NASCAR Is Back Stock Cars Return To Saskatoon Dorian Geiger (Photo: Bo Nash) Saskatoon, SK — The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is set to make its sophomore appearance in Saskatoon on August 4th, when some of the world's most skilled drivers will descend upon the Auto Clearing Motor Speedway as part of the Candian Tire Series. Now in its second year, the race has come to be known as Velocity Prairie Thunder, after a herbicide developed by Bayer CropScience, the race's major sponsor. A capacity crowd of 5,000 is expected to turn out watch drivers like J.R. Fitzpatrick, Andrew Ranger and Scott Steckly attempt to complete a whopping 250 laps around the Speedway's oval track, which has been repeatedly recognized as the best short track in Canada. Herm Hordal of the Auto Clearing Speedway's business development and management sector was pleased with last year's local NASCAR unveiling, and is confident the sport is already developing a solid fanbsase here in Saskatoon. "[When I am] at a social function and go up to a group of four or six people and ask 'You know anything about NASCAR? Just a show of hands.' Bingo! Three or four people will," says Hordal. "And three or four of them will name their favorite driver. And you even ask – 'your favorite driver: who is his major sponsor?' They will know," adds Hordal. Based on stats released by NASCAR last year, Hordal estimates that about a quarter of Saskatchewanians are loyal fans of the sport. On August 3rd — one day before the race — drivers will also be in attendance for a family tailgate party at Saskatoon's River Landing, where they will be posing for photos and signing autographs for fans. There is no cost to attend the event, which kicks off at 5 PM and features live entertainment, beer gardens and a BBQ. Riders Stay Confident As Winning Streak Ends Dorian Geiger Roughriders head coach Ken Miller watches from the sidelines (Photo: Saskatchewan Roughriders) Saskatoon, SK — Perfection isn't always an achievable feat, even in Riderville — the Saskatchewan Roughriders' unbeaten streak that spanned the first three weeks of the 2010 CFL campaign came to a halt July 24th with their 40–20 bashing at the hands of the Calgary Stampeders. "We just took a nice little butt-kicking," Riders all-star running back Wes Cates told the LeaderPost following the loss, sounding as much like he was trying to reassure his team as he was its fans. "Nobody has anything to hang their heads about. We [just] have to see what we did wrong and get ready for [our] next [games].'' Though many aspects of the Riders' game fell short during their defeat, the team will likely focus on improving their offensive coordination as a key to future victory. Quarterback Darian Durant gave up three turnovers over the course of four quarters against the Stamps, made just 22 of 37 passes and only threw one touchdown, to Weston Dressler. Saskatchewan's offence is potent – it just needs to be more consistently productive. Players like Cates, Dressler, Andy Fantuz and Rob Bagg all need to collectively step up on a game-to-game basis if Saskatchewan is going to continue to find itself in the win column.