RANGELEY – The 12th Annual Busch Sport Scene Snowmobile Ride for Charity will take place on Saturday, February 5th, 2011 at Moose Alley, which has been the Club House Restaurant for the past few years, in Rangeley, Maine. There will be many New England based race car drivers and team members joining the ride again this year, including PASS, ACT and local track racers. The ride is open to everyone: teams, fans and all, so make your plans to ride with the best racers in the northeast!
A Pair of former NASCAR Champions will lead the charge. Andy Santerre, a five time NASCAR Champion, will travel north from his home in North Carolina to his home state for the event. Two time champion Mike Olsen will be attending with several members of his Fadden Racing Team. There could be a couple other former NASCAR champions at the event as well.
The day will start with an optional 10:30AM drivers meeting at Moose Alley – which was formerly the Club House (for those of you that attended in the past). Ride credentials can be purchased for $20 at Moose Alley starting at 9AM. You can ride with the 11AM group or ride with your own group at anytime during the day. You can even purchase more than one ride credential, allowing better odds of holding the winning poker hand!
The $20 ride credential also gets you admission into the full night of entertainment at Moose alley that evening, including the traditional comedy show. The proceeds from the ride will all go to several great charities including the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Maine Special Olympics, Travis Roy Foundation, Rangeley Snowmobile Club and Busch Sport Scene Scholarship.
What is a poker run anyway? Once you get a ride credential, you ride to five separate check points, getting your credential stamped at each checkpoint. At the end of the ride, you get one card dealt for each stamp on your card. The person with the best five card poker hand will be the winner! For example, if the five cards you drew were two jacks, two aces and a two of hearts, that would be your hand for the event. The winner will be awarded a full prize package that will include some great snowmobile gear, gift certificates and more. There will be prizes for second and third best hand as well.
The ride by snow machine can be as quick as less than two hours or as long as you like if you take longer trail routes. All stops are also accessible by car as well, for those that don’t want to ride. Participants will meet back at Moose Alley at 6 PM. The cards will be dealt to see who has the best hand, which is announced at 7 PM. If you do want to ride, but need a sled, Boss Power Equipment (formerly PJ’s Power Sports) is located right beside Moose Alley and is an official sponsor of the event. They have snowmobile rentals, as well as all supplies a snowmobiler would need. Poker Run stops will be announced soon.
“The event is held rain or shine, snow or not. Many of the participants at the event don’t even ride snowmachines,” event organizer and Busch Sport Scene Publisher George Campbell said. “If anyone is concerned about the weather, or does not ride snowmobiles, each check point is accessible by car as well as snowmachine, making it possible for those that do not ride snowmobiles to participate equally.”
Much of the fun takes place inside during the evening festivities, which are capped of by a comedy show featuring nationally known comedian Dave Andrews. With over 30 years performing experience he is a repeat performer for Carnival Cruise Lines and Caesar’s Pocono Resorts. Dave has entertained at well over 100 college campuses and been the opening act for rock ‘n rollers like Huey Lewis and the News, Aaron Neville, Gladys Knight, and KC and the Sunshine Band.
There will be a charity auction preceding the comedy show. Some of the auction items will include great sports items including race tickets and signed sports memorabilia. Some of the signed items planned for this year include Patriots players Wes Welker and Deion Branch, Red Sox players Clay Buchholtz, Jon Lester, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie while the Boston Bruins even donated a sign puck from Marco Sturm. There will be many signed NASCAR items as well. There will even be some very unique items for golf fans this year too. There will also be plenty of gift certificates and many other great items.
“This is the twelveth year I have been involved in this event,” Campbell said. “We should top $120,000 raised over those years. We have some great plans for this year’s event, including several special guests and many terrific auction items. If you are a sports fan, you do not want to miss this year’s event. Even if you’re not, it will be a great time for everyone and all the proceeds go directly to some great charities.”
The tickets will be $20 the day of the event. Busch Sport Scene is a New England based sports magazine. Current Busch Sport Scene subscribers will receive a $5 discount on the day of the event, as will NASCAR, PASS & ACT team members that present their licenses.
For room availability or directions, you can call the Rangeley Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-MT-LAKES. For more details, or to become a part of the event or make a donation, please email at scene@neracing.com or call Busch Sport Scene at 1-207-240-5685. There will also be news on the www.neracing.com website.
