Photo courtesy Shellie Scott (L-R): Outrider Tyson Whitehead, Driver Jamie Laboucane, Outrider Hayden Motowylo

By Lisa Parent

Consistency and family support lead Laboucane to first WPCA chuckwagon win

Jun 26, 2023 | 3:12 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Another weekend of the World Professional Chuckwagon races has come and gone. From Thursday to Sunday, some of Canada’s best chuck drivers and their team battled it out. 10,000 dollars of prize money was in the cards for the top drivers.

The championship final heat saw Jamie Laboucane with out-riders Tyson Whitehead and Hayden Motowylo sliding into the top spot with a final time of 1:01.52. Kris Molle placed second, and Mark Sutherland shortly behind him.

Winner Laboucane says he felt confident throughout the whole race.

“When we hit that third corner, I could feel them start surging, start powering through, and then it was just my job to just guide them and and let them do their thing,” Laboucane explained, shortly after the race.

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He says winning in front of the Medicine Hat crowd made the experience even better.

“When you come down the lane it’s just deafening. You don’t usually see that in smaller communities. But Medicine Hat showed us wrong and they’re pretty awesome people,” he explained.

One crowd member was at his first ever chuckwagon race, and was mesmerized by showing.

“That was an absolute heater to say the least. I mean, they were flying out there going a hundred miles an hour. You blink and the laps already done. So you know it was an extravagant experience,” spectator Brent Folk said.

However, the hundreds of cheering audience members could easily throw off a drivers game. But Laboucane says he keeps his cool by staying consistent with routines.

Laboucane said, “it’s just another race to me. I prepare the same, I do the same things, try to hook the best outfit I can to win that race that day.”

Laboucane credits his success to his barn crew, who he says are some of the best on the grounds. He also credits his family for supporting him along the way.

“My wife Dana, my two kids, my mom and dad, Brian and Brenda, they help me train. My dad’s a huge coach, somebody that I always have in my back pocket to help pick horses, help reassure me, make sure my ducks are in a row,” Laboucane said.

He added, “without them I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be having the success I had today.”

Laboucane’s next stop is at the Ponoka Stampede starting Tuesday.