Legendary Grande Prairie chuckwagon driver Kelly Sutherland can add another recognition to his list after receiving the 2023 Calgary Stampede Pioneers Award. Sutherland received the recognition alongside media personality Jack MacDonald, bareback rider Robin Burwash and bareback rider Steve Dunham.
Sutherland competed in the Calgary Stampede’s Rangeland Derby for 50 years before parking the wagon and hanging up the lines in 2017. In the 21 times Sutherland made it to the championship heat, he came out the top driver 12 times, has one championship as an outrider, and six aggregate titles as a driver.
Today the man known as “The King” or “The Feather” stays connected to the sport through his family, with his son Mark Sutherland, who will be retiring at the end of this year’s 10-day show in Calgary, his grandsons Dayton Sutherland and Tuff Dreger, son-in-law Dean Dreger, brother Kirk Sutherland, nephew Mitch Sutherland, and great-nephew Weston Sutherland.
Sutherland receives the recognition in conjunction with the 100th Anniversary of Chuckwagon Racing and on the heels of his induction into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and the World Professional Chuckwagon Association’s Past Member Tribute Award.
