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DeBolt driven in debut season
Larry Fisher
Lloydminster Merdian Booster
Tuesday April 29, 2008 A relative unknown to start the 2007 Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association season, Sean DeBolt made quite a name for himself in his first year on the circuit.
An obvious choice for Rookie Driver of the Year, the 32-year-old from Spirit River finished 10th in the overall standings and solidified his status as one of the top up-and-comers with his performance at the 15th Annual Westridge GMC Pro Tour Finals at Halstead Downs in Lloydminster.
DeBolt won his first three heats before finishing a close second in Heat 9, trailing Grant Preece by three one-hundredths of a second.
“It was a good show, I made up the few points I needed to solidify my hole in Calgary,” said DeBolt, who was one of 14 drivers to qualify for this year’s Rangeland Derby at the Calgary Stampede. “I was hoping to just have a good steady season and of course shoot for Calgary, but the last half of the season especially was more than I ever expected.”
Still a youngster by chuckwagon standards, DeBolt is wise beyond his years with reins in hand. He began racing chariots at 13 and had been running pony wagons for 17 years prior to making the jump to the CPCA. DeBolt’s success with the pony wagons carried over, having claimed more than 25 show championships while also holding the record for the most times qualified for the final dash at the Grande Prairie Stampede – making the cut in eight of the last 10 years.
“My dad started with the ponies back in 1983 and we have kind of been with it our whole lives,” said DeBolt. “This is something I wanted to do ever since I was small and so far so good.”
With Year 1 under his belt, DeBolt doesn’t plan on slowing down in his sophomore season and instead intends to raise the bar yet again. “You always want to improve,” he said. “I didn’t come here to run middle of the pack … everybody wants to win. Hopefully I can pick up a couple show wins or something like that this year. “The team really started working good for me these last couple shows, they seemed to run a little harder, so hopefully we can pick up where we left off.”
At the Calgary Stampede Derby Canvas Auction, DeBolt had his purchased by Carma Developers for the 2008 season.
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