final eight heats of the Midwest Classic, with Desjarlais Racing setting the pace in the first heat with a time of 1:22.56, a time that could not be topped during the next three heats, Jason McCallum topping the second heat in the Waring Farms wagon with 1:25.10, Roland Baptiste driving the Market Tire wagon across the line to win the third with a time of 1:25.65 and Ryan Baptiste, driving for Sunchild Law, winning the fourth with 1:25.65.
The fifth heat saw a new leader as Amber L’Heureux headed her pink wagon sponsored by Swift-net.ca out of the infield in a hurry and led the way all around the track, crossing the finish line in 1:22.49. Randall Stanley and the Honda Lloydminster wagon led the sixth heat with a time of 1:23.83, but it was Dallas Dyck in the seventh who topped L’Heureux’s time wit a 1:22.29 to take a new lead.
That new top time was quickly dashed when DJ King and the High Octane outfit, Danny Ringuette and Superior Concrete Pumping and Logan Gorst and Meadow Lake Chrysler hit the track in the championship heat, Gorst and Ringuette soon leaving King behind as they battled for a very close finish, Gorst’s final spurt of speed winning him the championship with a blistering 1:20.77, Ringuette close behind with 1:21.29 and King coming third with 1:24.17 to wrap up an excellent weekend of chuckwagon racing.
In addition to the championship awards for Gorst and outriders Wyatt Dyck and Logan Pethick, the weekend’s top three aggregate drivers, Gorst, Ringuette and Brad McMann, received an added payout, from a memorial for the late Kirby Stanley.
Following the Frog Lake races, Gorst and Ringuette sit first and second in the CPCA Drive Standings, with DJ King third and Colby Stanley fourth. The CPCA ran in Kelvington, Sask. this past weekend and will run at Little Pine, Sask. this weekend before they move on to the Lloydminster Finals, Aug 14 to 18.