US Open National Championships coming to Town Aug 31st and Sept 1st
Five Guest riders, including Two Former Champions to take part!
Photos: Rider in white is Chris Kerr, blue is Louie Mesaroli, Black and yellow is Austin Novratil and rider wheelieing in red is Finn Reed
One of the most prestigious events in North America for speedway motorcycle racing, The US Open National Championships, is set to come to Champion Speedway in Owego, NY on September 1st and will feature some of best racers American Speedway has to offer.
This year’s Championship series is slated for two nights of racing. The first round, Saturday evening, August 31st is scheduled to be held at Champion’s sister facility, Action Park East in Greene, and will start at 7pm. It is likely Round 1 may be switched to Champion though after this goes to print, depending on the outcome of an equipment issue at APE. The Championship finals, Sunday evening Sept 1st at Champion, will kick off at 6pm !
Headlining the event will be former US Open Champ and British League rider, Chris Kerr, of Auburn, California, along with another former US Open winner, Austin Novratil of Huntington Beach, who also has spent time in Europe with Team USA and was the US National Under 21 Champion. Louie Mesaroli one of the top Northern California racers and currently in the top 10 in National Championship points, will be making his first apperance in NY for the championship and former Nor Cal star, Devin Defreece will be coming out retirement to compete. The last guest rider is an exciting announcement…The New Zealand National Under 21 Champion, 17-year-old Finn Reed, will be making the long journey to race in the program!
Local fans will have a lot to cheer about and the guest stars will have their hands full as the track promotion has a strong program of local riders at the moment. The top local favorites to win the Championship have to be Casey Donholt of Port Crane, also a former Champion, Spencer Portararo of Maine, who is a former East Coast Points Champion, Adam “Missile” Mittl of Maine, who has won 5-track championships, Len McBride of Windsor, who has also has 5 track titles and teenager, Caleb Stewart, of Apalachin, who has become a front runner this year. More riders from, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania will be making up the field!
Former 3-time US Open Champion, Californian Gene Woods, who now resides in Las Vegas and is the founder of the Hot Shoe Hall of Fame, will be on hand to serve as the Grand Marshall as this marks the 40th Anniversary of his last title win!
Speedway motorcycles have absolutely no brakes, go from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds and slide totally sideways through the turns. They run on methanol and the sport attracts crowds of 20,00 plus for weekly meetings in Europe. There are only several pockets of speedway in the US and New York is recognized as one of the best, second only to California.
Champion Speedway is at the end of Rt. 434 in Owego on Old Narrows Road. Support Class racing, Mini Trikes and Juniors will be included both nights. Quad Racing will be taking place out back on the new ATV and Kart track as well. Monday could serve as a rain-date. More info can be found by calling (585)739-9612 or going to www.eastcoastspeedway.com or www.speedwaybikes.
Photos: Rider in white is Chris Kerr, blue is Louie Mesaroli, Black and yellow is Austin Novratil and rider doing a wheelie in red is Finn Reed
Portararo Wins His 3rd Omar Lightner Cup 7/27/2024
Portararo Wins 3rd Omar Ligntner Cup at Champion!
By Jason Bonsignore
Photos by Kelly Klees
This year marked the 25thseason that Champion Speedway has hosted the Omar Lightner Cup Championship to celebrate the life of the former track worker and Vestal Police Officer, who was a friend to many at the track! Each year the event provides some excellent action and this year was more of the same, especially with the Lightner family putting up some extra cash for the Main Event purse!
Through the heat rounds, two 5-time track champions…Casey Donholt and Lenny McBride were the top scorers with 9 and 8 points. Spencer Portararo was third with 7 then Caleb Stewart and Jonny Oakden both had 6. Rounding out the remaining semifinal qualifiers were Adam Mittl, Levi Harris and Dave Oakden with 4 a piece.
Donholt used his strong gating skills to take the lead and win over Portararo in semi number one. McBride had a problem with his number one bike as he pulled out for his semi and had to switch to his backup. He gated the field but was getting too much traction and got way wide on the second lap which opened up the lead for Stewart who would go onto win. Mittl moved up into 2nd and secured a position in the final.
Jonny Oakden drew the pole for the last chance which was the favored starting spot with the track conditions, and he used that to his advantage to take the checkered flag and the last spot in the feature.
Portararo made an excellent start from the inside and was just about even with Donholt off turn two but overpowered him down the back straight into the lead. Donholt pushed hard for the entire race but Portararo rode the perfect lines each lap on his Justice Brothers car care/Cloud 9/ODI Grips/Tanks Auto/Joe V’s Auto/Harman Boyz Sponsored GM to take home his 3rd Omar Lightner Cup Championship!
In Division 2 veteran flattracker, Kenny Dahlin rode his Robinson bros Racing sponsored Jawa to victory over youngster phenom Cody Pierce, who was last weeks feature winner!
Champion Speedway returns Saturday August 10th with the Larry and Kathy McBride Memorial!
Donholt Dominates Speedway Joe Night 7/13/2024
Donholt Dominates Speedway Joe Cup
By Jason Bonsignore
Podium Photo by Kelly Klees Caleb Stewart left, Casey Donholt Center, Len McBride right Action Photo of female sensation Chloe Schnurr, who has won 4 weeks in a row now in D-2, by Kelly Klees
It was a tough evening emotionally for the East Coast Speedway Family on July 13th as just two days earlier news surfaced that former NY State Champion, Mikey Buman, had passed away unexpectedly just a couple weeks past his 33rd birthday.
It was also a difficult day for the track staff as there was a ton of work to do to save the racetrack in the blistering heat from the severe storms that blasted through a day earlier and had filled the infield and much of the track with water. After hours and hours of pumping water and working the surface, which caused a bit of a late start, the track actually came out as one of the nicer ones this season!
Current track champion, Casey “Dominator” Donholt, was close friends with Mikey Buman and was anxious to win for his friend. Donholt started off strongly winning his 3 heats with 9 points. Former track champ, Spencer Portararo, was back for his first event since Memorial Day weekend when he suffered a broken leg and quickly got back to form scoring 8 points in the heat rounds. Five-time Track Champion, Len McBride, who has been very solid lately, was 3rd in points, along with Jonny Oakden on 7.
Donholt won semifinal number 1 with another 5-time Track Champion, Adam “The Missile” Mittl, taking second and Caleb Stewart 3rd with Oakden 4th.
Portararo would win the other semi with McBride second, Mike Cortese 3rd and Levi “The Hornet” Harris 4th.
Stewart would have to go around the outside of Cortese in spectacular fashion to win the last chance and take the final position in the evening’s big money race…The Speedway Joe Hodak Main Event! Joe was a great fan from Johnson City who missed only 3 or 4 events from 1975 until he passed nearly 40 years later and would go through great lengths and take whatever means necessary of travel to make it to the tracks!
In the final, McBride, on his Justice Brothers Car Care Products/ODI Grips/TANKS AUTO SALES/Joe V’s Auto Repair powered GM and Donholt, on his MATRAFAILO RACING sponsored GM, would gate just about evenly and meet at the middle of the first corners with Donholt having the better dirt line mid track to power into first. Donholt would ride meticulously the remaining race to capture the checkered flag while McBride held second until the last corner when he was dive bombed hard and pinched into the wall by Stewart. McBride collided with the wall but stayed on the bike and crossed the line on his rear wheel to recover for 3rd place. Portararo and Mittl were 4th and 5th.
In the Division Two wars, female sensation, Chloe Schnurr, from Rochester, had won 3 weeks in a row and had become the rider to beat heading into the night. In the main event, colorful veteran D-1 rider, Alex “The Hazard” Heath of Owego, who is riding D-2 while coming back from a serious injury last season, made the gate from the inside and Schnurr had to come off an outside gate and what ensued was one of the best 4 lap side by side battles seen all season! The crowd was on their feet as the legendary pint size Heath tried so hard he got sideways a couple times in the middle of the straights! Schnurr won by inches at the line and took her fourth in a row on her WILD BILL/Brian Hollenbeck/Tom Robinson sponsored GM!
Riders will be gearing up for the JULY 27TH event at Champion, the Omar Lightner Cup Championship, which the Lightner Family has put extra money up for and is always a prestigious one to go for!
The JR scene at Champion has been awesome racing as well with the program now boasting 12 youngsters in the Powersports X/Robinson Bros JR divisions! Flat-track motorcycles have also been added to the back track schedule on speedway nights and nearly 30 bikes attended the first time.
Donholt Wins His 6th Bassett Cup 6/22/2024
Donholt Takes Hank Bassett Cup at Champion
By Jason Bonsignore
Pictures by Kelly Klees (Action Shot of Casey Donholt) (Podium is Adam Mittl left in Orange, Casey Donholt Top and Lenny McBride right)
The temperatures were extremely hot and Sunny last week and especially all day on Saturday at Champion Speedway as the track crew worked hard to prepare for the evenings Hank Bassett Cup which pays tribute to the former 4-time track champion who passed away of complications from MS a handful of years ago now. What was least expected was a major burst of rain just as the show was supposed to start that actually canceled most of the area car tracks plans! Track staff worked feverishly for over an hour to fix the waterlogged surface and were racing by 8:40 pm on what ended up being the best track of the season thus far!
Current track champion, Casey Donholt, who has only won once so far in 2024, was back in good form throughout the night and would win his semifinal ride over last week’s winner, Caleb Stewart, who would take the second transfer slot.
Former 5-time track Champion, Lenny McBride of Windsor, was also looking sharp, even defeating Donholt in a heat race and he and Levi The Hornet Harris would take the two transfer positions from semifinal number two for the Main. Another former 5-time track champion, Adam The Missile Mittl, would have to go through the last chance qualifier, which he won, to take his place in the feature lineup!
On the first attempt at the Final, Stewart was leading on lap one with McBride second and Donholt third when McBride slid out and Donholt did a great job to avoiding hitting him and laid it down. On the restart Mittl touched the tapes in gate one which under track rules brings out a warning. On the third go, Donholt would make the start on his Matrafailio racing sponsored GM and would ride mistake free to claim his 6th Bassett Cup title in his career! Mittl and McBride, both sponsored by Justice Brothers Car Care Products/ODI Grips/Tanks Auto Sales/Joe V Auto Repair and Scotts Headers and Muffles, would ride a nice 4 laps solidly in second and third to cap a good night of racing for them!
Chloe Schnurr of Rochester has been impressive the last two weeks in the Division Two wars with two straight wins! Dominic Matias took his first ever win in Div Three and the JR racing has been super impressive with 12 young riders now! Macoley Saunders won the Div 1 JR Main for the second week in a row.
The program ran very smoothly and concluded in just over 2 hrs!
Champion also added flat-track bikes to the Quad program out back that runs at the same time on the night and had 50 entries! The feedback was great and more are expected next event July 13th!
The Flying Mullet Gets His First Scratch Main Win 6/8/2024
The Flying Mullet Takes First Scratch Main at Champion!
By Jason Bonsignore
Photos by Kelly Klees (Speedway podium is Caleb Stewart center, Casey Donholt left and Lenny McBride right) Quad rider in yellow is Toby Relyea
Action Photo was taken by Brian Walsh of Caleb Stewart
On June 8th Champion Speedway played host to its annual Jagger Roberts Memorial to honor the young boy who had raced at Champion previously but tragically lost his life at a local hare scramble event several years ago. The track awards a perpetual trophy in Jagger’s name to the winner of the Quad Pro division each season on the evening but the speedway riders also race hard in his memory, and this year was no different!
Last season there was a Handicap Main ran on the night that young teenager Caleb “Flying Mullet” Stewart won. He has been very fast in certain races the past two seasons and many felt he could be knocking on the door of his first scratch main event soon at age 18!
Stewart would take a 2nd place in his semi to transfer to the Main behind Casey Donholt. Lenny McBride, a 5-time track champion, won the other semifinal with “Smokin” Dave Oakden 2nd.
The last chance saw “GP” Jonny Oakden sweep around the outside into the lead and it was a lead he never relinquished as he took the final spot for the feature.
Casey Donholt, also a 5-time track champ, would jump into the lead off the start of the scratch main with young Stewart on his tail! Donholt held the lead for 3 laps but on the final lap going down the backstraight, with Donholt on the outside, Stewart caught some traction and a massive wheel stand ensued in which many thought Stewart would end up looping out due to! Instead, he pulled it down and got a burst of traction that powered him under Donholt going into the corners and he passed and got a good shot out of turn 4 heading to the checkered flag for his first ever scratch main! Donholt on his Matrafailio Racing powered GM was second and Lenny McBride, riding a Justice Brothers/ODI Grips/TANKS AUTO/Joe V’s Auto powered GM took third!
Champion Speedway hosts The Hurricane Hank Bassett Cup June 22nd at 7pm! The action has been hot and the track has had over 40 speedway riders 3 times this season, the most of any track in the Country!
Toby Relyea would take his second Jagger Roberts Victory in the Pro Quad Wars with a real smooth ride in the feature!
Bradley Wilson-Dean Flawless in Title Race 5/26/2024
New Zealander Takes National Title at Champion’s 50th Anniversary Event!
By Jason Bonsignore
International Racer, Bradley Wilson-Dean, of New Zealand, flew in to take part in Champion Speedway’s 50TH Anniversary Outlaw National Championships and did not disappoint as he won every race he did not have mechanical failure in over the two-day Memorial Day weekend show.
Due to a couple of DNF’s on Saturday, Wilson-Dean found himself in the B Final/last chance, along with current track champion, Casey Donholt, Mike Cortese of NJ and Caleb Stewart of Apalachin. Wilson won that event which moved him into the A Final, joining…Chris Kerr of Northern California, former 2-time US National Champion, Aaron Fox, from Southern California and past East Coast Champions, Len McBride and Spencer Portararo.
On the first attempt of the Main Event, Kerr got into Wilson-Dean off turn two and he went down hard. After some deliberation the referee ordered a full restart, which many felt was the correct call. Wilson-Dean, riding a borrowed bike, went around the outside off an outside gate to swoop the field and did not look back, taking overall win for night one!
On Sunday Wilson-Dean would win his first 3 heats and then threw a chain in his 4th. He would still make the 4 round robin Finals, along with Kerr, Portararo, Fox and McBride. To add excitement his bike again tossed a chain in the first Main which added to Kerr’s point lead for the title. He would rally back to win Main 2 and then go onto win Main 3 and 4. With 3 point increments between 1st and 2nd place for the Main Event points, he and Kerr would eventually conclude on a tie at 57 points and bring about a runoff for the title!
With both riders being very tired at this stage after an unconventional 4 Main events, they both agreed to do 2 laps for the runoff. Wilson-Dean made the start again and Kerr kept close distance but could not catch him as the International rider took the 50th Anniversary OUTLAW NATIONAL TITLE!
Champion’s next event is the Jagger Roberts Memorial race June 8.
Memorial Day weekend 2024
Champion Speedway, one of the oldest racetracks in the Country still in operation, celebrates a huge milestone this season and is planning a big Memorial Day weekend to celebrate! This is the 50th Anniversary season of the legendary local track and they’re pulling out all the stops this weekend with a two day US National Championship event Saturday and Sunday. Top racers are coming in from the West Coast, Colorado and multiple states in the East to compete, including two-time US National Champion, Aaron Fox, and former US Open Champions…Austin Novratil and Chris Kerr! The current US Open Champ, International star, Bradley Wilson-Dean, is flying in from New Zealand as well. Four-time World Champion, Greg Hancock’s son will be taking part.
Legendary riders from both coasts who have played a major role in the track’s history will be attending, including such famous names and Champions as “Rocket” Rodney Payne, “Mean” Gene Bonsignore, George “Lazorbeam” Lazor, “Stormin” Norman Robinson and his brothers, “Rowdy” Rick Stone, “Fast” Frank Watson, Ivan “The Terrible” Blacka, “Pistol” Pete Atwater, Tommy “Gator” Sephton, Joey Sephton, Tuff McBride and many more! A large group of former Canadian racers are making the trek down including National Champions Lightning Len Dillon, John Kehoe and Aaron Hesmer. Bonsignore, Lazor, Watson, Blacka, Tommy Sephton and McBride will be inducted into The East Coast Hall of Fame on Saturday evening prior to the races as this year’s inductee class. Some of the legends may take to the track for some exhibition laps, including retired CA great and two-time US Open winner, Jimmy Sisemore from Woodland, CA. Former Nor Cal star Devin Defreece and other friends and supprters are traveling in support of the event too!
The races blast off at 7pm Saturday night for Round One and 6pm for the Finals Sunday. There will be a vintage memorilia display, souvenir programs detailing the 50 year history and the live band WRECKLESS MARCI will be playing after the Main event Saturday evening at 10:30! Monday at Noon would be used as a raindate possibly if needed.
Sideways Spencer Blasts to Victory in Champion Opener on 5/4/2024
Champion Speedway decided at the last minute to try and kick off its 50th Season a week earlier than originally planned and it proved to be the right decision as a huge turnout of competitors showed up for the Patrick Ahlund Spring Classic, along with a larger than expected, with the overcast weather, spectator crowd. Nearly 40 Speedway racers, including 11 Junior riders, plus 28 ATV’s had the pits full!
The track staff ran all those races in exactly 3 hours and the program concluded at 10:30. The last 20 minutes of events, including the features, ran in the rain which made for a different type of traction than norma for most.
Despite the heavy downfall, the track remained raceable with a slick inside and heavy outside.
In Division two, newcomer Albert Smith, in his second season, came all the way from the 60 yard line to pass the Red Rooster Brian McManamon on the last lap for the win! Rooster, last season’s Track Point Champion, had also overcome a 40 yard handicap and passed 4 other riders for second.
In the scratch main, former track champion, Spencer Portararo blasted a borrowed JAWA powered bike into the lead and rode the track super fast as though it were dry conditions. Casey Donholt, the current track champion from last season, made a good start but slid out and fell and was officially credited with 4th as he got up and finished. Former 5-time track Champion, Adam The Missile Mittl, made a solid start and followed Portararo around but could not overtake the Justice Brothers/Harman Boyz Racing/Cloud 9/Tanks Auto/Joe V’s Auto Repair sponsored rider and Portararo took home his first ever Ahlund Spring Classic which honors the former Canadian/Swedish rider and friend, who was killed in an auto accident in 2003 in Sweden. Mittl was second. Young Levi The Hornet Harris of Windsor took 3rd overall. Caleb Stewart of Apalachin was 5th.
Champion runs again Saturday May 11th, before taking a week break prior to its HUGE 50th Anniversary Celebrations and OUTLAW US NATIONALS, May 25 and 26th! Current and former star riders are coming from all over the Country and Canada for it and the live band Wreckless Marci will be paying Sat after the races along with special hall of fame inductions and vintage displays, it promises to be a great weekend!!!
May 4th, 2024 – Well considering I only confirmed we were racing this event 7 days ago and the weather forecast was very dodgy, the Patrick Ahlund Spring Classic was very successful! Huge thanks to everyone that came out and supported it. For the weather, the spectator crowd was pretty decent, the rider turnout was awesome! The pits were packed! Nearly 40 speedway riders, including 11 Juniors!!! 31 sign ins between trikes, and ATV’s. We ran all of that in exactly 3 hrs! Thanks to the riders who completed the program in the rain and put on a good show! I could not believe how fast our Support Riders and Jr’s were, with ZERO practice!!! Great job!
