MEDWAY, Maine — East Branch Sno-Rovers Club Vice President Brian Wiley offered an apology Wednesday and said the club’s snowmobile drag-racing sponsorship might be restructured in response to criticism he bore after complaining that some businesses were directly benefiting from the races without sponsoring them.
“I regret what I said,” Wiley said. “I didn’t think it would alienate club members, and I did not intend to alienate our sponsors or our good supporters. I was frustrated; I was tired. Everybody had worked hard to a point of exhaustion, and what I said was something I should not have said. I apologize to anyone I may have of-fended.”
The weekend’s Katahdin Area Snowmobile Racing Affiliates races at the club’s 2,200-foot iced track drew about 600 people total for both days and more than 50 racers on each day, a good start, organizers said, for a first-time event that they hope eventually will draw thousands of spectators to the Katahdin region.
But as of Saturday night, the club, which sells sponsorships for $250 to $2,500, needed eight $250 sponsors to reach the club’s goal of $10,000 in prize money for what might be its biggest event, the Northeast Winter Nationals on Jan. 21-23, prompting Wiley’s remarks in Monday’s Bangor Daily News.
The comments were the first public misstep for Wiley, who is generally regarded as a diplomatic and diligent advocate for snowmobiling and recreational trail development in the Katahdin region. An East Millinocket resident and former East Branch club president, he helped organize a truck and tractor pull that drew about 3,000 people to Millinocket Regional Airport in September.
The Brian Wiley Multi-Use Recreational Bridge just west of Millinocket was named after him in February 2010 to honor his work developing multiuse recreational trail networks in Katahdin.
The Sno-Rovers drag races are among his most recent efforts. Five more race weekends are scheduled, including a state championship race scheduled for Feb. 19-20, aimed at developing local snowmobile drag-racing teams, organizers have said.
Club President David Violette said he hoped the races would not be overshadowed by controversy.
“We work hard to take one step forward, and when something simple but unfortunate like this happens, we end up taking three steps back,” Violette said Wednesday.
The winter nationals will have a $10,000 purse, Violette said. That includes, Wiley said, $500 from the Katahdin Area Chamber of Commerce, which took out the sponsorship early this week, after Wiley’s comments.
Violette said the club is considering creating sponsorship levels next year that would cost less than $250 to allow more businesses and individuals to contribute.