Sheldon Kelly has finished in second place after an incredibly close final round against Dustin Boyd in Ski-Doo’s North America’s Top Snowmobiler competition. Boyd won with 52.81 per cent of the vote. SnowTrax Television, the site hosting the competition, had some issues confirming votes issued on the final day, creating some tension as to who was the winner.
“I kind of saw it coming,” Kelly said. “It finished off unofficially with a loss already, and then just everything that was going on and the issues that [SnowTrax] was having, I just felt like it probably was going to go in Dustin’s favour, so I had already prepared myself for second place anyway.”
“I don’t feel like it’s a loss either,” he continued. “I don’t have a snowmobile in my garage now, but there’s still potentials to gain from this in other ways that I’ll pursue afterwards.”
Kelly met a Ski-Doo dealer out of Calgary called Basecamp at the Calgary Outdoor and Boat show, and they got on board, voting for him and sharing his posts related to the contest.
READ MORE: Cranbrook’s Sheldon Jelly in tight quarter-finals race
“So they reached out to me and said that there’s still potential to work together, and that there’s things called ambassador programs that maybe would be something that would work for me.”
A brand ambassador is a person sponsored by a company to represent and promote the brand.
“I’ve learned how to represent myself on a national level, to promote myself and a company like Skidoo for example, and so that would be a reason they would want to get me on board with an ambassador program.”
Kelly, for placing second, won a Ski-Doo snowsuit, valued at around $500. He says that after investing some of his own money and a huge amount of time in promoting his campaign, this helps to offset some of those costs.
He also said that while the news is still so fresh that it’s hard to put everything into words, he is incredibly grateful to everyone who supported him throughout this remarkable journey.
READ MORE: Sheldon Kelly set to advance to finals of Top Snowmobiler competition
“It’s great that everyone feels that I’m a winner in their eyes, regardless of what the outcome is. So that’s a great feeling, so thank you everyone for making me feel that way, that they all feel that I accomplished something huge. So their positive feedback, makes me feel positive with a runner up position.”
As well as pursuing the ambassador program, Kelly will continue on as he always has supporting the Cranbrook snowmobile scene, volunteering for club events, putting on movie premiers, and using proceeds to benefit local charities.
“I just want to come away with a positive feeling and not a negative feeling, because it’s been a lot of load on me and I’m happy it’s over, but I’m going to try and take a positive away from this whole thing and not a negative.”
