Choosing to line up next to the No. 1 barrel in the championship heat of the 2024 Cowboys Rangeland Derby was a no-brainer for Jason Glass.
After finishing atop the aggregate standings through nine nights of chuckwagon racing action at the Calgary Stampede, Glass won the barrel draw and it was an easy decision for him to play the percentages.
The move paid off as Glass executed a quick figure-eight turn around the barrels in his Birchcliff Energy wagon to secure his spot along the rail before racing around the Stampede Park track in 1:11.55 to beat defending champion Layne MacGillivray across the line by almost two seconds.
“No. 1 is the barrel that you want,” said 53-year-old reinsman from High River, Alta., who added a second Rangeland Derby title to the one he won in 2013. “It’s the shortest distance around the track. You’ve just got to have faith in your horses. They’ve been turning that one barrel amazing, so that’s where we want to be.”
The decision paid off as Glass capped off a great 10-day show by winning $50,000 and a new GMC truck.
“There’s so many great drivers and beautiful horses in those barns, so it’s really tough to put it together,” Glass said. “I was luck and fortunate enough – everything came together for the 10 days of Calgary Stampede. My horses competed hard every night. They were flawless. They did nothing wrong and they just ran so hard.”
Making his third appearance in the final, Chanse Vigen had a false start and then hit a barrel and wound up in third place.
“You’re either first or last a lot of times, especially with my particular horses,” Vigen told Global TV in regards to the gamble of choosing to line up next to the No. 3 barrel.
Vigen added that in order to win with his KMA Construction and KMA Scaffolding Services outfit, he would have to make a perfect turn around the barrels.
“They’re just extremely good drivers and they haven’t made mistakes all week, so it’s going to be extremely difficult,” said Vigen, who finished in second place back in 2018, just 23/100ths of a second behind champion Kurt Bensmiller.
A fourth-generation chuckwagon driver, Glass joined his dad Tom Glass, grandfather Ronnie Glass and great-grandfather Tom Lauder as multiple-time Calgary Stampede winners.
Lauder won three times in the 1920s, while Ronnie Glass took home four titles in the 1940s. Tom Glass then equalled his dad’s totals with championship runs in 1983, 1987, 1992 and 1994.
During the 10-day show, Glass was always quick to commend his horses for their work to keep him competitive.
“They’re doing everything right and they’ve got a huge smile on their faces before the race and after,” Glass said. “They’re healthy and they’re doing what they’re doing. They’re giving it their all and that’s all a wagon driver can ask for.”
Glass also praised the team behind him including his outriders Tyson Whitehead and Dayton Sutherland.
Making his third straight trip to the Derby’s championship dash, MacGillivray and his Shady Creek Ranch outfit had to settle for second place and a cheque worth $20,000.
As the defending champion, MacGillivray talked about how his mental game put him in a great position to defend his title.
“We’ve lost it and we’ve won it,” said the 49-year-old driver from Halkirk, Alta. “Your mental preparation is key, for sure.”
Despite not accomplishing his ultimate goal, MacGillivray still won the Richard Cosgrave Memorial Award and a cheque for $25,000, which goes to the driver with the fewest penalties and fastest cumulative running time for the entire show.
Although MacGillivray placed second in the 10-night aggregate standings behind Glass, he was one of only three drivers to stay penalty free (including outrider penalties). The others were Chance Flad and Jordie Fike.
Veteran driver Darcy Flad won the sixth heat aboard his MobSquad rig in Sunday’s fastest clocking of 1:10.61 to win the top day-money prize of $6,000.
AROUND THE BARRELS
Sunday’s third heat featured a battle of three drivers named Chance. Whoever made the music choice that was playing missed a great opportunity to play ABBA’s ‘Take A Chance On Me’ … Chance Bensmiller edged out Chance Flad by 32/100ts of a second to win the battle of the Chances with a time of 1:14.08, while Chance Thomson ran over a barrel and placed third … Hayden Motowylo won the Atco Outrider Award and a cheque for $2,000. Trey MacGillivray finished second, while Rory Gervais placed third … Dayton Sutherland won the Orville Strandquist Memorial rookie driver award and received an additional payday of $3,000 … Glass and Vigen both had horses win an Equine Athlete of Excellence Award. Vigen’s left leader Grayson and Glass’s right leader Chaska were honoured for their excellence, while left wheeler Bugsy (Obrey Motowylo), right wheeler Rider (Chad Fike) also won as did outriding horses Bob (Rae Croteau Jr.) and Wizard (Wald Salmond) … Sitting in fourth spot in the aggregate standings through eight nights of racing, Motowylo noticed a problem with one of his horses on the third turn on Saturday night and pulled up. “During the eighth heat of (Saturday’s) chuckwagon race, a horse on Obrey Motowylo’s team did suffer a racing related injury — a fracture,” said Stampede president/CEO Joel Cowley. “Veterinarian care was immediately dispatched, and after consulting with the veterinarian, the owner made the decision that it was the most humane thing to euthanize that horse.”