An avid supporter of local community events, the Painted Hand Casino (PHC) added another somewhat new event to its already impressive list recently. The PHC, teamed up with the Yorkton Exhibition Board and the Yorkton SnoRiders Snowmobile Club to bring a Saskatchewan Snowmobile Racing Association (SSRA) sanctioned snowmobile drag racing event to Yorkton for the weekend of January 28, 2012.
The two day event will feature a Meet and Greet trade show in the Industrial building Friday. Racing enthusiasts and fans are welcome to come in to talk to professional racers to discuss tips and techniques.
Drag races, which will begin at noon Saturday, will take place at the Cornerstone Raceway on the Yorkton Exhibition Grounds.
Racers from across western Canada will be competing for over $15,000 in prize money.
The races will be followed by an awards banquet Saturday evening in the Parkland Room of the PHC.
Advance tickets are currently on sale at the Yorkton Exhibition Office and at Yorkton Distributors. Advance ticket price discounts are only available until January 20, 2012.
Yorkton Exhibition Board president Grant Neil says the PHC, who came on board as the title sponsor of the event, originally proposed the idea to the exhibition board. The Yorkton SnoRiders immediately came on board with the proposal. The club's groomers will build the track and help to set up the races.
Friday's trade show will feature local dealers and professional racers, Neil says. Both will be on hand to provide hints and information on upgrading sleds, changing to a race sled or giving hints about how to make sleds perform a little better, Neil suggests. "Hopefully we have a good family weekend," he says.
PHC senior operations manager Gale Pelletier says the PHC is always looking for special events to bring to the city. An example, Pelletier notes, was the first rough stock rodeo sponsored by the PHC earlier this year. "We're always looking for something new to bring in and then we can build on it," he says.
The PHC originally sponsored the World Tour of Curling which was later taken over by the another sponsor. The PHC was looking for another winter event to replace the curling.
The casino met with Shawn Morin and the Yorkton Exhibition Board to discuss various the possibilities. Pelletier says the PHC will put up the money and the exhibition board will provide much of the work. "We're all going to benefit from it. It's just something new that has so much potential," he states.
The PHC will consider making it an annual event. He says the PHC wouldn't foresee a problem if some other organization wanted to take over sponsorship in the future. "We'll look other new initiatives. We'll always listen to people who have ideas to bring up," Pelletier says.
He sees potential benefits for all partners. The city's going to benefit, as well as the Gallagher Centre, the Yorkton Exhibition Board, the SnoRiders and the PHC. "Anytime our close neighbors across the street benefit, we benefit as well. That's why we're so willing to help them out," Pelletier points out. The idea, he suggests, is to revitalize the west end of the city in partnership with the Gallagher Centre and Exhibition Board.
Yorkton SnoRiders president Jason Popowich says the club is pleased to join the exhibition board and PHC in the hosting the event. They have the promotional expertise while the SnoRiders will offer their expertise in building the track and running the races.
In sanctioned racing all sleds will submit to a tech inspection, Popowich says. Professional racers from the three prairie provinces will be competing for points for the season. As well he's hoping the event will attract local amateur racers and youngsters with mini-sleds and junior 12-15 year-old racers.
The drag races offer local snowmobilers to experience competitive racing for possibly the first time. The entry fee is minimal, Popowich says.
Following the technical inspection, racers will start at the Christmas tree (starting lights) and race 500 feet down the track in front of the grandstand. The track will be a groomed hard packed snow track. "It's going to be exciting. The grandstand will be full and we're looking forward to it," Popowich predicts.
The drag races are an important event for the Yorkton SnoRiders who are currently actively fundraising to pay for a new trail groomer.
He points out that Yorkton had snowmobile drag races in the 1980s as well as a successful series of snocross races more recently. Both were well received by the public. "So we're really looking forward to this event," Popowich closes.
