CHUCKWAGON
After he won his first GMC Rangeland Derby crown last July, Kurt Bensmiller was given the red carpet treatment by his sponsor, the Tsuu T’ina Nation.
He was even honoured by the First Nations band with a new name: Fast Horse.
“I’m not sure how to say it in Tsuut’ina, but I’m supposed to learn it,” said Bensmiller after the Tsuu T’ina Nation drew Thursday night’s highest bid of $ 170,000 at the Calgary Stampede’s annual chuckwagon canvas auction at the Boyce Theatre.
“They treat me like gold over there. I’m definitely glad they were the highest bidder.”
The Tsuu T’ina Nation actually bid $ 30,000 more than last year to stay on as Bensmiller’s sponsor at this year’s Stampede, which runs from July 3- 12.
“That’s an indication of some of those unique relationships that build between drivers and advertisers,” said the Calgary Stampede’s chuckwagon chair Dr. Gord Atkins, who was pleased that bidders shelled out $ 2,782,000 for the tarps of the 36 drivers, which is an average of $ 77,278.
“We’re ecstatic to have an average like that in the sort of economic climate we’ve got. We really didn’t know what to expect. There were a lot of people that were forecasting lower than what we had. I thought in my own mind that if we averaged in the area of $ 75,000 for an outfit, we would be ecstatic with that in the times that we have right now.”
Although this year’s auction brought in $ 760,500 less than last year, the drivers were still pleased that businesses turned out to support the annual event.
“The night went well, I think,” said Jason Glass, who received a bid of $ 90,000 from Cowboys Posse to be his new sponsor.
“Cowboys Posse, they’ve been behind our sport for a lot of years. I’m very happy to be hooked up with these guys.”
At last year’s auction, MJ’s Water Hauling made headlines by doling out the top bid of $ 170,000 to sponsor Glass’ checkerboard wagon. Due to the current economic conditions, the company decided not to even attend the auction this year, but the same couldn’t be said for 160 other organizations turned out.
“We just can’t say enough about how much we appreciate these companies getting behind our horses and our wagons and the sport that we love to do,” Glass said.
“It’s what we do and it’s a very unique sport, so have interest like this behind us in tough times, it’s unbelievable.”
Bensmiller predicted that by the time this year’s GMC Rangeland Derby starts on July 3, some companies will be wishing they spent money at the auction.
“I imagine by the time we come to the Stampede and the oil economy starts to bounce back, there will be a few guys mad that they never got in on these guys when they definitely could have,” he said.
Vern Nolin received the second highest bid of $ 120,000 from Denton’s, while Ghostpine Environmental Services will pay $ 110,000 to stay on as Kirk Sutherland’s sponsor.
Other six- figure bids included ATB Financial ($ 105,000 for Layne MacGillivray), Friends of Jerry Bremner ($ 100,000 for Jerry Bremner), H& E Oilfield Services Ltd. ($ 100,000 for Obrey Motowylo) and RDL Transportation Inc., which made the final bid of $ 100,000 to sponsor rookie driver Dave Galloway.
“I think the Stampede spirit was alive and well tonight,” Atkins said. “When we can see the last rookie driver in the sale sell for $ 100,000, we had great support from the sponsors this evening.
“We expected a few of the wagons at the upper end to be lower and they were, but a very strong average. That’s what it takes to support all of the wagons. They have lots of expenses in bringing the fantastic outfits they do onto the track.”