Chanse Vigen aims to repeat chuckwagon success of 2023

A season to remember for Chanse Vigen all started one year ago when he captured his first-ever Grande Prairie Stompede title in his hometown.

In addition to winning the $35,000 championship final heat, Vigen also took home the Ralph Vigen Memorial Award, named in honour of his grandfather, for compiling the best four-day aggregate time of 5:11.72, which was an impressive 5.38 seconds ahead of Kurt Bensmiller.

“The fact that the award is named after my grandfather is obviously very sentimental, so hopefully we can repeat our success in Grande Prairie,” said the third-generation chuckwagon driver, who recently celebrated his 40th birthday on May 14.

“Of course, it’s special,” added Vigen in regards to finally winning his hometown show after years of trying. “Any time you compete in your hometown, it’s cool because you’ve got a lot of friends, family, school teachers, etc., watching in the stands.”

Vigen went on to have a battle for the ages against Jamie Laboucane to see who would emerge as the World Professional Chuckwagon Association’s top driver.

While Vigen also won show titles at the Ponoka Stampede and the Battle of the Rockies in Rocky Mountain House, Laboucane held his own by prevailing at the Medicine Hat Stampede and the Battle of the North in Dawson Creek, B.C.

“At the start of the season, he had a leg up on me,” said Laboucane in regards to the year-long battle he waged against Vigen. “He had two outfits, and I only had one solid outfit the first part of the season. Then the last half, I put a second outfit together, which kind of evened up the score a little bit. It was a great battle all season. It was a lot of fun.”

Ultimately, Vigen finished atop the driver standings with 1,573 points, which was just three more than Laboucane, who started the season as a permit driver in his successful bid to earn a permanent spot to compete on the WPCA circuit.

“Of course, I would have liked to win,” Laboucane said. “But you know what? The first year coming into the circuit and trying to figure everything out, it was a lot, so I’m pretty proud of what I did.”

After finding a successful formula which led him to 40 top-10 runs last season and an impressive 20 first-place showings, Vigen says he’s not planning on changing much leading up to this year’s Grande Prairie Stompede, which runs from Wednesday to Sunday.

“We were very fortunate,” said Vigen, who now lives in Calgary with his wife, Brie. “We found a recipe last year, and I’m hoping that we can replicate some of the success and maybe even trump it because I’m going to leave a lot of those outfits alone — unless some of the new ones surprise me, and then we’ll throw them in the lineup. You’re always building. We’re going to have to insert the new ones at some stage, because you always have to build up some stock.”

Laboucane agrees with his competitor that continually managing his barn will be a big key to duplicating his success from last season.

“I’ve got a lot of young horses going here and some old veterans, too,” said the 37-year-old reinsman, who resides in St. Walburg, Sask., with his wife, Dana, and their two children, Oliver and Ella. “I’ve got a good mix, so hopefully everything stays sound and just keep coming out and, hopefully, the horses run like they did last year and I’ve got a good shot at it.”

Of course, other drivers like Evan Salmond, Jason Glass and Layne MacGillivray, who finished third, fourth and fifth respectively in the 2023 driver standings, will be looking to improve upon their fortunes from the previous year.

“Right now, it’s a new year and we’re all starting from scratch,” Vigen said. “The score’s 0-0, and we’re starting at the bottom again. It’s up to us to work our way to the top, and that’s what spring is for. We’re all eager to get going. Again, there are 40 other drivers that are going to come ready to roll.”

Following the conclusion of the Stompede, the drivers will pack up and head west to take part in the Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship from June 6-9.

After a week off, the WPCA Pro Tour will resume with the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede from June 20-23 followed by the Ponoka Stampede, which runs from June 26 to Canada Day.