(Photo courtesy/Evan Salmond, Shellie Scott Photography)

By Ben Tompkins

Career Year

Hudson Bay chuckwagon racer finishes season penalty-free, fourth in the world

Sep 2, 2025 | 11:46 AM

A local chuckwagon driver had a career year this season, doing something he had never done before.

In his fifteenth season on the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) Tour, Evan Salmond had a penalty-free year.

“We just stayed consistent and stayed clean the whole year. We never took a single driving penalty all season, which is just about unheard of. There are a couple of guys who have done it in the past, but not too many,” Salmond told northeastNOW.

“Probably about the third last show, you start thinking and wondering if you can actually do it and run a whole year without taking a driver penalty. It’s just nice to get through the whole season without one, I’ve never done it before, and like I said, there are very few that have. It’s not easy to do.”

Thanks to his consistency and discipline, Salmond was near the top of the world rankings all season long, including having a shot at the world title entering the final stop.

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Unfortunately, although it was mathematically possible, it was a long shot for Salmond to pull it off in the end, as he would have needed a win, plus the players in front of him to have a bad weekend.

“We just went into it like any other show, tried to do our best and run clean. I pretty much knew that we couldn’t win unless one or both of the guys took a penalty and we caught them in the average points,” Salmond added.

“For me, I’m actually more relaxed when I’m at the top near the end, it seems easier and there’s a lot less pressure. It’s a lot better to have a chance than to be at that 20 to 30 range and wonder if you’re going to be able to compete a full season the upcoming year. You just want to have fun the last few shows, do what you can and see how it all works out.”

Overall, Salmond finished fourth in the world rankings when all was said and done this season.

Although he has finished third in the world before, this year was the closest he got, and to him, the toughest competition he’s ever seen.

“It never gets easier, if anything, it gets tougher. Everyone’s ramped up their game, and they’re all buying better quality horses. Everyone seems to be training tougher and harder, so it definitely doesn’t get easier, that’s for sure. I’ve started buying more expensive horses, whether that’s the right thing to do or not, I don’t know, but hopefully it pays off,” concluded Salmond.

“Even them years I finished third, maybe this year is a little tougher on the top end, I suppose. Everyone was running tough, and in the last two shows, it could have been anyone holding the trophy, there were six of us within eight points. It was very tough.”

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On X @BenTompkins_8