Jason Glass races with heavy heart after father Tom's death at Stampede
The legendary chuckwagon driver and four-time Rangeland Derby champion died June 26 at 77, but his son finished third Saturday.
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Jason Glass carried grief into the Stampede Park track Saturday night, finishing third in the Rangeland Derby — a heavy result made lighter by what he believes is his father's presence.
Tom Glass, a four-time Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby Champion and three-time World Professional Chuckwagon Association season-long champion, died June 26 at 77 after suffering a stroke. The 55-year-old reinsman from High River said his father is "up there watching over us" alongside his mother, grandmother Iris, and best friend Richard Cosgrave.
Jason guided his Birchcliff Energy outfit around the track in 1:12.28 on Saturday to win $4,800 for third place out of 27 competitors. He knocked over a barrel on opening night Friday — a mistake he attributes to his father's subtle warning about the horses to drive.
"I didn't think it would happen the first night, but it did and we're going to correct it and carry on and be stronger for it," Jason said. "He's definitely with us still."
The Glass family is a founder of chuckwagon racing. Fellow driver Rae Croteau Jr., who recorded Saturday's fastest time of 1:11.58, said the checkerboard patches drivers have affixed to their wagon boxes in Tom's memory will "live forever." Croteau noted that Tom was always willing to share insights and that his commentating work for Sportsnet and the Cowboy Channel made him a fixture in the sport.
"Guys like him leave a legacy," Croteau said.
Jason won the Rangeland Derby in 2013 and again in 2024 after knocking over a barrel that year too — a pattern he hopes to repeat. His wife Brienne, sons Bodie and Steele, and the broader chuckwagon community have rallied around him during the 10-day show.
