The infield was swampy due to a storm that had passed by minutes earlier, but that didn’t stop the chuckwagon drivers from taking their starting positions during Canada Day action at the Ponoka Stampede.
While six of the eight heats in the All-Pro Canadian Chuckwagon event were competing for day money, all eyes were on heats seven and eight; the top eight from the week and those competing for placement in the Tommy Dorchester Dash for Cash.
The fastest time of the night went to heat six’s Linda Shippelt-Hubl with a rapid 1:15.58, although Curtis Wood, in the same heat, was nipping at her heels just a tenth of a second behind.
In the semi-finals, the tightly-packed top-four heading into Sunday’s final four were Cole Adamson with a time of 1:17.00; Keith Wood. 1:17.83; Kolten Theil, 1:17.89; and Phil Arcand, 1:17.97.
Winning the aggregate time for the week in the All-Pro Canadian tour was Lee Adamson.
On the World Professional Chuckwagons circuit, the first seven heats were drivers competing for day money; the final two were the top eight from the week competing for the four spots in Sunday’s finals.
Chanse Vigen continued his unprecedented run winning his fifth day in a row with a time of 1:16.47.
Joining Vigen in Sunday’s finals are Evan Salmond, Layne MacGillivray and Kriss Molle.
Defending Stampede champion Ross Knight ended up just missing out on the top four by just 11 one-hundredths of a second.
The Dash-For-Cash will run at 6:30 p.m. Sunday.
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