Vigen was knocked out of the finals by a stormy swamp at the Stampede

It was a tale of two different tracks at the Calgary Stampede on Saturday night, one that left the fastest driver of them all out in Sunday's championship finale.

Chance Vigen, who overcame a seven-second penalty to climb back into the top three, was pushed back to fourth when a sudden summer thunderstorm turned the track into a muddy mess halfway through Saturday night.

Ross Knight, who finished fourth on the night, three seconds behind Wiegen, ran four-hundredths of a second in the second-fastest time of the night, 1:12.27, when the track held firm in the fourth heat. Dallas was a second behind Dyke's time of 1:12.23.

Vigen, meanwhile, ran a significantly slower soup course in the final heat of the night in 1:15.60.

That allowed Knight to clock an astonishing 3.33 seconds, sliding him into third place and advancing to Sunday's championship final.

Vigen finished fourth overall, .59 seconds behind Knight.

Knight will compete against four-time Cowboys-Rangeland Derby champion Kurt Bensmiller and Lane McGillivray on Sunday night. The winner will receive $50,000 and a new GMC truck, second place will receive $20,000 and third place will receive $10,000.

The final will start at 20:30 on Sunday evening.

REACTION TO HORSE DEATH

Animal activists from around the country released statements criticizing the Stampede after the horse was euthanized Friday night.

The Vancouver Humane Society released a statement, saying in part: “The reality is that horses die almost every year in chuckwagon races, despite years of efforts to make the event safer. The nature of this event means that any race can be quickly fatal.” campaign director Emily Pickett.

“It's time for the Calgary Stampede to move away from these dangerous and inhumane events and instead focus on the many alternative events that draw hundreds of thousands of participants to the Stampede each year,” added Pickett.

Animal Justice Executive Director Camilla Labchuk said, “Stampede participants and organizers know all too well that horses die from horrific injuries every year during Hell's Half Mile chuckwagon race. Animal Justice is calling on the Calgary Humane Society, Calgary Police and the Alberta SPCA to respond by taking this incident to court.

“Rodeos are not exempt from animal cruelty laws,” he added, “and there should no longer be a free pass to kill horses for cheap thrills.

“There is no safe way to run this deadly race and it must be abolished once and for all.”