For two years running, Luke Tournier has captured the Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship.
The World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) driver from Duck Lake, SK rode into town last week, hoping to defend his title over the four-day races from July 21-24.
It started out promising for Tournier after day one. His original two-second penalty was dismissed, pushing him ahead into the first spot. With a time of 1:15.11, he was 42 one-hundredths of a second faster than Cody Ridsdale and Mike Vigen, who were tied for second and third.
Despite coming in fifth in day two results, Tournier was still sitting in the No. 1 spot in the aggregate standings. The defending champion clocked a two-day total time of 2:30.64.
“You always think you're hooking good horses, but I'm hooking horses that I know can run and I know what they're going to do,” said Tournier. “Usually I have a tendency to drive too many green ones and I've been trying to stay disciplined and just drive the ones I know.”
Sitting behind the defending champion, ranked second with a two-day time of 2:31.31, was local star Doug Irvine.
It was touch and go for Tournier and his SITE Energy outfit. When the day three races were over, driver John Walters had recorded the fastest time of the meet so far at 1:13.99, thanks to a penalty-free run. Walters came in an entire 1.1 seconds ahead of the second fastest driver, Chad Harden.
After Tournier slipped into ninth spot in day three results, that gave Walters the chance to take first place in the overall aggregate standings. His three run time of 3:46.46 was 26 one-hundredths of a second ahead of Tournier's.
Needing a big run to bring him back into the lead, Tournier wasn't overly confident when he pulled up to the barrel.
“I didn't think I was going to win it. I thought, ‘well I'm going to three barrel, I'm probably not going to win it.' But, I thought ‘we're still getting good points and we just need to keep running clean,' and it worked out,” Tournier said in a media interview following his win.
Along with outriders Chance Flad and Quaid Tournier, the outfit finished with a four-day total time of 5:02.05, winning the 2016 Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship and George Normand Memorial Buckle for a second consecutive year.
Coming in second place was John Walters with an total time of 5:02.69, 64 one-hundredths of a second behind the champion.
The pride of La Corey, Irvine and his B&R Eckel's outfit had a four-day aggregate time of 5:10.08 to finished in 21st.
While Tournier was on cloud nine with his second championship win in Bonnyville, it was an emotional day at the end of the rainbow. After three generations in chuckwagon racing, the iconic rainbow wagon driven by Rae Croteau Jr. made its last lap around the track.
Finishing in 16th with a four-day time of 5:07.66, while Croteau said he was still focused on having a good, clean race, there was more meaning to the race than scores.
“It was special. We had a great tribute before with grandpa Ray in the wagon and dad and everybody out there. We had the outriders and a few drivers saying ‘bye'. It means a lot.”
Originally from Bonnyville, Croteau's farewell was nothing short of a community affair.
“Being in our hometown, with all of the people in the crowd that were able to come to the show that have supported me over the years, I give kudos to the town and the crowds that come to the races. The stands were packed every night,” Croteau said following his final race. “I'm proud of that, and I hope they're proud of me.”
While Croteau has officially entered retirement now, the rest of the chuckwagon drivers and outriders will be headed to Strathmore for the next leg of the WPCA Pro Tour starting July 29.
