The Prince Albert Dirt Riders Blair Morgan Invitational this weekend at the club’s track by Muskoday was a huge success.
The event wrapped up the first NE Triple Crown Series. Prince Albert Dirt Riders President Matt Fowler said they had 111 riders in attendance from across Saskatchewan and into Alberta.
“That was very good. It was exactly we had planned and we’re hoping for it to get bigger next year,” Fowler said.
The Blair Morgan Invitational is the final event of the Triple Crown which features races in Melfort and Nipawin.
“It was very good racing, lots of tight racing, and people coming from all over,” Fowler said.
“Usually this race is on the August long weekend but the Saskatoon Club has their provincial series that weekend. We didn’t want to interfere with them. That’s always the cross-section stuff.”
The winner of the “A” Class or top field in the event was Prince Albert’s Jordan Dent. The 37-year-old was also named the Triple Crown champion.
“He had first turned pro in, won the provincial championship in, I want to say 2005 and 2006 for the provincial champions,” Fowler said. “Then he grew up and took time away from racing and only came back a few years ago. For the last three years since his return to racing, he’s won our A class every year.”
Dent finished the three races with a total of 249 points, in second place was Nathan Cochrane with 226 points, in third place was Bryce Cook with 151 points.
He said that Dent’s performance since returning to racing has been impressive.
Next year Fowler hopes to have the event in the traditional slot on the August long weekend.
The Dirt Riders track located near Muskoday was constructed in the 1970s and went into disuse before the club revived again in the 2000s.
“In 2011, the road into the track flooded and the track the club basically died at that point because there’s no access to it,” he said.
The track is accessed by a road off the grid road.
“In 2017, me and some friends restarted the club. We got the road fixed. We’ve just been building ever since then to get to the point we are now,” Fowler said. “It’s all volunteer based. Everybody’s putting their time for the love of the sport.”
Fowler explained that there are a few motocross series around the province including the Saskatchewan Provincial Series. When he was into racing when he was younger it was not cost effective to travel across the province to races in places like Swift Current, Estevan and Weyburn.
“I never got to do a whole series as a kid,” Fowler said. “My dream for this was to have a small local series that people from around here can afford to drive to. Our prices are cheaper than these big series to get people into the sport and let families have fun together.”
Devin Beaudoin got some air on Saturday during the Prince Albert Dirt Riders Blair Morgan Invitational.
Youth racers make their way around the track on Saturday during the Prince Albert Dirt Riders Blair Morgan Invitational.
The events are the Ridge Riderz in Nipawin, the Melfort Exhibition races and the Blair Morgan Invitational. This year the events ended up on consecutive weekends
“This was the first year where all three of them were back-to-back,” Fowler said.
Fowler added that his expectations for next year re to have it on the traditional dates.
“We always have a fun event in the evening. That’s kind of one of the things our club has become known for. We do one race in the year as part of the Midwest Amateur Series, which is a club based around Lloydminster, the furthest one for that on,” Fowler said.
The track was named the Track of the Year for the Midwest Amateur Series.
“We had a pit bike race in the evening where all the moms got to ride the bikes, and we’re just the fun club,” he added. “That’s one of the highlights, I think, of our event for next year. We’ll do something else fun like that.”
Fowler said that people can find more information at pdr.ca or the group’s Facebook page.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
