John Walters Wins The George Normand Memorial Buckle At The 2017 Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship

2017 Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship Champions
George Normand Memorial Buckle Winners
Warco Industrial Cooling Services Ltd. Outfit
(L-R): Outriders Dayton Sutherland, Driver John Walters, Outrider Ryan McNeill
Photo By Billy Melville

Capacity crowds, perfect weather conditions and exciting chuckwagon racing were the recipe for the 2017 Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship. After some early morning rains, the racetrack was unaffected and the championship wrapped up on a sunny Sunday afternoon. When four days worth of times were added up, it was John Walters who captured the 2017 Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship.

Driving the Warco Industrial Cooling Services Ltd. outfit, and along with outriders Ryan “Mad Dog” McNeill and Dayton Sutherland, John Walter captured the 2017 Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship and the George Normand Memorial Buckle with a four-day total time of 5:26.20. It was an impressive performance by John Walters who won the championship by a large 2.02 seconds margin over Vern Nolin. Third place went to two-time Bonnyville champion Kelly Sutherland, with Chanse Vigen and Kurt Bensmiller rounding out the top five overall. It’s the third career victory for John Walters, but his first at the Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship.

On the day, Kurt Bensmiller, driving the Friends of George Normand outfit, posted the fast time of the afternoon with a run of 1:20.96 from barrel 4 in the 9th heat. Jason Glass was second, Chad Harden was third, followed by Kelly Sutherland and Cliff Cunningham rounding out the top five on the afternoon.

The WPCA Pro Tour now moves to Strathmore for the Strathmore Stampede starting Friday, August 4, 2017. Live action can be heard starting on Friday at 9:00pm ET, 8:00pm CT and 7:00pm MT on Rural Radio on SiriusXM Channel 147, and Country 99 at 99.7 FM out of Bonnyville.

Billy Melville