The Estevan Motor Speedway’s board of directors has made the difficult decision to cancel the season-opening double-header that was scheduled for May 1 and 2.
The track made the announcement in a post on its Facebook page Tuesday night, following a conference call among the board members.
President Byron Fichter said they made the decision after extensive consultation with tracks in Saskatchewan and North Dakota, as well as representatives from the City of Estevan and those hosting events this summer.
Also factored into their decision was the current restriction placed by the provincial government that prohibits gatherings larger than 10 people in an indoor or outdoor setting.
“We would like to remind everyone that cancelling events is our last course of action,” said Fichter. “However, our priority is the safety and wellbeing of our fans, volunteers and drivers.”
The EMS will determine the plans for races on a case by case basis. Their next program is slated for May 22.
A decision on the May 22 program won’t have to be made for a few more weeks. The speedway is hopeful the situation with COVID-19 in Saskatchewan will have improved by then.
“We’re talking about meeting again towards the end of April or in early May, and we’ll look at that May 22 race at that point,” said Fichter.
And while it was a tough decision to cancel a double-header, since those events typically attract more drivers, the regulations put forth by the government and the need to be safe left them with no choice.
The track is also considering alternate options to have race programs. They haven’t entertained the notion of running races without spectators, something that has been done in other sports, but they haven’t ruled out possible options.
“If there’s a creative solution to be had where we can have a race program that doesn’t look like a conventional program, we might look at that,” said Fichter.
Also a factor in their decision is the closure of the Canada-U.S. border to non-essential traffic. About 30 per cent of the drivers at each program are from the U.S.
“If the situation arises where we’re allowed to gather (to race) but the border is still closed, we might have to look at running some non-points race nights, or something like that, because you don’t want the Americans to feel left out. If the border opens and you’ve already ran for points, there’s really not much incentive for the Americans to come at that point.”
To Fichter’s knowledge, the EMS was the first track in the region to scrub their season opener, but he wouldn’t be surprised if their North Dakota counterparts don’t follow suit.
Fichter noted that North Dakota has a different set of regulations than Saskatchewan, so one jurisdiction might be racing earlier than the other.
