Tesoro out as Iron Dog title sponsor

ANCHORAGE — The Tesoro Iron Dog is history. But the world’s longest snowmachine race won’t be disappearing anytime soon.

Tesoro Corp. will not be the title sponsor for the 2010 Iron Dog, race development director Heidi Griffin confirmed Monday afternoon. But the race will undoubtedly start as planned Feb. 21 in Big Lake, Griffin said.

“The way it works, we don’t necessarily have to have a title sponsor,” Griffin said. “It definitely does put us in a little accelerated gear to make sure we have sponsorships.”

The Iron Dog had a 10-year partnership with the petroleum refining company before Tesoro opted to pull its commitment as title sponsor.

Based on that long relationship, Griffin said the news is, “a little bit of a shock.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.