By Robb Fenton
Veteran chuckwagon driver Gary Gorst had been successful all season, but seemed to be snake-bitten when it came to the big races.
At the Calgary Stampede he missed the final dash by less than half a second and last weekend, in Saskatoon, he finished second by just .03, missing out on the prize trailer.
But Gorst wasn’t going to be denied in the Westridge GMC CPCA Finals in Lloydminster this past weekend, winning just about everything in Sunday’s final race.
“It’s unbelievable. You work all year and everything to get to this spot, it’s just real enjoyable,” Gorst said following the presentations of the trophy and buckles.
Gorst, coming off barrel two, pulled out to a commanding lead and held off Brian Laboucane down the final stretch to claim the Dash for Cash Sunday afternoon at Halstead Downs.
Gorst said he had a plan when selecting the barrel he did.
“It started out with making the barrel selection and with the rain and everything else I thought the top one was a little tight, hard to come out of, so I elected to take two. It shocked a lot of people, but I had confidence with two and it worked out for me,” he explained. “I knew if I took two, Wayne wouldn’t take one and Brian was coming off of four. If Wayne was beside Brian, he’d keep him out and I’d have a good chance. I was confident in my outfit and that’s the way it worked out.”
Gorst has been strong all season, putting in consistent efforts and it showed in the standings, as well as the advancing to the Stampede and picking up some money along the way.
“It’s been a great season. Before we hit Calgary we had six out of 14 day money and that doesn’t happen very often, so I was pretty proud of that,” Gorst said.
One of the big thrills for Gorst was earning this win with his sons Logan and Dustin.
Gary had his sons outriding for him in the final race Sunday and he said being able to win something like this with family is really exciting.
“Dustin is on every stride, every time we hook a horse and he’s with me all the time. Logan, he’s started his own outfit now and we go out and help him hook up and everything else and it’s our family and it’s a great, great feeling,” Gorst said.
Gorst said he wouldn’t have been able to be as successful as he as without a lot of help.
From barn help, to his outriders and his sponsors, he made was very grateful for everyone chipping in all year long.
“(Thanks) Diva Darlin’s, they usually only go two or three years with an outfit, this is the fourth year and finally we go to finish it off. I don’t want to single anyone out, but I really appreciate what they do and it got us where we are Sunday,” Gorst said of all the help that got him to this point.
With so much excitement, it was had for Gorst to put everything into perspective, but he said Sunday’s win was the perfect way to wrap up the 2010 season.
“In Calgary we missed the final four by .11, you can’t click a stop watch that fast. And last weekend, we lost the horse trailer by .03, now this to finish it off it’s a relief to go home and say I did finally get the win,” Gorst said with a big smile, standing in front of his new truck, buckles and trophies.