It was a hot 24°C and an exciting day 9 at the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby. The sudden death championship final heat for the 2011 Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby Championship has now been set and for the 13th time in the past 15 years, it will be an all WPCA final. Defending Champion Kelly Sutherland will be joined by 2011 Aggregate Winner Reg Johnstone, Kurt Bensmiller who will be making his first trip the Calgary final, and 1993 Calgary Stampede Champion Jerry Bremner. Vern Nolin was the odd man out in 5th place in the semi-final round, followed by Chad Harden, Obrey Motowylo and finally Rick Fraser.
Day 9 also saw Grant Profit, driving the Ja-Co Welding & Consulting outfit, record the fast time of the night with a 1:15.66. Coming off barrel number 2 in heat number 5, Profit won top money by just 3 one-hundreds of a second over Troy Dorchester who placed 2nd for the night, followed by Kelly Sutherland, Rae Croteau Jr. and Luke Tournier who filled out the top five for the night.
The final day from the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby can be heard live Sunday, July 17, 2011 on Classic Country AM1060 out of Calgary, 890AM CJDC out of Dawson Creek, 99.7 FM The Wolf out of Bonnyville and 96.5 CKFM out of Olds.
Billy Melville
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SUDDEN DEATH CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL HEAT (By Qualification Order)
Rank Driver Sponsor
1 Kelly Sutherland YaYa Calgary.com
2 Reg Johnstone ATB Financial
3 Kurt Bensmiller International Eco Fuel Saver
4 Jerry Bremner Standard Resources Fund
2011 RICHARD COSGRAVE MEMORIAL AWARD (TOP AGGREGATE WAGON)
ATB FINANCIAL
Reg Johnstone – Driver
Chance Flad and Doug Thomson – Outriders
Day 9 Results
Rank Driver Sponsor Total Time
1 Grant Profit Ja-Co Welding & Consulting 1:15.66
2 Troy Dorchester Ram Truck Dealers of Alberta 1:15.69
3 Kelly Sutherland YaYa Calgary.com 1:16.16
4 Rae Croteau Jr. Ranchman’s Cookhouse/TOMCO Group/Nabors Canada 1:16.33
5 Luke Tournier The Friends of Heritage Park proudly partners with The Roadhouse 1:16.80
6 Reg Johnstone ATB Financial 1:16.95
7 Buddy Bensmiller Pidherney’s From Start to Finish 1:16.96
8 Kirk Sutherland Daler Pressure Services 1:16.99
9 Kurt Bensmiller International Eco Fuel Saver 1:17.24
10 Ray Mitsuing Diamond’s Sports Grille 1:17.30