It was 27°C under clear skies, so weather and racetrack conditions were ideal for the third consecutive day in Edmonton, and the sudden death championship final heat for the Martin Deerline Capital EX Chuckwagon Derby has now been set. Former Edmonton finalist Kurt Bensmiller will be joined by Troy Dorchester who will be making his fourth appearance in the Edmonton final, Tim Haroldson who will be making his first appearance in a sudden death final at a major chuckwagon event and 2009 Edmonton champion Chad Harden in Tuesday’s sudden death championship final heat.
Bensmiller, who had been leading since opening day qualified for the final in first place overall after posting the best three day aggregate time of 3:59.49. Troy Dorchester qualified in second place overall, 1.48 seconds behind Bensmiller, with Haroldson qualifying in third place overall followed by Harden who hung on to the last qualifying spot. Luke Tournier found himself in fifth place overall, and missed the sudden death final by just 22 one-hundreds of a second. Rick Fraser, who was in fourth place overall at the start of the night, slipped to sixth place overall, while Kelly Sutherland, who after posting wins at the Ponoka Stampede and the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby, was looking to complete the unofficial “triple crown” of chuckwagon racing finished eighth overall and missed qualifying for Tuesday’s final by 1.41 seconds.
As far as nightly results go, night 3 of the Martin Deerline Capital EX Chuckwagon Derby saw Tim Haroldson, driving the Desjardins Financial Security outfit, post the top time of the race meet with a time of 1:17.33.
Coming off barrel number 2 in heat number 4, Haroldson, who started the day in fifth place overall and needed a great run to get into Tuesday’s final, did so by taking top money on the night by a mere 8 one-hundreds of a second over Doug Irvine. Luke Tournier, Rae Croteau Jr. and Mark Sutherland rounded out the top 5 times on the night. The winner of tomorrow’s sudden death championship final heat will be declared the 2011 Martin Deerline Capital EX Chuckwagon Derby champion.
The final day of the Martin Deerline Capital EX Chuckwagon Derby in Edmonton can be heard live on Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 6:45pm on Classic Country AM1060 out of Calgary, 890AM CJDC out of Dawson Creek and 99.7 FM The Wolf out of Bonnyville. Television coverage can be seen on SHAW TV starting at 10:00pm.
Billy Melville
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Sudden Death Championship Final Heat (By Qualification Order)
1 Kurt Bensmiller Stahl Peterbilt
2 Troy Dorchester Team Rig & Supply/Decarson Rentals
3 Tim Haroldson Desjardins Financial Security
4 Chad Harden Image Distributors/Spartan Controls/Big West Dodge
Day 3 Results
Rank Driver Sponsor Total Time
1 Tim Haroldson Desjardins Financial Security 1:17.33
2 Doug Irvine B & R Eckel’s Transport Ltd. 1:17.41
3 Luke Tournier ATB Financial 1:17.43
4 Rae Croteau Jr. TOMCO Group of Companies 1:17.62
5 Mark Sutherland York Realty Inc. 1:17.65
6 Troy Dorchester Team Rig & Supply/Decarson Rentals 1:17.79
7 Codey McCurrach Kids Cottage Foundation/Youth Emergency Shelter 1:17.96
8 John Walters Drifters Casing Service 1:18.30
9/10 Evan Salmond Eternity Limousines 1:18.34
9/10 Kelly Sutherland Knelsen Sand & Gravel Ltd. 1:18.34