June 11, 2011 –
2011 Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede Championship – Medicine Hat, AB
Saturday night at the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede was the last night for drivers to try and qualify for Sunday’s sudden death championship final heat. Track conditions were spectacular once again and the races saw the track record fall twice under cloudy skies and a comfortable 21°C. When the night started a dozen drivers were within a second and a half of making it into the top three, but when the night ended it is Grant Profit, Kirk Sutherland and Troy Dorchester that will make up Sunday’s winner take all final.
In the overall aggregate standings, Grant Profit qualified for Sunday’s final in first place after recording a 3-day combined time of 3:03.02. Qualifying in second place overall was Kirk Sutherland followed by Troy Dorchester who jumped from sixth place overall to grab the third and final qualifying spot for Sunday’s sudden death final. Chad Harden, who started the day in eighth place just missed qualifying for Sunday’s final by 82 one-hundreds of a second. Day 2 winner Tim Haroldson, who was in second place overall to start the night, knocked a barrel and was taken out of contention. The winner of the sudden death final will be declared the 2011 Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede Champion.
As far as the day results are concerned, Rae Croteau Jr. established a new track record after posting a time of 1:00.34. Coming off barrel number 1 in heat number 9, Croteau, driving the TOMCO Group of companies outfit placed first overall for the day by a mere 15 one-hundreds of a second over Luke Tournier who had originally broke the track record earlier in the night. Jason Glass placed third by matching the time that he set the track record with back in 1999 with a 1:00.56, with Doug Irvine and Troy Dorchester rounding out the top five on the night.
The finals of the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede can be heard live on Sunday afternoon, June 12 at 1:45pm on Classic Country AM1060 out of Calgary, 890AM CJDC out of Dawson Creek and 99.7 FM The Wolf out of Bonnyville.
Billy Melville
Sudden Death Championship Final Heat (By Qualification Order)
1 Grant Profit Ja-Co Welding & Consulting Ltd.
2 Kirk Sutherland EMCO Corporation
3 Troy Dorchester LaFarge Canada Ltd.
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