Grande Prairie’s Kelly Sutherland was the top bid at the Rangeland Derby canvas auction in Calgary Thursday night. The chuckwagon driver was bought by Friends of the King for $110,000 for his final appearance at the Calgary Stampede.
Tarp auction sales slumped last year along with the economy, but things look to be rebounding. Thursday’s auction brought in $2.42 million dollars, which is $123,000 more than last year.
Grande Prairie’s Rick Fraser brought in the third highest amount at $95,000, while Kelly’s younger brother Kirk went for $82,5000. Kirk won the Rangeland Derby last year, while his son Mitch came second and pulled $70,000 at the auction.
The next chuckwagon auction will be April 6th for most of the WPCA tour.