Todd Baptiste took a big step to securing a shot at defending his title by winning Day 1 of the CPCA Finals. (CPCA/CVM Photography)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Defending the title

Todd Baptiste wins Day 1 of CPCA Finals

Aug 19, 2021 | 1:00 PM

Anyone rooting for Todd Baptiste has to be elated that their favourite driver is off to a roaring start at the finale of the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA) season.

The defending champ from Cando, Sask. took home day-money after the first night of competition at the CPCA Finals in Lloydminster. His time of 01:18.12 outpaced second place finisher Devin Mitsuing of Loon Lake by a full minute.

Baptiste said he was quite pleased with his showing.

“We have three more days till the aggregate is done, so it’s pretty satisfying to get off to a good start,” he said.

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Fellow frontrunner’s Jamie Laboucane of St. Wahlburg and Logan Gorst of Meadow Lake were almost two minutes back. Baptiste’s younger brother Ryan finished 10^th in the field.

Both brothers, hailing from Red Pheasant Cree Nation, have enjoyed a solid 2021 campaign heading into the finals, with Ryan sitting in first place after a few years absence from the sport and defending champion Todd in second. After Day 1, the two have flipped spots in the standings.

Baptiste said the higher you finish in the aggregate, the better. The aggregate winner for the season will get first choice of barrel in the final dash.

“So, the higher the standing, the better your chances are of getting the inside barrel on Sunday, which is usually the key in any chuckwagon race,” he said. “However, as long as you’re there, you still have a chance to win it.”

Prior to Baptiste’s victory in 2019, he witnessed an example of championship upset first had, when rookie drive Dale Mitsuing won the dash while on the outside barrel.

Two other drivers, Danny Ringuette of Bonny Ville, Alta, and BJ Carey of Lloydminster, are now under pressure to perform in order to have a shot at getting into one of the four spots. Ringuette finished 13^th while Carey suffered multiple penalties from an outrider failing to finish, ending up in 29^th. Gorst sits in fourth place 868.5 points, with Ringuette 11.5 points back and Carey a further 22 points back.

When asked about finally defending his title, Baptiste said it’s just satisfying to be back riding after the season was taken away in 2020 by the pandemic.

“It’s been overwhelming in some [ways], but at the same time we’re just trying to put our best foot forward, our best product on the track each and every night.”

The action at the Lloydminster Exhibition Grounds picks up with Day 2, starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday evening.

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