(CVM Photography)
Changing week

Baptiste wins Frog Lake CPCA dash, Battlefords show in Poundmaker

Aug 2, 2022 | 3:50 PM

There was another lead change in the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA) point’s race, while other drivers are making a late season charge.

Todd Baptiste won Sunday’s Dash for Cash in Frog Lake Cree Nation, Brad McMann won the aggregate title for the second week in a row and Logan Gorst moved back into first in the CPCA driver standings. The 2019 CPCA champion ran the course in 1:17, more than a second faster than his competitors in the heat.

Sunday’s Dash for Cash. (Facebook/Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA))

Baptiste said his team is starting to round into full racing form with just three weeks left in the season, a critical time if he wants to repeat as the points leader and be positioned well for the final dash in Lloydminster. Hailing from Red Pheasant Cree Nation, Baptiste is likely to have plenty of support in Poundmaker, a normal occurrence in his career, and has broken away from the crowd of drivers hovering behind Gorst and St. Walburg’s Jamie Laboucane.

“We’re starting to make a gap between third and fourth position,” he said. “It’s going to be an important 11 days for me in terms of trying to defend the high-point champion award.”

Currently, Baptiste is 34 points back of first and 36 points ahead of fourth.

Laboucane finished third overall this past weekend, which earned him a spot in the dash.

However, this was with his second team of horses. Laboucane is one of a few drivers who runs a second team in the CPCA. While this allowed him to win prize money, his points wagon finished 10th, dropping Laboucane behind Gorst by a 1.5 point margin.

Gorst, the defending CPCA champion from Meadow Lake, placed sixth in Frog Lake, fourth amongst point wagons.

McMann, who’s now won back-to-back aggregate prizes since the halfway mark of the 2022 campaign, ran a combined time of 3:56.25. He’s now within 10 points of the top 10, but remains more than 200 points back of the top three.

Meadow Lake’s DJ King is currently in sixth.

Battlefords absence

Tuesday morning, battlefordsNOW confirmed with the CPCA and the Battlefords Agricultural Society that this weekend’s show is being hosted in Poundmaker Cree Nation again, not in North Battleford.

Baptiste said these decisions are made by the hosting committee for each individual event, not by the drivers.

“[The show] is being hosted by the Battlefords Chiefs and this year the committee decided to host it in Poundmaker again,” he said. “We’re just happy to be part of their venue, whether it’s in Poundmaker or North Battleford.”

Poundmaker will also have a large amount of support for Chief Duane Antoine, who is in his second year racing in the CPCA. The action kicks off on Thursday.

cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW

View Comments