For as long as Jamie Laboucane can remember, the sound of chuckwagons racing around the track has represented more than just competition \u2014 it has represented a dream.<\/p>\n
As a young boy, Laboucane would picture the day he would pull into the Calgary Stampede<\/a> and leave with the one prize every driver hopes to claim: a Rangeland Derby championship<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n \u201cSince I six years old, (I would) pretend to be a wagon driver, sitting on my dad\u2019s seat, pretending to win the Calgary Stampede,\u201d Laboucane shared.<\/p>\n Decades later, his dream would become a reality.<\/p>\n \u201cIt means a lot to me, but also for my family,\u201d Laboucane expressed.<\/p>\n Laboucane \u2014 who has been a chuckwagon driver since 2006 and lives in St. Walburg with his wife Dana and two kids, Oilver and Ella \u2014 said the championship carried extra meaning because of his father Brian.<\/p>\n Brian Laboucane spent 45 years chasing the same goal but never got the chance to win it himself, Laboucane explained.<\/p>\n \u201cTo finally pull it off feels like a real victory for the whole family, it\u2019s a pretty special feeling. (There\u2019s) a lot of emotion involved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Laboucane said the journey to get to this point was a culmination of patience and perseverance which was built upon losses and overcoming challenges.<\/p>\n He said success in chuckwagon racing is about more than having talented horses or a fast outfit, it\u2019s about putting everything together at the right time.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just about me. It\u2019s about everybody that contributes. Whether it\u2019s in the barns or making decisions on outfits, I have a lot of good people backing me,\u201d Laboucane said.<\/p>\n For Laboucane, this included his horses, his crew, and the people who supported him throughout the journey.<\/p>\n He credited his outriders, Kale Lajeunesse and Hayden Motowylo, for providing the consistency and experience needed during the pressure of Stampede week.<\/p>\n \u201cThey know my horses, my outfits, and they don\u2019t make mistakes,\u201d Laboucane said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have two guys that you don\u2019t even have to look behind to see if they\u2019re there, it takes another level of pressure off you.\u201d<\/p>\n When the championship race arrived, Laboucane said the focus inside the barn was calm, but once the horses hit the track, everything changed.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as they hit that infield, it\u2019s just like a switch flipped,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhen that horn went, everything just exploded and turned and (the horses) ran their hearts out.\u201d<\/p>\n