The 2025 Grande Prairie Stompede Tarp Auction Gala broke the previous record set back in 2023 for businesses bidding to have their name race around the track at the end of May during the WPCA wagon races at the Stompede.
Saturday night, $853,000.00 was spent on 44 drivers, with the top sale of the night being Vern Nolin, who was sold for a whopping $55,000 to Highwood Company. Nolin is returning to the track after taking two years off for his retirement. Nolin says this year will look a little different than before his brief retirement.
“I got an owner who owns the horses, the wagon and everything… who gave us the opportunity to come back into the sport a little bit,” Nolin says. “We are happy to be back, through a little conversation it kind of snowballed from there.”
Cruise Bensmiller was the next top bid, selling for $42,000 to Prairie Iron Rentals. The last time 44 drivers were sold at the Grande Prairie Tarp sale was in 2023 when the original record of $514,650 was set. The average bid this year was $19,386.36 up over $5,000 from the average bid in 2024.
The next time the 44 drivers will be in Grande Prairie is May 28th to June 1st for the Grande Prairie Stompede.
