Kurt Bensmiller’s win was eight years in the making

By Ryan McCracken on June 17, 2019.

rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com
@MHNMcCracken

Eight years ago, Kurt Bensmiller made history by setting the World Professional Chuckwagon Association track record in Medicine Hat — but on Sunday he finally became the Gas City champion. 

After reaching the championship heat for the fourth time in the past nine seasons, the two-time reigning world champion managed to edge brother-in-law Vern Nolin and 2015 Medicine Hat champ John Walters to take the weekend title with a time of 1:02.30. 

“I’ve always liked coming to Medicine Hat,” said Bensmiller. “I always seem to have a little tough luck besides that track record and today, but I don’t know, the family and me always love coming here.”

Bensmiller says he was thankful to earn the first barrel entering Sunday’s championship heat after losing to Luke Tournier from the second barrel in 2017 and finishing behind Doug Irvine from the third barrel in 2016.

“We didn’t know what to expect. We were hoping, because we finally got the one-barrel here and I’ve been in the dash several times and I always seem to draw the three and have to try to run around everybody,” said Bensmiller. “So I put a couple new horses in, their second race and fourth race tonight, and I just kind of went for it. It’s nice to get them new ones in those big races too.”

Bensmiller added Medicine Hat will always hold a special place in his heart, as his record-setting run of 1:00.17 in 2011 helped put his stamp on the WPCA with a time that has yet to be bested.

“That was kind of the start of my career of wagon racing,” he said. “I had started racing before that, but the first big major thing that I had done in wagon racing was set the track record here.”

In the years since, Bensmiller has formed a friendly but fierce rivalry with his brother-in-law, Nolin, and this weekend provided another riveting chapter.

While Bensmiller also defeated Nolin in back-to-back heats to punch his ticket to Sunday’s championship heat, he only managed to edge his brother in law by five-hundreths of a second Friday and just over two-tenths of a second Saturday.

“We’ve been running against each other for a few years. The last couple years especially he’s been in the later heats with me so he’s been tough,” said Bensmiller. “We kind of alternated winning last year and it looks like the way we’ve started out this year it’s going to be the same thing. It’s good to keep it in the family.”

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