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Lack of sponsorship kills sprint event

Estevan Motor Speedway has been forced to cancel the All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint car event for July 26.


Estevan Motor Speedway has been forced to cancel the All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint car event for July 26.

EMS president James Gustafson said the association couldn't find a major sponsor for the race, and that meant they didn't have the financial wherewithal to bring it in.

"In order to run this race we definitely needed a sponsor and a fairly substantial sponsor. We (told the sprint series) there's no way we can handle it."

The Speedway's regular racing program will still run that night.

Gustafson said ASCOC officials had expected sponsorship to be no problem.

"They just thought with the series' popularity that our businesses around here would jump at it, but they didn't."

He said the flood relief effort, and the effect of the disaster on local businesses, are likely the prime reasons.

"The focus turned away from racing to flood relief. A lot of these oil companies have had to lay people off because the weather has been so severe," Gustafson commented.

"For them to focus on major sponsorship, they just couldn't do it."

He said the speedway couldn't afford to bring in the sprints on their own, even if they filled the stands to the brim.

However, EMS did leave its deposit with the sprint series in hopes of hosting it in the future.

Had the sprint cars gone ahead, TSN was planning to send a crew to get footage of local racer Kyle Fedyk for Estevan's bid in the Kraft Celebration Tour.