Well it is decided who made the semi-finals, and it couldn’t have turned out much better for me.  There was some big changes last night and, as we said on the previous post, penalties proved to be devastating for some of the drivers.  Rick Fraser hit a barrel to barely fall out of the top 8, and Hugh Sinclair had outriding penalties to take him out of it.  I never hope anybody has bad luck, and I feel bad for Rick and Huey, but that’s wagon racing.  This new format is pretty wild, it gives so many more drivers a chance, I like it I think.  I ended up with 3 wagons in the top 8, Rae Croteau, Chad Harden, and Neal Walgenbach.  I can’t ride for Chad tonight because he is hooked in the same heat as Neal, but he is still one of my guys.  I hope we can sneak a couple of them in for tomorrow nights final.  This Stampede is special for me because I don’t know how many Stampede’s Neal Walgenbach and Jim Nevada have left, both are talking about retiring.  I have travelled with Jim since I started, and have rode for Neal for 15 years or more, so this is tough but special at the same time.  Anyway, tonight is another huge night, I am excited.

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