Ryan Baptiste took home day money on Sunday, winning the dash at Poundmaker Cree Nation. (Submitted photo/CVM Photography)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Track success

Ryan Baptiste wins dash at Poundmaker Cree Nation

Aug 9, 2021 | 3:15 PM

Ryan Baptiste loves when the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA) tour stops in Poundmaker Cree Nation, for both the experience and the results.

The veteran CPCA driver from Red Pheasant Cree Nation said it’s a bit of a home track, with his father being from Red Pheasant and his mother from Poundmaker, which meant they had a lot of family around Sunday evening to celebrate both the win and his son’s 18th birthday.

“We get a lot of family to come out, which is great,” he said. “We always have a lot of support, but people really show up [here at Poundmaker].”

Baptiste won his second show of the season, finishing second in the aggregate and winning Sunday’s dash. Jamie Laboucane continued his excellent form by winning the aggregate, his second straight aggregate win and his third of the year.

While Laboucane was able to set a track record of 1:13.78, Baptiste was better on Sunday, running 1:15.44. Baptiste previously won the Onion Lake Cree Nation show and had finished second in the previous Poundmaker stop to Meadow Lake’s Logan Gorst.

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Baptiste said that the support he’s received is encouraging with this year’s return to competition. However, he’s not spending too much time focusing on the results of the past few weeks.

“There’s a lot of people behind us [and there’s work to do],” he said. “Our goal is still the same; try to be on top at the end of the finals.”

With one tour stop left before the CPCA Finals in Lloydminster, Baptiste trails Gorst by just 40 points on the leaderboard. His brother, Todd Baptiste, trails him in third by just seven points. Also within 100 points of Gorst are Lloydminster’s BJ Carey, St. Wahlburg’s Laboucane and Danny Ringuette of Bonnyville, Alta.

“The standings are so tight right now,” Baptiste said. “You hit a barrel and you could drop right down.”

This weekend, drivers and outriders are heading north to Meadow Lake with racing kicking off at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. After Sunday, the teams will be heading to Lloydminster, where the finals will take place beginning on August 18.

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

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