LAKELAND – The Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association’s 2023 season wound up in Lloydminster this past weekend, after a series of seven shows in Saskatchewan and Alberta where drivers collected points that would determine their standing going into the finals at Halstead Downs.
A show win at Onion Lake Cree Nation and four other show finishes in the top five put Bonnyville teamster Danny Ringuette, driving for B& R Eckel’s, in the final heat of the five-day CPCA finals, along with Luke Tournier of Duck Lake, Sask., D. J. King and CPCA High Point champion Logan Gorst, both of Meadow Lake, Sask.
Four nights of racing saw Tournier take the show championship, but in Sunday’s championship final run, the Duck Lake driver received a one second penalty for his wagon starting ahead of the horn, and Ringuette, who crossed the line in 1: 16.24, penalty free, just 61/100 behind Tournier, was declared the winner of the 2023 Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association Championship and a 2003 Nissan Pathfinder. His win became official after the show’s judges scrutinized films of the race and overturned Tournier’s protest of the penalty.
