'Definitely not just the driver': Rangeland Derby champ Jason Glass praises family, crew, horses, sponsors

Jason Glass had a lot of people — and horses — to thank after winning the Cowboys Rangeland Derby at the 2024 Calgary Stampede.

With his wife Brienne and kids Bodie and Steele by his side on Sunday night, Glass walked onto the GMC Stadium grandstand stage to accept a $50,000 cheque and keys to a new GMC truck from track announcer Les McIntyre.

“It’s not just about these four horses I drove tonight,” said Glass, who’s proud of his chuckwagon racing lineage that dates all the way back to 1924 when his great-grandfather Tom Lauder won his first of three Stampede titles. “It’s about years and years of hard work that our family’s putting in, the Calgary Stampede’s put in (and) all you people (in the crowd). Just the sport of chuckwagon racing is amazing.”

Indeed, it has been for the Glass family as Jason’s grandfather Ronnie won four titles, while his dad Tom crossed the finish line in first on four occasions.

Without a strong stable of horses and people to take care of those equine athletes, the Glass family could not have accomplished what they have in the sport of chuckwagon racing.

“It’s definitely not just the driver,” said Glass, who won his first Rangeland Derby title in 2013 and then had to wait 11 years to capture his second. “It takes an army to build these wagon outfits. I’m just so proud of my horses. They were amazing.”

Running off barrel No. 1 in Sunday’s Dash For Cash, Glass decided to go with an outfit comprised of Chaska (right leader), Legit (left leader), Proud (right wheeler) and Slater (left wheeler).

“When the horn blew, all four of them went together how they have been,” said the 53-year-old reinsman from High River, Alta. “I got around the top barrel nice. I was a little tight at the bottom, but I was in a hurry. Once I got to that rail and the other two (drivers — Layne MacGillivray and Chanse Vigen) were on the outside of me, I’ve got a lot of power pulling that wagon. I was pretty confident I could stay in front. They just did their job. They ran smooth and ran hard.”

Glass and his Birchcliff Energy outfit crossed the finish line in a time of 1:11.55, which was 1.91 seconds ahead of MacGillivary, the defending champion, while Vigen finished third.

“I do need to give credit to the four horses that I drove,” said Glass, who gave the following compliments to his championship outfit.

• Chaska — ?“He’s rather easy to drive. He just loves what he does — a really aggressive, good feeling horse that jets.”
• Legit — “A very energetic smart horse. Does the same thing every time you hook him. He is very reliable, loves to run and is very, very fast.”
• Proud — “We bought him off Mark Sutherland last year at his sale. He did a great job of training that horse. He’s very honest, super strong and very smart.”
• Slater — “I’m most proud of my left-hand wheeler. I bought him last year. He’s a four-year-old out of Kentucky. He’s just a baby. He ran seven times here. He’s a game changer.

Glass also commended his outriders, Dayton Sutherland and Tyson Whitehead, for their consistent work throughout the 10-day show as well as during the Word Professional Chuckwagon Association season.

“They’ve been riding for me all summer — just flawless,” Glass said. “You can’t do it with out them. I’ve got to give credit to my outriding horses. They never get credit. They’re beautiful and they’re smart. They have a special job and they did it.”

In the championship dash, Sutherland rode Calm, who Glass has had since the horse was two years old.

“I believe he is 14 now,” Glass said. “He is a sweetheart, an amazing horse.”

Meanwhile, Whitehead hopped atop Ed for the final race of the 2024 Stampede.

“I’ve had him as one of my main outriding horses for about eight years,” Glass said. “He’s a big, strong brown horse. He’s not a kid’s horse, (so) you need a very strong, experienced outrider to ride him. Tyson has been riding him for me for two or three years. Him and Ed get along really well.”

In addition to helping Glass win, Sutherland also claimed the Orville Strandquist Memorial Award for being the top rookie driver at this year’s Rangeland Derby.

“It’s my first Stampede (as a driver) so it’s kind of a whirlwind, but I was really just focused on helping Jason win,” said Sutherland, who was happy to share winning his first Rangeland Derby title as an outrider with Whitehead. “That’s the big one for me. I’ve never won before. It’s part of the reason I still outride, wanting to get it done. And to get it done with Jason, he’s a guy I’ve looked up to for my whole life really and with one of my best friends, Tyson, we grew up together riding. I remember 10 years ago, we were running around this place just starting our careers. It’s been a whirlwind, it means a lot.”

In addition to his family, horses and outriders, Glass also praised his barn crew and his sponsors.

“Two guys back in the barns, Cy (Edwards) and Jeremy (Gillespie), they’ve been working their heart out for four months,” said Glass, who also wanted to give a special shout-out to his horseshoer, Carey Kastner, for her hard work.

Of course, Glass said he couldn’t have been so successful without the help of Jeff Tonken and Birchcliff Energy as well as his previous backers Larry and Carol Shaw, who used to own Shaw GMC.

“They sponsored me for 23 years,” said Glass of the Shaws. “Between Larry and Carol Shaw and Jeff Tonken, they have been sponsoring our family for 40 plus years. It’s so hard to put into words what that means. Amazing people … I wouldn’t be racing a wagon without them. Some other sponsor could offer me $1 million and I would just turn it down. I just can’t replace the relationship I have had with Jeff and Larry over the years. No amount of money could replace the relationship.”