The chuckwagons thundered down the track at the Battlefords Ag Society track this weekend as the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association began their 2016 season.
North Battleford resumed its traditional role as the first stop on the nine-meet schedule, with other Northwest stops scheduled this season for Onion Lake, Turtleford, Meadow Lake and Lloydminster.
Once again the event was embraced by Battlefords fans, with a full grandstand on hand for the weekend. Each night featured 12 heats of races featuring 36 chuckwagons.
After the first night, the top running times had Kris Molle in first place for Benoit Oilfield Construction Ltd. (his non-points outfit) with a time of 1:03.20. Second was Jamie Laboucane of Sidekicks Express at 1:03.58. Ray Mitsuing for Sunridge RV was third at 1:04.78 and Wayne Knight of Winterhault Farms ran fourth at 1:04.88.
On the second night's action on Saturday, Molle took first and third place on the night on two different wagons. His time on his PWM Steel wagon was 1.03.33 and his Benoit Oilfield Construction Ltd. wagon was third with 1:04.15. In between Jamie Laboucane's time was 1:03.87 for second on the night.
Overall, Molle's Benoit Oilfield Construction non-points wagon led Laboucane 2:07.35 to 2:07.45 after two nights.
On the final day of action, Championship Sunday, Molle had another dominating day, but he did not end up winning the day money. Ray Mitsuing drove the top time at 1:03:58. Molle's Benoit Oilfield Construction wagon was second at 1:03.60 and his PWM Steel wagon was third at 1:03.66.
But that PWM Steel outfit would have placed first had it not been hit with a one-second penalty for a late outrider.
Overall, though, Molle ended up taking both first and second place for the weekend on two different wagons. His nonpoints outfit for Benoit Oilfield Construction won the three day aggregate with a time of 3:10.95. His PWM Steel outfit took second at 3:12.30. Mitsuing took third at 3:12.51 while Jamie Laboucane took fourth at 3:13.54.
It's the second year in a row that Molle has kicked off the season with a North Battleford victory.
Despite his dominating weekend riding two wagons, Molle was not able to emerge from the weekend with the most points.
It was Mitsuing who left North Battleford in the lead with 142 points. His points advantage was mainly due to his wagon finishing ahead of Molle's PWM Steel on two of the three days.
Molle ended up second in the standings with 140 points.
The next stop for the CPCA is Dewberry starting on June 17, followed by Wainwright on June 23. As always, the highlight of the chuckwagon race season is the Calgary Stampede starting July 8.
