NEWS FILE PHOTO JAMES TUBB
The World Professional Chuckwagon Association will be in Medicine Hat starting tonight with four races wrapping up Sunday afternoon with the championship final heat.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The chuckwagons have rolled into Medicine Hat and are ready to put on a show starting this evening.
The World Professional Chuckwagon Association tour kicks off at 7 p.m., with the first of four races taking place at the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede grounds. Each race features 36 drivers competing in 12 heats, including the dash for cash finale Sunday at 2 p.m.
“This is one of the major events in the community,” Stampede general manager Ron Edwards said. “It brings in 39 wagon drivers, their whole families and helpers, there are about 600 horses around the grounds and it brings in a lot of money in economic impact to the community. It’s huge.”
Friday and Saturday’s races also get underway at 7 p.m. The WPCA tour is coming off the Dewberry World Chuckwagon Races last weekend, where Chad Fike won the championship. He finished 49 one-hundredths ahead of the second place finisher.
Kurt Bensmiller finished seventh during the final day of racing in Dewberry but is heading into this weekend looking to build off his 2022 Medicine Hat championship. He enjoys the shorter track here and is looking forward to being back in the city he finally won in.
“It was a big deal (last year) because it was one of the ones that had always eluded me,” Bensmiller said. “Just got the wrong draw on a couple of outside bins, so to be able to actually get it done was special.”
He says his horses have changed up a lot since he won last June and will change still as he gets ready for a busy and important stretch of racing. After four days of running the oval in Medicne Hat, the WPCA tour rolls through the Ponoka Stampede (June 27 to July 2) before heading to the Calgary Stampede (July 7-16). It’s a big summer stretch that Bensmiller, who has 12 career championship wins, lives for.
“There’s a lot of good championships you can win throughout the year but if you can have a good 16 days there, you can definitely re-fund everything again for another couple of years to be able to keep going,” Bensmiller said.
The key to success this weekend and across the potentially fruitful upcoming events, according to Bensmiller, is a deep barn of horses and staying focused.
“You have to have a few extra (horses) you can put in when someone gets a little tired, it always helps you out,” Bensmiller said. “Consistency is a really big thing. If you can stay mentally sharp throughout the whole 16 days, you should be close, if not winning it.”
Tickets for the four days of racing are still available at mhstampede.com/the-stampede/.
