Sportsman Sprints

GO MARK GO

In 2007 a group of local Sprint car drivers got together over coffee to discuss what they could do to get more people involved in the sport of sprint car racing. After long discussions Bill Boyce, Kyle Bates and Donny Miller had worked out rules for their new division based on rules that were being run at RMRP for their Sportsman Sprints. Stuart Selby and Sean Moskal jumped in and came up with an idea of running a local show more often. The only thing left to do for this group was to sell this idea to BCR.
A meeting was held with the group selling their idea to BCR. BCR looked at the proposal and knew a great thing was about to happen, so they immediately booked 5 races with the Sprint class. Those local Sprint car drivers promoted their division so well that BCR ended up with 10 regular sprint cars coming out to race at BCR! Hats off to you boys - Thanks!
This division developed it's own unique pay system, where each driver is paid out the same amount from first place to last. This is done with the help of the division's major sponsor, MDM Trenching along with BCR. Below is the story on how Sportsman Sprint class became the MDM Sportsman Sprints (2008).
by Mario Boisvert - MDM Trenching and Excavating

Mario Boisvert is one of the many sponsors and supporters of the Sportsman Series. He has always had an extreme interest in auto racing, but never really knew how to get started into it. About 6 years ago while working in Vegreville, AB. he was approached by a young gentleman who asked to watch how a large specialized piece of heavy construction equipment worked. Mario invited the young man to ride along in his truck and survey the project and its equipment with him. This young man was Kyle Bates, the 397 Sprint Car driver. It is a bit of a story from there, but today Mario and his company not only sponsor the 397 Sickfast Industries sprint car team across Canada and the USA, but has eagerly signed his company on as a major contributor to this great series, the MDM Sportsman Sprints Series. "Kyle and I met in a ditch" grins Mario.

Why did Mario choose to get involved? "Logistics" he claims. " As an avid Nascar fan, it is impossible to attend all the events on a regular basis, the local dirt tracks lets me see very exciting racing every weekend and it is in our back yards" he laughs.

"I would love to chase the Nascar circuit as a fan, gallivanting across the nation but someone has to keep my crews fed with projects to work on. Someone has to bid these jobs and get my guys the stuff they need and I can’t help them complete jobs if I am not there. I can attend two very exciting races every weekend and miss only a few hours of work. For the most part, I bring my engineers, vendors and customers with me! Most of them have never seen this before and walk away as huge fans. Most of my crews work away from their homes and families, sometimes it is just too far for them to go home and rather than them sit at the hotel alone; I invite them to come along with me. It helps me build great relationships with my crews, customers and vendors. It is really more than just something fun to do, I really love it", he say’s with a smile.

Mario’s company MDM Trenching and Excavating builds large scale sub divisions, water and sewer projects, land leveling, oil and gas pipeline projects etc. "We sling dirt" he grins. "Not to glamorous, but it keeps the wolf off the door" he grins.

Mario supports the class because he says all his life he wanted to race, but could never afforded to as he was growing up. Now with the Sportsman rules, a couple of buddies can put a car together and either drive it themselves or find a talented driver to run it for them. "I love bringing my friends out to help me cheer on our car!" he laughs. "We have a lot of fun with this".