High River's Jordie Fike got a nice bump at this year's Calgary Stampede Tarp Auction last week.

He jumped up $10,000 from $80,000 to $90,000 in sponsorship money.

He says it was good to see.

"Yeah, I'll take an extra 10 (thousand) from the year before any time. I wasn't really expecting that going into the sale. But it was another strong sale. The Calgary Stampede did a great job of bringing some bidders out, along with all the drivers that bid as well."

He says that extra $10,000 sure helps out.

"It's an extra four to five horses next year. That's almost a guys winter hay budget in previous years. That extra ten grand makes a huge difference."

The big surprise of the night was Troy Dorchester bringing in the top amount of $150,000.

Fike says that was pretty cool.

"Yeah, that was good for Troy. They thought they had him sold but they had another bidder on the floor. And both bidders decided they wanted him bad until somebody finally weakened. It was pretty neat to see."

Fike and the rest of the wagons go on the block one more time, when they head to Ponoka on Monday, May 6 for their tarp auction.

The season gets going Wednesday, May 29 in Grande Prairie.

Read More: Local Drivers Pull In The Big $$$ At Stampede Auction