CEDAR CITY — Rally racers and fans alike received disappointing news Thursday evening in Cedar City as word broke that round three of the Bilstein Southwest RallyCup Series was unexpectedly cancelled.
Updated 7:45 p.m.: Rally race organizers have released an official statement regarding the cancellation.
A portion of the release said:
Due to governmental agencies reportedly not receiving land use permits and other required permissions filed by representatives from the city of Cedar City, Iron County and the Iron County Sheriff, the event chairs and organizers, Pat and Denise McMahon were forced to cancel the entire rally event.
“Denise and I have organized events for 15 years and have learned never to move forward without proper authorization. Because of the great distance from our house to Cedar City, the local officials offered to pull all necessary permits for us,” Pat McMahon said. “I would never have left my house without being assured everything was a ‘go’.”
Read the full statement here.
On a post to the Rally Utah Facebook race organizers said:
We so appreciate the support from the fans, both those who are local and who were coming from out of town. We’ve been planning this event for several years and cannot express the excitement it was finally coming to fruition. Unfortunately, at the last minute, we came into some major issues we’d thought had been confirmed, but at the last minute, it was discovered that was not the case.
Bryan Dangerfield, the events coordinator for Cedar City said that it was a perfect storm of events that led to the cancellation including the weather, road permit issues and concerns raised by landowners where portions of the race were to be held.
One of Dangerfield’s major concerns was safety.
“Whenever you plan an event, the safety of the participants and of the spectators always comes first,” Dangerfield said.
Dangerfield said that they were looking forward to the event and that the cancellation is very unfortunate for all involved.
Race organizers are expected to release a formal statement on their Facebook and website regarding the cancellation as all the information is finalized.
Related posts
- Rally enthusiasts see first performance rally race event in Utah
- SkyWest Mini Indy puts fun in fundraising; STGnews Videocast, Photo Gallery
- Racing on the ridge attracts drag fans; STGnews Videocast
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.
Please dig deeper into this story. Someone in a position of authority is lying. Dangerfield’s full statement alluded to larger issues at play than just the weather and safety concerns. The public has a right to know which of their elected officials is behind all of this. The press has an obligation to investigate and report, not just regurgitate press releases.