SALES’ STOMPEDE XXXIII WIN CAME LATE
By TERRY FARRELL
DAILY HERALD-TRIBUNE
There was a local winner of the Western Chuckwagon Association $5,000 Dash for Cash Sunday night, although that was not determined until well after the grandstand lights had dimmed.
For Sexsmith’s Nathan Sales, it was worth the wait.
Sales, driving under the Dragon Racing tarp, was sure he had edged former World Professional Chuckwagon Association driver Tyler Helmig (Monavie tarp) at the wire in the feature WCA heat. But when the announcement came over the loudspeaker, Sales was assessed 15 seconds in penalties – penalties committed by defending Stompede champion Chanse Vigen (Jack Lefley & Sons).
The announcer declared Helmig as Stompede champion and the Leduc driver accepted the cheque in the middle of the ring.
Shortly after 11 p.m., the decision was officially overturned.
NATHAN SALES
“The wait was worth it,” said Sales, who officially beat Helmig by 1/100th of a second (1:19.97 to 1:19.98), for the $2,500 winner’s cheques. “It was good. Very, very satisfying.
“It was a very long time to wait. But I watched the film and I saw that I came in ahead of Tyler, so…. There are quite a few (whoops) coming from the camp now.”
As much as the wait was worth it for Sales, he was disappointed that he could not share the win in front of the sold-out grandstand.
“It was kind of anti-climactic,” he said. “I didn’t get to go (celebrate) in front of my home town. But it’s a pretty big deal to run against Tyler Helmig. He’s a former world champion. Boy, he come on with a head of steam. It was neat to run against him – it really was.”
Helmig could not be reached for comment after the ruling, but Sales said there were no hard feelings.
“He wasn’t upset about it – he just wanted to make sure everything was right,” said Sales, who has only been racing for three years. “First Stompede win. It feels really good to get a win right out of the gate like this.”
Lance Kimble (All Star Masonry) of Wembley was also in the Dash for Cash.
The WCA will resume June 10-13 in Dawson Creek.
