2002 North America Speedway History
Part 1

2002 Part 2 - 2002 Part 3 (Nor Cal)

October 21, 2002

VICTORVILLE WINTER SERIES

Former speedway racer John Aden will be promoting a winter series at Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville. Aden has been promoting car races there already. The four-race series will be held on Saturday afternoons and will begin on November 16 and conclude on January 25. All speedway divisions are welcome, including Juniors. John is hoping to get riders from Northern California to participate as well. I will post more details as I get them. The dates and times are listed below as well as on the Victorville track page on this website.
Race Schedule
November 16
December 14
January 4
January 25
Gates open at 11:00
Racing starts at 1:00

Scandinavian Junior Bikes Are Coming!

Former speedway rider Donny "Too Tall" Odom is now importing the 85cc and 50cc Junior Speedway bikes that are used in the youth speedway program in the Scandinavian countries. Odom should have them in stock by the end of November. There are promoters in California who are strongly considering running these machines in the youth division. Odom is also working on having a rider come over from Europe to make an appearance in California in the Youth Division. He is also trying to arrange for an American Youth rider to compete in the Youth Grand Prix in Berlin next Summer.

December 9, 2002

BOOGALOO AND MAD DOG SCORE A HAT TRICK!

BRIGHTON BONANZA - PAIRS CHAMPIONSHIP
from Brian Collins via Stephen Graham
For the 3rd successive year, Americans Bobby Schwartz and Shawn Mcore information regarding these motorcycles you can contact the following phone number and address:
J-O Company
24458 Park Street
Torrance, CA 90505-6513
310-375-2996 Phone
310-375-3066 Fax

Brant Rumbles in North Carolina on Nov. 2

October 28, 2002 All in all this was a successful event. A total of $3,000 was paid in purse money. The first 12 riders to pre-register also got a $25 gas/merchandise ticket for a local BP mart.

The promoters had hoped for a bigger spectator turnout, but with NASCAR running just up the road in Rockingham and the chilly weather, things didn't quite meet their expectations. NASCAR's Gary Nelson was in attendance, but was unable to ride because of an leg injury possibly sustained while practicing Friday. Wally Dallenbach had intended to ride but did not. NASCAR's Steve Peterson was in the crowd as well as Joe Gibbs Racing/Home Depot driver Tony Stewart.

December 19, 2002

SHUPA JUNIOR BIKES COMING SOON!

Below is a brochure for the Shupa Junior Speedway bike from the Czech Republic. Although the brochure is for the 100cc bike, it is the 125cc bike that will be imported. The 125cc is basically the same. The bikes will be in stock by the end of March.
Some basic bike specs are: 4-cycle/2-valve; 19" front wheel, 17" rear wheel, and 48" wheel base.
Buyers from Southern California should note that this bike is legal to race at Costa Mesa!
Brant Engineering will be offering a pre-delivery sale price of $3,395 with a 50% deposit. The sale price is valid until the bikes arrive.
Here is the link the Brant Engineering Page: Brant Engineering or e-mail at: BrantEngin@aol.com

www.joracing.com

Brant Rumbles in North Carolina on Nov. 2

(October 28, 2002) All in all this was a successful event. A total of $3,000 was paid in purse money. The first 12 riders to pre-register also got a $25 gas/merchandise ticket for a local BP mart.

The promoters had hoped for a bigger spectator turnout, but with NASCAR running just up the road in Rockingham and the chilly weather, things didn't quite meet their expectations. NASCAR's Gary Nelson was in attendance, but was unable to ride because of an leg injury possibly sustained while practicing Friday. Wally Dallenbach had intended to ride but did not. NASCAR's Steve Peterson was in the crowd as well as Joe Gibbs Racing/Home Depot driver Tony Stewart.

The crowd and rider count was improved from last year, though, so who can complain? Anytime you can get 23 speedway riders to travel 10 to 12 hours to race at a strange track you have to be ecstatic! Who says that East Coast speedway isn't one big happy family?!

We are starting to explore the possibility of a spring and fall event at this venue next season. Stay tuned...

Thanks to sponsors/promoters James, Robert, Dennis, Roosevelt, Cape Fear Harley- Davidson and any others that I may have forgotten. Thanks to all the staff, riders and fans that came out to support the event. Thanks also to SDR for letting the NSRA borrow their radios for the event.

Division One Heat Totals

1. Brant 14
2. Oakden 12
3. Rafferty 12
4. Estelle 11 (won run-off for last spot in A main)
5. Harman 11
6. Parsons 11
7. Gauthier 8
8. Strong 8
9. Burge 7
10. Hollenbeck 7
11. Sherwood 5
12. Monell 4
13. Chrisco 3
14. Kemp 3
15. Carr 2
16. Kelley 1

Division One Mains

A
1. Brant
2. Estelle
3. Oakden
4. Rafferty

B
1. Parsons
2. Harman
3. Strong
4. Gauthier

C
1. Burge
2. Sherwood
3. Hollenbeck
4. Monell

D
1. Carr
2. Kemp

Chrisco and Kelly scratched after the second round. It should be noted that Chrisco won his second ride with a separated shoulder. Eddie Kelley hooked up in his second ride and tangled with Harman causing a restart. Kelley was unable to continue with a suspected wrist injury. This was Kelley's first season racing speedway. And considering he has not had much experience other than the Indy track, he handled himself well. The support mains have been posted so I will only post the heat totals here.

Division 2 heat totals

1. Craven 14
2. Donholt 10
3. Richards 6
4. Greene 0

One change from my preliminary report. Merle did not go undefeated. In his last ride he forgot to turn his fuel on and Donholt and Richards went past while he was fumbling with the petcock on the back stretch. He was able to retake second place to salvage a decent finish.

Division 3 (4-3-2-1-0 scoring due to 5-man class)

1. Deng 20
2. Williams 14
3. Normandi 8
4. Lewis 6
5. Hanzo 2

Fast Fridays After my return from Europe on Monday we now have a great line up of world class riders coming to Auburn California's Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway, Friday night, November 1st. You won't want to miss this event! Perhaps the best lineup of speedway talant in America.

The World Team:
Andy Smith - Great Britian
Bartek Bardecki -Poland
Armando Castagna - Italy
Joachim Kugelmann - Germany
Ronnie Pedersen - Denmark
Tony Kasper - Czech Republic
Robert Sawina - Poland
Kenneth Bjerre - Denmark

USA Team:
Billy Hamill
Billy Janniro
Ryan Fisher
Bobby Hedden
Tommy Hedden
John Cook
Bart Bast
TBA

Race format will be like North Vs South. 20 heats with two Mains.
The local weather forcast: cool nights with warm clear days.

Regards
Dave Joiner
Fast Fridays Motorcycle Speedway
Auburn, California

The World Team:
> Andy Smith - Great Britian - British Grand Prix star and currently in the top 20 in GP standings.

> Bartek Bardecki -Poland - Has been running the courses in California with pretty decent success. Has more short track experience than the rest of the World team.

> Armando Castagna - Italy - One of the nicest guys in speedway. Italian champ many times, has raced at Auburn last year and won the Argentine challenge this past winter. Also British Premire League experience at Reading.

> Joachim Kugelmann - Germany - German long track specialist, possibly also runs in the Danish leagues. 7th in last year's German Championship.

> Ronnie Pedersen - Denmark - some GP experience, Danish leagues and probably has Polish or Swedish League experience.

> Tony Kasper - Czech Republic - Has ridden for Eastbourne in British Elite League and I think has some GP experience. 17th in the world in 2000.  Also rides for Masarna in Sweden and Gniezno in Poland.

> Robert Sawina - Poland - Teammate of Billy Hamill's at Smederna in Swedish Leagues. Teammate of Tony Rickardsson on the Polish League Team - Torum.  Sawina had the 20th highest points per match average (7.26) in the Polish league. R.Sullivan had the highest average (10.92).

> Kenneth Bjerre - Denmark - British Premire League with an 8+ average at Newcastle. Is described as an 18 year old Danish sensation, which makes his 8+ league average for Newcastle even more impressive. He also finished 9th in this years Under 21 Championship.

Strong Rider Turnout, Local Enthusiasm for Nov. 2 Event in North Carolina

(October 28, 2002)Following is the list of riders expected to compete in the November 2 NSRA event at Hammer Down Raceway, Red Springs, North Carolina.

Division One
Scott Brant
Keith Chrisco
Eddie Kelley
Craig Estelle
Cam Rafferty
Chris Strong
Tom Burge
Dave Oakden
Joel Monell
Jeremy Parsons
Jerry Harman, Jr.
Brian Hollenbeck
Marc Gauthier
Joe Greene
Eric Sherwood
Merle Craven
Ronny Kemp

Support
Casey Donholt
Dave Richards
Jim Hass
Robert Arms
Gary Nelson
Henry Hanzo
Wally Dallenbach

According to event organizer Tim Mathewson, there are several riders who have the choice to ride D-1 or Support; it all depends on any extra riders who have not pre-entered.

Mathewson also stated: "Several local North Carolina flat track riders are hoping to try speedway for the first time at this event. We are trying to take some extra bikes along with us and we are hoping to split the Support division into D-2 and D-3 but will not know for sure until everyone signs up."

October 8, 2002

2002 United States National Riders
20 Man Line-up

1 - Chris Manchester
2 - Josh Larsen
2n - Alan Christian
3 - Gary Hicks
5 - Brad Oxley
6 - Shawn McConnell
8n - Bryan Yarrow
9 - Mike Faria
10 - Scott Brant
11 - Bobby Schwartz
12 - Randy DiFrancesco
14 - Eddie Castro
14n - Billy Janniro
15 - Dukie Ermolenko
43 - Charlie Venegas
87n - Bart Bast
94 - John Cook
104 - Billy Hamill
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk
166 - Andy Northrup
Reserve
13 Kitt Nay

Standing-Room-Only Crowd Sees Brant Triumph at Indy's Big Sept. 28 Finale

October 2, 2002 WOW! What an amazing end to a storybook first season. As always, I need to thank our night's sponsor for the event, Greenwood Honda/Kawasaki, in addition to all our other sponsors.

Lawrenceburg was cancelled on Friday night due to heavy rains and flooding which left all the riders itching to get to Indy. We too suffered from the storms that came through. We spent Friday pumping water and I personally got to spend the night making hundreds of laps in the truck getting things dried out. As it normally goes (Murphy's Law), our biggest race of the year provided less-than-ideal track conditions. I need to give a big thank you to all our riders who put their heads down and twisted the throttle.

For this event, we packed over 1,000 spectators into the facility. Needless to say, we never dreamed of a turnout like this one. Our concession stand sold out of everything at least twice during the night. Jim Knipp and Lisa Wertzberger did an outstanding job with the concession stand, sending runners to the store on several occasions to keep up with demand. In addition, we seem to be creating a new legend with our announcer Rick Dorfmeyer (the official voice of speedway racing in Indy). Rick has done an outstanding job and, as always, did a stellar job Saturday night.

Our rider count was 94 including our short trackers. We ran a total of 53 races in 3 hrs and 37 minutes. We ran a practice session early in the afternoon to give everyone a chance to check things out. Keith Chrisco and Scott Brant ran a little demo: they lined up side-by-side and ran handlebar-to-handlebar for 5 laps just to give everyone a taste of what "might" be seen in the D-1 main event. Unfortunately, a nasty collision with the wall in Chrisco's last heat race left him off pace for the restart and just 1 point short of a tie for the 5th transfer spot.

The Division One main event had Scott Brant transfer with a max of 12 points to gate 1. Andy Harris, Aaron Hesmer and Craig Estelle all tied with 11 points in gates 2, 3 and 4. Jerry Harman, Jr. rounded out the 5th spot with 10 points. At the checkers, Brant carried his winning streak winning the main event with Craig Estelle, Jerry Harman, Jr., Andy Harris and Aaron Hesmer finishing in that order.

The Division One consi saw gates 1-5 lined with Keith Chrisco, Joe Heye, local Eddie Kelley (on his longstroke after wadding up his new Bill Simpson-sponsored twin cam short stroke in a previous heat race), Ronny Kemp and Mark Gauthier, respectively. Joe Heye suffered a broken chain on an impressive ride early in the race; Chrisco was obviously off pace falling in turn 1 on lap two and leaving the door open for Eddie Kelley, Mark Gauthier and Ronny Kemp who finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

The Division Two main had locals Dave Weicht, Eric Miller, Todd Eads as well as New Yorkers Russ Cornell and Dave Richards in gates 1-5. A great race until Todd Eads fell leading the race, allowing Dave Weicht an easy pass. Todd was able to remount and finish second behind Weicht and in front of Cornell, Richards and Miller.

Division Three had local Dan Weicht, John Greeley, NASCAR'S Gary Nelson, Ralph Chudy and Kevin Mears lined up for battle. At the line it was Dan Weicht first, followed closely by John Greeley, Kevin Mears, Gary Nelson and Ralph Chudy in that order.

After the racing, a HUGE buffet was provided to the riders by the National Speedway Alliance; thanks to Jim and Lisa, with some awesome cajun shrimp added by Morgan Hedrick.

All in all, a great night of racing which left our local fan base ready to extend our season! SORRY GUYS, WE NEED A BREAK!

Once again a big "Thank You!" to all our spectators, riders, sponsors and volunteers who have made our first year so successful!

Jon Ard, President
National Speedway Alliance
Indianapolis International Speedway

Rafferty, HollenbeckTake Honors at SDR's Sept. 21 International Meet

September 28, 2002 September 21 in western New York was humid with rain all around except for the SDR grounds in Harpursville. Track conditions were good: a little drier than normal because it was threatening rain but by no means dusty. The stands were packed full and the air was electric.

Peter Andersson from Sweden was competing, as were as Kyle LeGualt, Fred LeGualt and Marc Gauthier representing Canada, making this a truly international affair. It was clearly a full house with no conflicting races on the local schedule.

Andersson looked very good throughout the night, only dropping one point to Kyle LeGault in his second heat. In his 5th and final heat of the night leading the race he hooked up out of turn two and got a little wide. He went off the racing surface and took a high-speed fall, bringing out the red flag. He shook it off but was excluded from the restart forcing him into a three-way runoff with Craig Estelle and LeGault. The runoff was 2 laps; LeGault got a clean start and looked as though he was going to the main, but a little bobble coming out off the second bend gave Estelle enough room to squeeze past for the win.

The Division One main event saw U.S. Open Champion Cam Rafferty cutting a superb gate. Jerry Harman, Jr. -- who was clearly riding his best all season tonight -- was in second and Estelle and Jeremy Parsons were neck-and-neck trading third position until Parsons hit a hole, hooked up and went down. No red flag was thrown and Estelle went after Harman, reeling him in and overtaking him on the outside by inches at the line for second place with Rafferty winning easily.

The Division Two action was equally exciting with Lee Bailey running a perfect score and young Brian Hollenbeck dropping his only point of the night to Bailey. Marc Gauthier was also up to the challenge, winning several of his heats. Casey Donholt has clearly stepped it up. He looks very good on the long track, dominating several of his heat races and getting great starts.

The Division Two main event saw Bailey get the gate with Hollenbeck leaning all over him through the first and second bend. Hollenbeck went in turn three hard underneath Bailey forcing him to move out a little but Bailey maintained momentum and re-took the lead coming out of four heading up the front stretch. Bailey took the white flag and then found too much traction in turn two, lifting the front end then coming down with the front wheel turned throwing him over the bars and off the track. The yellow was thrown but all the riders were safely past. Hollenbeck got the win followed by Gautier and Donholt.

Jesse Diem was also a first timer on his 175cc Honda-powered JR bike and regular Corey Brookes on a 125cc Honda made up the class.

The junior main saw Diem get the gate, a bike loaded up a little as the tapes. But came out of turn two quickly, passing Brookes and overtaking Diem as well going into turn four on the first lap. Never looked back and went on to win the main event followed by Diem and Brookes. These kids are very competitive and IÕm sure will be racing and pushing each other for years to come.

The Pee Wees saw Katelyn DeHart go undefeated until the main when Caleb Parshall overtook her at the line.

RESULTS

Division I
1. Cam Rafferty
2. Jerry Harman, Jr.
3. Craig Estelle
4. Jeremy Parsons

Division II
1. Brian Hollenbeck
2. Marc Gauthier
3. Casey Donholt
4. Lee Bailey (dnf)

Juniors
2. Jesse Diem (175cc)
3. Corey Brookes (125cc)

Pee Wee
1. Caleb Parshall
2. Katelyn DeHart

Handicap Dash for Cash
inverted start top 5 in points 6 laps
1. Kyle LeGault
2. Craig Estelle
3. Jeremy Parsons
4. Jerry Harman, Jr.
5. Cam Rafferty

New National Speedway Magazine Will Hit the Stands September 20

(September 17, 2002)Turn Onemagazine, a new nationally-focused speedway publication, will make its debut at the final round of the 2002 A.M.A. National Championship Series, September 20 at Fast Fridays in Auburn, CA. Turn Oneincludes major features and profiles of riders and tracks throughout the U.S., and fills a crying need in speedway for a national publication.

Editor-publisher Ken Wagner explains that the magazine will be sold on-track at speedway venues in California, and adds that fans throughout the U.S. can obtain a copy of Turn Oneby sending $6.00 along with their mailing address to:

Turn One magazine
4327 Talle Way
Dublin, CA 94568
(make checks payable to Ken Wagner).

After the September debut issue, expect the next issue of Turn Onein March of 2003, when the magazine will present its '03 season preview.

For more information on subscribing to or selling Turn One,contact Ken Wagner at turnonemagazine@aol.com.

Rider Line-Up Announced for Indy's Big Sept. 28 Shoot-Out

(September 17, 2002)Following is the rider line-up for the September 28, 2002 XTRARIDE Midwestern Shootout at Indianapolis International Speedway, sponsored by Greenwood Honda/Kawasaki.

Division One
Eddie Kelley #38
Greg Comstock #75
Greg Starcevic #197
Keith Chrisco #41
Joe Garrison #1
Morgan Hedrick #52
Scott Brant #10
Jerry Harman, Jr.#38
Joel Monell #4X
Ronnie Kemp #55
Craig Estelle #51X
Josh Carr #468
Lee Bailey #227
Aaron Hesmer #12
Andy Harris #19
Gary Hesmer #37
Peter Anderson #66
Joe Heye #46
Jeff Orosz #31
Jeremy Musson #41X

Division Two
Jeff Mowins #7
Dave Weicht #26
Gary Moeckel #44
Eric Miller #8
Lee Bailey #2
Bob Richards #97
Todd Eads #20
Brian Hollenbeck #171
Dave Clark #60
Mark Engle #69
Todd Musson #39
Dave Richards #4A

Division Three
Ralph Chudy #64
Brad Amburgey #6
John Greely #11
Dan Weicht #30
Gary Nelson #45
Kevin Mears #27
Allan Rush #9
Jimmy Drinan #99

Point Standings at Indianapolis for 2002 Season

(September 17, 2002)

Division One
Eddie Kelley #4 = 86
Greg Comstock #75 = 72
Greg Starcevic #197 = 46
Keith Chrisco #41 = 45
Joe Garrison #1 = 44
Morgan Hedrick #52 = 42
Russ Crawford #12x = 20

Division Two Dave Weicht #26 = 69
Bob Richards #97 = 65
Lee Bailey #2 = 62
Gary Moeckel #44 = 62
Ralph Chudy #64 = 45
Todd Eads #20 = 42
Eric Miller #8 = 39
Jeff Mowins #7 = 24

Division Three
Brad Amburgey #6 = 55
John Greeley #11x = 45
Alan Rush #9 = 30
Dan Weicht #30 = 25

250cc
Lester Wiggins #38 = 63

Adult XR100
David Owens #69 = 20

Youth XR100
Joey Wertzberger #27= 38

50cc
No series for the kids. (It's about having fun, remember?)

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OUR RIDERS!

Indy Keeps Growing with Successful Sept. 14 Program

(September 17, 2002)Our best night yet. Saturday night, Sept. 14th was American Sport Bike Association/Artistic Skin Design Night. Thanks to our night's sponsor for bringing out t-shirts etc. which they tossed to the crowd all night long.

In D-1, Keith Chrisco continued his winning streak taking the checkers in all of his 4 rides and the main event. As I mentioned before, Mr. Chrisco and team owner Jim Kitasaki have definitely raised the bar a few notches at our facility. This has proven to be a giant step in the right direction for all of our riders. In the last three races, I have seen our local D-1 riders improve dramatically in the course of keeping pace with Keith. Eddie Kelley finished 2nd in the main with Greg Comstock a close 3rd. Greg Starcevic had impressive rides all night long untill a broken chain left him on the dirt in the main, finishing in 4th.

Division Two saw Todd Eads (in only his 4th race ever on a speedway bike) on the pole for the main, with converted flattracker Dave Weicht, Bob Richards, Lee Bailey and Ralph Chudy lined up accordingly. This proved to be one of the best races of the night. An early spill by Todd left the door open for Dave Weicht. Bob Richards was hot on Dave's heels with Lee Bailey in pursuit of both of them until a slight bobble opened a gap he could not close in time. Todd Eads was able to remount and finish a respectable 4th. Once again, Ralph Chudy proved consistency is the name of the game, by making it to the main and putting in a safe ride to finish 5th.

Division Three had Dan Weicht on the pole followed by John Greeley, Brad Amburgey, and first-time racers Mike Smith and Jimmy Drinan. Brad Amburgey was in the hunt until a nasty crash left him watching from the infield. Dan and John were in a tight handlebar-to-handlebar battle for most of the race until a last-lap pass saw John Greeley take the checkered. Both Mike Smith and Jimmy Drinan gained some valuable experience and had exceptional rides, considering this was their first-ever event. Look out for both these guys next year.

Our 250cc shorrtracker class was won by Tyler Shepard, followed by Chris Hathaway, Roger Ford and Lester Wiggins in the top 4 spots.

Adult XR100 had a total of 18 riders line up for the main event. Let me tell you, 18 shorttrackers on our track at once is a sight to behold. Tyler Shepard won the event with Chad Thompson, Reuben Frankenfield and Roger Ford finishing out the top four.

On the 14th, we ran a Powder Puff class in conjunction with Junior XR 100s. These gals are aggressive and the crowd seemed to enjoy the class.

In the Junior class, newcomer Ryan Fletcher held off Andrew Ford, Joey Wertzberger and Byron Woods in that order for the win. Powder Puff was won by Lauren St.John followed by Sherry Long, Rachael Daily and Amy Weicht in the first 4 spots. You may notice mention of three different Weichts in three classes. Amy Weicht is the daughter of D-3 rider Dan Weicht and niece of D-2 rider Dave Weicht. It's great to see a family like theirs out here racing and we look forward to seeing the addition of more in the future.

Our 50cc class was won by David Howard with Austin Woods, Wes Russell, Cody Young and Garrett Riffel finishing out the field.

Hats off to all of our racers and a very big "Thank You!" to all of our spectators and fans who are making our first year a huge success.

Jon Ard
President
National Speedway Alliance
Indianapolis International Speedway

Final U.S. Open Standings and 2002 Point Champs from APE & Champion

(September 14, 2002)Following are the final 2002 U.S. Open standings, as well as the final 2002 point champions from Action Park East and Champion Speedway.

Final U.S. Open Standings

1. Cam Rafferty
2. Tom Sephton
3. John Cook
4. Warren Diem
5. Mikey Robinson
6. Gene Bonsignore
7. Jeremy Parsons
8. Tom Burge
9. Jerry Harman, Jr.
10. Chris Strong
11. George Lazor
12. Lee Bailey
13. Joel Parsons
14. Ted Fey
15. Josh Carr
16. Russ Cornell
17. Mike Robinson
18. Rick Sherwood
19. Merle Craven
20. Jim Fey

Support A
1. Keith Hawkins
2. David Clark
3. Brian Hollenbeck

Support B
1. Mikey Buman
2. Mike Rought
3. Bob Bruzek
4. Casey Donholt
5. Les Nadler
6. Carl Van Horn

Quads
1. Ed Riley

Congratulations to the 2002 point Champions:

Action Park: Tommy Sephton
Champion Speedway: Tommy Sephton
East Coast Point Standings: Tommy Sephton
Action Park Support A: Alex Heath
Champion Speedway Support A: Keith Hawkins
East Coast Points Support A: Merle Craven

Cam Rafferty Caps Championship Season with 2002 U.S. Open Win

(Sorry for the delay in my posting but I have had a family member in the hospital and have had several other things happening. -- Jason Bonsignore)

(September 8, 2002)The 2002 U.S. Open Campionship Series was run successfully, and both the Action Park track and Champion Speedway surface were in fine form and produced exciting racing. Unfortunately, reigning U.S. Open champion Jimmy Sisemore, 2000 champion Josh Larsen, and Randy DiFrancesco all were last-minute cancellations due to unexpected work committments. The 20-rider Division One field included 2-time World Finalist John Cook, did not let the fans go home without a great show.

The program featured the 20 riders competing in four-heat rounds with the top two point scorers going directly to the final. The next eight in line went to two semis, with the semi winners earning berths in the final. Second and third in the semis went to the last chance and fourth was finished. Saturday night featured one Main event and on Sunday, Sept. 1, there four Mains with each rider getting a different starting position in each Main except the last chance winner, who got gate 5 each time.

Saturday night saw Tom Sephton go undefeated in his heats and go right to the Main. Warren Diem and Gene Bonsignore were tied as the second top scorers with three heat wins and a second, forcing them to a run-off. Bonsignore gated Diem from the outside but could not drop it down on Diem along the back straight and Diem transferred to the Main. Californian John Cook won all of his heats with the exception of the first one, where he was winning quite easy and seized a brand new motor. (Cook had also blown up a GM the week before.) He then jumped on a bike that was scheduled for DiFrancesco to ride, on which he won his remaining heats and semi. Cam Rafferty won the other semi and New Zealander Mikey Robinson won the last chance.

The Main event began with Cam Rafferty being sent back for touching the tapes. On the second, try Sephton was penalized for being the cause of a restart. The third (or it may have even been the fourth) attempt, saw Cook winning by a mile for three laps until misfortune struck again, as his throttle cable came out and stuck wide open. Cook was forced to abort the mission and collected Diem with his out-of-control machine. Sephton, who was now coming into the picture, ran into Cook and the only two who made it through unscathed were Rafferty and Robinson. After some deliberation, the referee determined that Cook and Diem were both at fault and that Sephton should have been able to avoid Cook so the win went to Rafferty!

The Support B class was won by Mike Rought who made a return to speedway. "Crazy" Keith Hawkins won the Support A class. (I am sorry, but I don't have the PW 50 results.)

RESULTS

U.S. OPEN: ROUND ONE
Saturday, August 31

Division One Main
1. Cam Rafferty
2. Mikey Robinson
3. Tom Sephton
4. Warren Diem
5. John Cook

Support A
1. Keith Hawkins
2. Dave Clark
3. Floyd Clark

Support B
1. Mike Rought
2. Casey Donholt
3. Mikey Buman
4. Henry Hanzo
5. Carl Van Horn
6. Bob Bruzek

POINT TOTALS AFTER SATURDAY
1. SEPHTON 20
2. RAFFERTY 18
3 DIEM 18
4. ROBINSON 17
5. BONSIGNORE 15
6. COOK 14
7. STRONG 12
8. JER PARSONS 9
9. JOEL PARSONS 8
10. BURGE 6
11. CORNELL 5
12. BAILEY 5
13. LAZOR 4
14. HARMAN 4
15. SHERWOOD 3
16. J.CARR 3
17. J. FEY 2
18. CRAVEN 2
19. ROBINSON 2
20. T. FEY 0

(I do not have the point totals from Sunday, September 1, but will try to post them as soon as I can. )

Through the heat rounds on Sunday, "Cowboy" John Cook was undefeated and transferred to the Main. Tom Sephton suffered only one loss (to Cook) as did Cam Rafferty, who was riding very well. I believe Sephton beat Rafferty in a runoff and Diem and Rafferty won their semis. Robinson won the last chance.

Main Event number one saw Rafferty get the pole with Diem, then Sephton, then Cook and Robinson stuck in five. Sephton was penalized on ther first try for touching the tapes and it proved to be very costly, as the points lost cost him the overall title. Rafferty made the gate and rode a perfect line for the first Main win. Cook got stuck near the back with a sputtering carb and I think Diem was second.

The next three Main events are sort of a blur at this point, with the exception of John Cook's dominance. Cook won the last three in a row. Rafferty rode consistently and finished one point ahead of Cook and Sephton in the end to win his first U.S. Open Championship. Sephton beat Cook in a two-lap runoff to finish second overall.

Congrats to Cam for his achievement!

In the end, it was a great weekend. The tracks looked like a ball to ride. I think it's fair to say that Cook was the class of the field and if it had not been for mechanical gremlins, he would have lost only one race all weekend (he could not have caught Rafferty in the first Main Sunday). Rafferty worked his tail off for the Championship and keeps getting better all the time.

Sephton was spectacular and his only problem is his own concentration at times. Mikey Robinson continues to impress. It was great to have a pleasant Warren Diem back. Parsons, Burge and Oakden had very good years. Gene Bonsignore was great at this event and proved he can still do it at age 54. George Lazor was a bit rusty from injury but put in a couple of vintage rides and still commands plenty of respect.

The younger guys like Strong, Bailey and Carr are gonna be good, while Hollenbeck, Buman, Jesse Diem, Corey Brookes, Brandon Bruzek et al are the future. Older newcomers like Casselbury, Craven, Bruzek and Van Horn make the sport fun. Guys like Harman, "Hazard" Heath and Hawkins are so great to watch.

Joe Biesecker, Kelly Crawford, Russ Cornell, Jay Stalma, Hank Bassett, Rick Redpath, and everyone on my entire staff were great to work with. The out-of-town fans who attended for the first time were great and thanks to all the regular fans. Special thanks to all of our sponsors.

Finally, THANKS to everyone who helped! And good luck to all of the tracks that have events left this year. --Jason Bonsignore

Sephton, Gauthier and Buman Take Division Wins at Champion on August 25

(September 3, 2002) Champion Speedway drew 20 Division One riders on Sunday, August 25 for an evening of all-scratch racing. 1997 World Champion Greg Hancock was forced to pull out of the event with a serious case of food poisoning, but John Cook was on hand.

The track was in beautiful condition and produced good racing. Warren Diem stepped up the pace and if it wasn't for a fall in the Main, Diem would have finished higher in the results. Cook appeared to be running away from the field until he blew an engine on his #1 bike. His borrrowed bike was not set up properly for him but he was still spectacular, as always. Tom Sephton won again and is really in top form right now. Aside from bad luck with a fall and a steel shoe which came off, George Lazor was impressive late in the night, posting a win over Jeremy Parsons who has been fast all year.

Cam Rafferty had a tough night with bad luck but is set to bounce back for the U.S. Open. Canadian Nick Fafard rode well, as did Mikey Robinson, Gene Bonsignore and Chris Strong.

RESULTS

Support B
1. Mikey Buman
3. Henry Hanzo
4. Mike Rought (dnf)

Support A
(The Support A Main produced an unfortunate situation in which the starting marshal made en error and cut the event a lap short. It was an honest mistake and we felt terrible about it but it was thought that it would not be fair to Marc Gauthier to rerun it.)

1. Marc Gauthier
2. Merle Craven
3. Brian Hollenbeck
4. Russ Cornell
5. Kendall Brookes
6. Jim Fey

Last Chance
1. John Cook
2. Mikey Robinson
3. Gene Bonsignore
4. Chris Strong

Division One Main
1. Tom Sephton
2. John Cook
3. Jeremy Parsons
4. Nick Fafard
5. Warren Diem

August 29, 2002

There won't be any racing at Costa Mesa this weekend because of the Labor Day Holiday, but racing will resume September 7.
The Arrowhead regular season finished last night. Listed below are the main event winners for the season and the top 10 in points in each division. 2002 ARROWHEAD MAIN EVENT VICTORIES
FIRST DIVISION
Scratch Mains
10 - Scott Brant 8
2 - Josh Larsen 3
3 - Gary Hicks 3
14 - Eddie Castro 2
1 - Billy Hamill 1
11 - Bobby Schwartz 1

Handicap Mains
10 - Scott Brant 6
14 - Eddie Castro 5
3 - Gary Hicks 2
2 - Josh Larsen 1
6 - Shawn McConnell 1
8n - Bryan Yarrow 1
24 - Bobby Krips 1
40n - Tommy Hedden 1
139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 1

SECOND DIVISION
117 - Billy Braden 2
123 - Chad Newlee 2
128 - Doug Benjamin 2
214 - Steve Murray 2
336 - Bill Green 2
45c - Chuck Johansen 1
118 - Scott Tidwell 1
158 - Terry McCurdy 1
163 - Rohn Zellner 1
178 - Eloy Medellin 1
196 - Rod Lenz 1
201 - Neil Facchini 1
240 - Hideaki Ota 1
293 - Rick Valdez 1

SECOND DIVISION B
115 - Mark Baldwin 3
201 - Neil Facchini 3
208 - Geoff Herkner 3
240 - Hideaki Ota 3
202 - Steve Nelson 2
128 - Doug Benjamin 1
133 - Craig Collier 1
155 - Kevin Templeton 1
178 - Eloy Medellin 1
214 - Steve Murray 1

2002 ARROWHEAD FINAL POINTS STANDINGS
First Division
1. 10 - Scott Brant 517.5
2. 14 - Eddie Castro 377.5
3. 3 - Gary Hicks 257.5
4. 11 - Bobby Schwartz 164
5. 24 - Bobby Krips 163
6. 139 - Shaun Harmatiuk 137.5
7. 2 - Josh Larsen 128
8. 6 - Shawn McConnell 113.5
9. 316 - John DeFries 106.5
10. 15 - Dukie Ermolenko 79

Second Division
1. 293 - Rick Valdez 32
2. 117 - Billy Braden 31
3. 178 - Eloy Medellin 26.5
4. 123 - Chad Newlee 26
5. 182 - Rudy Laurer 23.5
6. 214 - Steve Murray 19
7. 201 - Neil Facchini 18
8. 336 - Bill Green 15
9. 158 - Terry McCurdy 14.5
10. 165 - Randy Kreps 13

Second Division B
1. 164 - Rusty Hall 22
2. 202 - Steve Nelson 20
3. 208 - Geoff Herkner 14.5
4. 201 - Neil Facchini 13
5. 240 - Hideaki Ota 10.5
6. 115 - Mark Baldwin 7.5
7. 163 - Rohn Zellner 6
8. 181 - Michael Novratil 5.5
9. 124 - Mitch Melott 5
10. 155 - Kevin Templeton 4.5
214 - Steve Murray 4.5
332 - Brian Hunt 4.5

Indianapolis International Speedway Set to Host Major Date on September 28

(August 27, 2002) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Saturday, September 28 (the night before the U.S. Grand Prix F-1 race at Indy), the National Speedway Alliance and Indianapolis International Speedway are pleased to release the following invitation:

The September 28 race program at Indianapolis International Speedway will be run in conjunction with the Jim Hedrick Memorial race at Lawrenceburg Speedway (the 27th). For our September 28 event, we will run a 20-rider Division One program, a 12-rider Division Two program and an 8-rider Division Three program. The program will be standard scratch format with a consi race for 6th-10th place D-1 riders. Four rounds of heat races for each division with the top 5 points earners transferring to the main. We will pay a $2,500.00 combined purse for D-1 and D-2. D-3 will race for 100% payback. D-1 riders are guaranteed $50 appearance money while D-2 is guaranteed $25 appearance money.

As we are expecting a large crowd of new spectators from the F-1 race in addition to our local fan base, we are requesting that all interested riders pre-register (commit). This will allow us to put together a first-rate race with programs etc. for the fans.

For this event, we are accepting the FIRST 7 CANADIAN DIVISION ONE AND FIRST 6 EAST COAST DIVISION ONE RIDERS. For D-2, we are accepting the FIRST 3 CANADIAN D-2 RIDERS AND THE FIRST 2 EAST COAST D-2 RIDERS. For D-3, we are accepting the FIRST 3 RIDERS. We apologize for the lack of available spots. We need a commitment from any interested riders no later than September 13. PLEASE KEEP IN MIND: ONLY COMMIT IF YOU ARE COMING FOR SURE! Riders can register via e-mail or phone.

As always, camping is welcomed and encouraged. There will be a cookout for the riders after the races. Pit gates will open early (12:00 pm) and close at 5:00 pm. Each rider will be allowed 1 practice session. Practice will be run from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm. There is a $20 (U.S.) entry fee which includes rider and one mechanic. For those who attended last year's Open House, we look forward to seeing you again and meeting all the riders at our facility for the first time.

Thank you in advance,

Jon Ard
President
National Speedway Alliance
Indianapolis International Speedway
JONNYSPEEDWAY@aol.com
(317)545-2518 or (317)545-1239

Chrisco, Weicht and Greeley Score at Indy on August 24

(August 26, 2002) Saturday, August 24 was Eagle Creek Aviation Night at Indianapolis International Speedway. Heavy rains Fri. afternoon left the speedway flooded. My two sons (Jaymes, 13 and Justin, 8) and I spent most of Fri. night trying to handle the water. Saturday morning left us with no standing water; however, the bottom portions were soaked. Our volunteer help spent the entire day working to dry the place out. On that note, we especially need to thank Ken Saillent and Chris Hathaway for helping us with the track. It did rain again all around the facility Sat. night but avoided the track with only a light sprinkle.

As usual, Division One provided some great action all night long. Mechanical gremlins early in the program had Keith Chrisco concerned with scoring enough points to transfer to the main. Morgan Hedrick suffered a pretty bad crash in his last heat race leaving him sidelined with a tweaked knee. Joe Garrison showed up with a brand new laydown and had impressive rides al night long.

The Main saw Eddie Kelley, Keith Chrisco, Greg Comstock, Joe Garrison and Russ Crawford line up with the intention of taking all the marbles. A creeping clutch put Chrisco against the tapes early. Keith was penalized 10 yards and lined back up. Eddie Kelley got a great holeshot with Comstock, Garrison and Crawford in tight with Keith closing fast. Keith hung low in turn one, coming out in 2nd behind Kelley. Kelley did an outstanding job holding off Chrisco till a drag race down the back straight on lap 3 found Chrisco in the lead.

Division Two once again provided some of the closest racing of the night.  Todd Eads just moving up from D-3 after only 2 races was hot all night long. Any one of the 5 riders were poised to win. Dave Weicht's trip from Northern Indiana was well worth it, as he once again won the D-2 final. Todd Eads, Bob Richards, Lee Bailey and Jeff Mowins finished out the field and all did an outstanding job. Jeff is our first rider to run the "TRIPLE", competing on his speedway bike and an XR100 shorttracker, in addition to his neat 250cc shorttracker.

Division Three found Kevin Mears out with mechanical problems early. The main saw John Greeley line up against Brad Amburgey and Dan Weicht. Greeley rode an impressive ride beating Amburgey and Weicht. Dan is the brother of D-2 rider Dave Weicht. Dan recently purchased an upright and this was his first race. Both Dan and Dave are progressing quickly and are definatley a great addition to our program. --report by Jon Ard

RESULTS

Division One
1. #41 Keith Chrisco
2. #4 Eddie Kelley
3. #75 Greg Comstock
4. #12X Russ Crawford
5. #1 Joe Garrison
6. #52 Morgan Hedrick

Division Two
1. #26 Dave Weicht
2. #20 Todd Eads
3. #97 Bob Richards
4. #2 Lee Bailey
5. #7 Jeff Mowins
6. #44 Gary Moeckel

Division Three
1. #11 John Greeley
2. #6 Brad Amburgey
3. #30 Dan Weicht
4. #27 Kevin Mears

50cc
1. #14 David Howard
2. #06 Tyler Whitecotton
3. #86 Danny Hasty
4. #4 Austin Woods
5. #45 Justin Ard
6. #17 Wes Russel
7. #11 Ryan May

XR100 Junior
1. #66 Andrew Ford
2. #27 Joey Wertzberger
3. #12 Bryan Woods

XR100 Adult (top 3 of 9)
1. #26 Tyler Shepard
2. #8 Chad Thompson
3. #7X Jeff Mowins

250cc (top 4 of 14)
1. #57 Darrek Davis
2. #82 Chris Hathaway
3. #38 Lester Wiggins
4. #7 Preston Dorfmeyer

Square Deal Dodges Rain, Estelle Shines in D1 Main

(August 26, 2002) The track at SDR can take a lot of water, which was proven the night of August 24. Mother Nature provided plenty of natural track watering all day, making for excellent track conditions and very fast racing.

Two vistors from England were in attendance and they thought the track was much like a European track and the racing very good. Before the meeting, I spoke with Steve Graham and his friend Gary who both made the trip all the way from California. Bruce Nelson, a former East Coast AMA National Champion was also in attendance, as was "Fast" Freddie LeGault. They were impressed with the racing and the big feast. It has turned into quite a thing with about 100 people attending. Many thanks to Poorman's Trucking, Connie Strong and Bruce Strong and Dave Rafferty, who all chip in along with many others to make this a happening event.

The D2 Main had to be red flagged and re-started, as Joel Parsons and Brian Hollenbeck both fell in turn four. No one was injured and it was an original restart as determined by the referee (half the field was down before the first lap was complete.) At the restart, again it was Parsons and Hollenbeck battling hard throughout turns one and two. Down the backstrech going into turn three, Hollenbeck chose the high line and came out of four a little ahead of Parsons. They kept this up for three laps when Parsons tired (probably because he was running in both D2 and D1 all night) and laid his machine down and into the bales. It looked pretty nasty but Parsons got up with only his pride hurt. As referee, I have moved him permanently to the Division One level for any future meetings he enters at SDR.

In the Division One main, Jeremy Parsons was lined up in one, Craig Estelle next in line followed by Cam Rafferty in gate three and Tom Burge in four. The first time the tapes went up, Burge slid down in between turns one and two, then Rafferty slid out in turn four, bringing out the red light. The referee's decision was to line the bikes up for an original re-start. The tapes went up and Burge took a spectacular ride over the bales in turn two. The ref threw a yellow and not a red flag, as the medics charged across the track to attend to Burge. Estelle got the gate and was getting a lot of heat from Rafferty (who was on a borrowed bike after his motor blew in his first heat of the night.) "The Kid" was all over Estelle, and the duo were only inches apart going through the turns with Estelle driving ever so slightly out of the corner, only to have Rafferty right on him again through the turn carrying tremendous speed. In turn four of the last lap, Rafferty lost a little drive and got sideways, causing Parsons (who was not far behind) to clip him. --Report by Kelvin Herrala AMA #316562

RESULTS

Division One Main
1. Craig Estelle
2. Jeremy Parsons
3. Cam Rafferty
4. Tom Burge

Division II Main
1. Brian Hollenbeck
2. Casey Donholt
3. Henry Hanzo
4. Joel Parsons

Junior
1. Mikey Buman

Pee Wee
1. C. Parshall

Keith Chrisco Returns at Indy, Sweeps Aug. 17 Division I Program

(August 19, 2002) First let me thank our night's sponsor, EasyRiders of Indy. Once again, our sponsors make all of this possible. The weather threatened rain, but it did hold off till Sunday morning allowing us another great night of racing.

Our August 17 event attracted 17 speedway riders from throughout the Midwest (our largest count yet) in addition to a total of 25 shorttrack racers. Our rider count continues to grow weekly in addition to our spectator count. A total of 30 races were successfully run in just under 2-1/2 hrs.

Division One saw the return of a first-class rider: after many years of retirement, Keith Chrisco made his return to speedway at our facility. Jim Kitasaki (team owner of JKR Racing) has put Keith on some first-class equipment and it showed, as Keith made a clean sweep in all 4 heat races in addition to the main event. Local standouts Eddie Kelley, Greg Comstock and Greg Starcevic did an outstanding job picking up the pace to run with Keith.

A few people made a comments about Team JKR "cherry picking" by bringing in Keith for our events. This could not be further from the truth. Team JKR has made a commitment to support our program and do what they can for the growth of our sport. Granted, we have not previously seen the talent level demonstrated by Keith, but in the long run, this will only make our local D-1 riders that much faster.

Division Two was a real gunfight all night long as any of the five riders in the main were poised to take the checkered flag. Recent converted flattrack rider Dave Weicht, Bob Richards and Lee Bailey had a three-wide battle for the first two laps when an unfortunate spinout by Bailey left him on the infield watching the final two laps. Dave Weicht held off Richards, Moeckel and Eric Miller for an impressive victory.

Division Three once again proved you don't have to be D-1 to provide close racing action. Todd Eads and John Greeley on brand new Jawa laydowns provided some great bar-to-bar racing, with Brad Amburgey always a threat. In the end, it proved to be Todd Eads on top, with John Greeley and Brad Amburgey running close second and third, respectively. First- time rider Chris Hathaway did an impressive job finishing fourth while local rider Alan Rush continues to make major progress each event and will soon be a contender.

All in all, an exceptional night of racing and very big thank you to all the riders and fans who support our program here.--report by Jon Ard

RESULTS

Division One
1. #41 Keith Chrisco
2. #4 Eddie Kelley
3. #75 Greg Comstock
4. #197 Greg Starcevic

Division Two
1. #26 Dave Weicht
2. #97 Bob Richards
3. #44 Gary Moeckel
4. #8 Eric Miller
5. #2 Lee Bailey
6. #64 Ralph Chudy
7. #43 Phil Mosquera

Division Three
1. #20 Todd Eads
2. #11 John Greeley
3. #6 Brad Amburgey
4. #2 Chris Hathaway
5. #9 Alan Rush
6. #35 Robert Mosquera

We are having speedway races at the Missoula Fairgrounds in Missoula, Montana on Sep 7 and 8. R aces on both half mile and short track (1/10th mile).

I know you are a million miles away in California, but I thought I would let you know in case there are some speedway nuts out your way who would like to do the half mile.

The track is as near to perfection as you will ever find, super smooth cushion track. We have raced speedway on it 5 times within the last two years.

My email is brendanf@montana.com phone 406-777-5161

Rafferty Wins Aug. 13 Owego Main; Hollenbeck, Donholt Back in Winner's Circle

(August 19, 2002) Champion Speedway's Southern Tier Harley Night on August 11 ran before a good size crowd and featured an all-scratch Divsion One format.
Tommy Sephton was undefeated through the four heat rounds while Warren Diem and Cam Rafferty were tied on 11, with Diem suffering his only heat loss to Rafferty and Rafferty having lost to Sephton. Next in line on 8 points were Mikey Robinson and Gene Bonsignore, followed by Chris Strong and Tom Burge on 7. Diem and Rafferty had a runoff to see which rider would get to bypass the semis, and Rafferty again beat Diem. In the semi, Tom Burge beat Diem, earning a berth in the final and sending Diem to the last chance.

In the other semi, Gene Bonsignore was leading for three laps before Mikey Robinson was able to get by on the outside. Bonsignore and Robinson seem to have at least one good battle per night, in which Bonsignore leads for most of the race on the inside and Mikey just gets him on the dirt line with good, clean racing.
Diem won the last chance from gate three with Bonsignore in four and Strong and Harman, Jr. on the inside.

In the final, Cam "Kid" Rafferty was dominant once again at Owego, winning what is believed to be his fifth in a row. Rafferty led from start to finish, followed by Sephton, Robinson, Diem and Burge.
--report by Jason Bonsignore

RESULTS

Main
1. Cam Rafferty
2. Tom Sephton
3. Mikey Robinson
4. Warren Diem
5. Tom Burge

Last Chance
1. Warren Diem
2. Jerry Harman
3. Gene Bonsignore
4. Chris Strong

Support A
1. Brian Hollenbeck
2. Merle Craven
3. Floyd Clark
4. Keith Hawkins
5. Dave Clark

Support B
1. Casey Donholt
3. Mikey Buman
4. Sott Swinehart

Quads
1. Ed Riley

Sephton Crowned 2002 New York State Champ

(August 13, 2002) The New York State Championship returned to Action Park East after a 13-year absence. The current East Coast #1, Tommy "Gator" Sephton, went undefeated to claim his first State championship! Six-time New York State champ Warren Diem participated and rode well but was beaten several times and finished third in the final.

The program was full and included three divisions of speedway plus quads and PW 50s. Among the top point scorers after the four-heat rounds were: Sephton, Rafferty, Burge, Diem, Bonsignore, Mike Robinson, Mikey Robinson and Jerry Harman, Jr. Sephton and Rafferty transferred directly to the main by being the top two scorers; Burge and Diem won their semis and in what might have been the most exciting race of the evening, Harman rode hard, using some questionably aggressive tactics to defeat Gene Bonsignore and Mikey Robinson in the Last Chance. On the first start, Gene Bonsignore led until the race was stopped when it was determined that Mike Robinson touched the tape. On the second start, Bonsignore again led for a couple laps until Harman came in very hard underneath him knocking him out of the way and taking the lead. Bonsignore and Mikey Robinson then battled down the back straightaway into the next corner where Bonsignore was forced wide to avoid clipping Harman allowing Robinson up the inside. Bonsignore caught the wall coming out of turn four and pulled a wheelie while making an awkward save to stay on the bike. Robinson continued to chase Harman but could not catch him.

In the final, Diem lined up in gate one with Burge to his right and Sephton in three. Sephton made one of his "Gator" starts and was easily gone! Cam Rafferty also found traction in this one and rode a spectacular wheelie in a great save effort!

Congratulations to Merle Craven, who won the Support A, and also to Chris Knolles for winning the Quad division...all are worthy New York State champions.

RESULTS
2002 New York State Championship

Division One
1. Tom Sephton
2. Tom Burge
3. Warren Diem
4. Jerry Harman
5. Cam Rafferty

Last Chance
1. Jerry Harman
2. Mikey Robinson
3. Mike Robinson
4. Gene Bonsignore

Support A
1. Merle Craven
2. Marc Gauthier
3. Keith Hawkins
4. Jay Stalma

Support B
2. Bob Bruzek
3. Casey Donholt
4. Mikey Buman
5. Les Nadler
6. Scott Swinehart

Quads
1. Chris Knolles
2. Ed Riley
3. Mike Williams
4. Larry Hall
5. Ed Bowman
6. Mike Rought
7. Wade Reynolds

Kelley, Miller and Mears Beat the Indy Heat on August 3

(August 9, 2002) August 3 was another great night of racing for us here in Indy. However, it was hot. When the first gate went up we were still near 90 degrees. I did haul in some fresh crushed limestone and the track was definitely what you would call "technical." Lots of heavy, wet cushion was the order of business for the night.

My hat is off to most of our riders. They put their heads down, pinned the throttle and put on a great show. Once again, our spectator count was up as word continues to spread of our facility.

Special thanks to the night's sponsor, Southside H-D and Buell. They brought out tons of T-shirts, gift certificates etc. that we raffled off during the event. Without our sponsors' support, we would have nothing.--Report by Jon Ard

RESULTS

Division 1
1. #4 Eddie Kelley
2. #52 Morgan Hedrick
3. #197 Greg Starcevic
4. #1 Joe Garrison
5. #75 Greg Comstock

Division 2
1. #8 Eric Miller
2. #26 David Weicht
3. #97 Bob Richards
4. #44 Gary Moeckel
5. #64 Ralph Chudy
6. #2 Lee Bailey

Division 3
1. #27 Kevin Mears
2. #64 John Greeley
3. #20 Todd Eads
4. #6 Brad Amburgey
5. #9 Alan Rush

250cc Shorttrack
1. #26 Tyler Shepard
2. #38 Lester Wiggins
3. #999 Travis Sprong
4. #82 Chris Hathaway
5. #58A Charlie Williams
6. #5 David Wells
7. #X Mike Tzouanakis
8. #69 David Owens

XR100 Shorttrack
1. #26X Tyler Shepard
2. #26 Ken Saillant
3. #66 Ben Baker
4. #5 David Wells
5. #5X Gary Mayer
6. #69 David Owens
7. #11 Brian Miller
8. #28 Stevie Null

50cc Shorttrack
1. #45 Justin Ard
2. #4 Austin Woods

Lineup for 2002 New York State Championships; Warren Diem Will Compete

(August 7, 2002) Following is the lineup announced for the 2002 New York State Speedway Championships, scheduled for August 10 at Action Park East, Greene, NY.

#104 Tommy Sephton

#0 Ted Fey

#4 Warren Diem

#5 Mike Buman

#07 Rick Sherwood

#7 Mike Robinson

#15 Tom Burge

#16 Jeremy Parsons

#24 Russ Cornell

#34 Mikey Robinson

#38 Jerry Harman, Jr.

#64 Gene Bonsignore

#75c Merle Craven

#76 Dale Wakefield

#93 Chris Strong

#99 Joel Parsons

#227 Lee Bailey

#327 Dave Oakden

#427 Cam Rafferty

#468 Josh Carr

Quick Results from Aug. 4 Champion Program

(August 7, 2002) Champion Speedway ran a smooth program on Sunday, August 4 which included freestyle motocross jumpers and concluded at 9:40 pm. The track held up well and the crowd seemed considerably larger than the night before at A.P.E. when the same format was run.

Cam Rafferty and Tom Burge were strong through their heats and transferred right to the Main.--report by Jason Bonsignore

Quick Results...

Scratch Main
1. Cam Rafferty

Support A
1. Keith Hawkins

Corey Brookes put on a nice Junior demonstration. 13 Quads put on a good show in their class as well.

Next Sunday is Southern Tier Harley Night, which is usually one of the biggest of the year.

Rafferty Continues SDR Dominance; Hollenbeck is Back in Action

(August 7, 2002) Speedway fans enjoyed great weather on August 3 at Square Deal Raceway and the track conditions were perfect. SDR track superintendent "Spud" does a great job with the water truck, which allows for great racing with passing on the outside and inside.

In the first Division I heat, Cam Rafferty got the gate followed by David Oakden, Warren Diem and Jerry Harman, Jr. Coming out of turn four, Oakden fell and Diem and Harman ended up on the pile. The medics rushed to the scene and in about five minutes, all the riders were up with Oakden unable to continue due to back pain and a lot of abrasions. Diem and Harman were out for the night because their bikes were damaged beyond repair.

The medics again had to rush to the scene when Dave Clark, who was running the extreme outside cushion, hooked a hay bale and flew over the bars and off the track at a very high rate of speed. He was up after a few minutes with only the wind knocked out of him and a couple of cuts and bruises but he was done for the night.

Cam Rafferty was virtualy untouchable all night. This kid is really looking comfortable on the quarter-mile Square Deal track. He tried a different set-up in his last heat which allowed Tom Burge sneak in underneath. This had fans on their feet and cheering as Burge held him off at the line by inches. In the main, Burge was in second and did a wheelie for the fans on the last lap allowing Estelle to pass him on the outside at the line.

It was good to see Brian Hollenbeck back after breaking his leg at Action Park earlier this season. He was a little tenative early on and Kendall Brookes looked like the man to beat getting the gate every time. But when the main came around, Hollenbeck was ready to go, took a nice holeshot and cruised to another D2 main event win.
--report by SDR referee Kelvin Herrala

RESULTS

Division I Main
1. Cam Rafferty
2. Craige Estelle
3. Tom Burge
4. Chris Strong

Division II Main
1. Brian Hollenbeck
2. Casey Donholt
3. Kendall Brookes
4. Dave Richards (non-starter)

Pee Wee
1. Danny Oakden
2. Jesse Diem

APE Top Guns on Aug. 3: Sephton, Gauthier and Bruzek

(August 7, 2002) The Division One program at Action Park East on August 3 was run all scratch, with the top two point scorers after 4 heat rounds going directly to the Main and the next 8 in points going to two semis. The winner of each semi went to the Main as well with 2nd and 3rd going to the Last Chance.

After the heat rounds, Tom Sephton, Jason Bonsignore and Jeremy Parsons were tied with 11 points each and were set to go to a run-off to determine which two would go directly to the final. Jason Bonsignore opted to let Sephton and Parsons have the spots without a runoff. Bonsignore then went on to win his semi and along with Mikey Robinson, who put in a good ride against Gene Bonsignore to win his semi, transferred to the final. Gene Bonsignore became the fifth rider in the final by winning the Last Chance.

In the Main, Sephton from gate one and Jason Bonsignore from gate three, gated evenly with Bonsignore trying to get by him on the outside down the back straight. While caught out on the outside line the other 3 riders slipped up the inside of Bonsignore and the order pretty much remained the same with Sephton out front.--Report by Jason Bonsignore

RESULTS

Scratch Main
1. Tom Sephton
2. Jeremy Parsons
3. Mikey Robinson
4. Gene Bonsignore
5. Jason Bonsignore

Support A
1. Marc Gauthier 40
2. Merle Craven 50
3. Mike Buman 60
4. Russ Cornell 60

Support B
1. Bob Bruzek 40
2. Mikey Buman 20

NOTE: Saturday, Aug. 10 is the New York State Championship! 20 rider Division One program plus Support classes.

Brant, Larsen are July 27 Team Racing Standouts at APE

(August 7, 2002) Action Park presented a unique Team Racing program on Saturday, July 27, with special guests Josh Larsen and Scott Brant in attendance. A scratch program at the conclusion of the team program was also run.

The teams were divided into a Rochester/select team vs. Binghamton. Riding for Team Rochester were Josh Larsen, Gene Bonsignore, David Oakden, Mikey Robinson, Tom Sephton, Russ Cornell, Rick Sherwood and Merle Craven. Team Binghamton was comprised of Scott Brant, Tom Burge, Cam Rafferty, Jeremy Parsons, Joel Parsons, Casey Donholt, Chris Strong and Jerry "Buford" Harman.

Heading into the B final, Team Binghamton had a slight 4 point lead. Cam Rafferty was penalized twice for rough riding and was eventually excluded on the third offence. Mikey Robinson and David Oakden rightfully took the 6 points out of the B final, while Tom Burge scored 6 for the win keeping the overall score tied.

The A final pitted Larsen and Sephton against Brant and Jeremy Parsons. Larsen scored a perfect win with Brant second and Sephton third, giving the Rochester Team 8 points as opposed to 4 for Binghamton which tied the overall score. It was decided that after a long night of hard racing, a friendly tie would make everybody happy.

The Scratch program pitted all 16 riders participating in one scratch heat with first and second going to the semis. A last chance was also used to determine the fifth rider in the Scratch Main. Surprisingly, Scott Brant was last in his semi and had to use a perfect ride in the last chance to get into the final. Nobody was going to beat 2-time World Finalist Josh Larsen from gate one in the Main. Larsen made one of his awesome starts and never looked back! --report by Jason Bonsignore

RESULTS

Main
1. Josh Larsen
2. Jeremy Parsons
3. Scott Brant
4. Tom Sephton
5. Tom Burge

Last Chance
1. Scott Brant
2. Mikey Robinson
3. Dave Oakden
4. Gene Bonsignore

Support Main
1. Casey Donholt 30
3. Mikey Buman 15

August 6, 2002

The United States finished second today in the World Cup Qualifying Race at Eastbourne. The U.S. is now in the "race off" on Thursday, in which the top two nations qualify for the World Cup Final at Peterborough on Saturday.
Speedway returns two Costa Mesa after a one-month hiatus. The riders will be fired up to return to the world famous bullring. Saturday is also the return of the ever-popular Freestyle Motorcross Jumpers. The Freestylers always thrill the crowd with their daring jumps. Make plans to arrive early because it will be standing-room-only.
The first round of the A.M.A. National Championship Series is slated to begin next Wednesday at Arrowhead. Charlie Venegas has been anxiously making plans and finalizing everything for the biggest event to come to his track in its brief history.
A recent report in Speedway Star stated that Chris Manchester will be returning to his former club for the last month of the season.
Two-time National Champion Steve Lucero has started his own speedway school. Information about Steve Lucero's Speedway Training School can be found by clicking HERE.

U.S. Grand Prix Series Re-Scheduled

(July 24, 2002) We want to inform everyone that Round 1 & 2 of The U.S. Speedway GP Series, scheduled for this Friday (July 26) at Champion Speedway and Saturday (July 27) at Action Park has been postponed.

In an unfortunate stroke of bad timing, several of the top name Californian riders and one of the best Eastern riders had to pull out at the last minute due to a combination of injuries, work schedules and family issues.

At this time, we are tentatively planning to host rounds 3 and 4 on August 31 at Action Park and September 1 at Champion Speedway. With that in mind, we tentatively plan to run The U.S. Open Speedway Championships August 24 at Action Park and August 25 at Champion Speedway. Greg Hancock, 1997 World Champion and 2nd place in last weekend's GP, will be a starter in the U.S. Open.

The NY State Championship at Action Park has been rescheduled for August 10. Keep in mind the freestyle motocross jumpers will be back at Action Park on August 3 and at Champion Speedway on August 4.

There will be a regular race program at APE on Saturday, July 27 and at Champion on Sunday, July 28.

Thanks to all our fans for their anticipated understanding of these schedule changes. --Jason Bonsignore

Cam "Kid" Rafferty Doubles at Champion Speedway on July 21

(July 24, 2002) The lineup for the scratch main Sunday night, July 21 at Champion Speedway guaranteed an exciting event. Jeremy Parsons drew the pole, Mikey Robinson lined up in gate 2, Team JBR #104 Tom "The Gater" Sephton was in gate 3, Rafferty drew the #4 gate and the #0 of Ted Fey pulled gate 5 by qualifying through the LCQ.

On the first start, "The Gater" clearly touched the tapes and after pleading his case with the referee, was sent back 10 yards for the penalty. On the second restart, Rafferty got the gate but it was the New Zealander, Mikey Robinson, who was first to the corner as Rafferty immediately took to the outside through turns 3 and 4 and closed in on Robinson. Exiting turn 2 of the second lap, Rafferty squared off the corner and found traction along the pipe where he rocketed past Robinson on the inside down the back straight and took the lead through three and four for good followed closely by Jeremy Parsons.

Rafferty made it an impressive three in a row at Champion Speedway in scratch racing followed by Parsons, Sephton, Robinson and Fey.

Handicap main:
Lined up side by side were the #104 of Sephton and the #427 of Cam Rafferty on the 70-yard line, farthest from the tapes for the handicap main. On the first start, it was Mikey Robinson spinning in the first corner with Sephton, Parsons and Rafferty laying their bikes down to avoid the mishap. A restart was declared with Robinson now starting from the 80-yard line.

On the restart, Rafferty immediately took to the outside and pulled past Sephton off turn 4 of the first lap, then set his sights on Parsons who was very fast on the bottom of the track. Parsons and Rafferty quickly closed on the #227 of Lee Bailey and when Parsons drifted high exiting turn 2, Rafferty took to the inside were he passed Parsons on his way to a last-lap pass that left the fans standing in their seats, Cam "The Kid" Rafferty notched his first double win and his fifth main event victory at Jason Bonsignore's Champion Speedway. Congratulations to Team 427 on their success. --Report by Mike Doty

RESULTS

Quad Main
1. Ray Salsman
2. Mike Williams
3. Larry Hall
4. Dave Kowell
5. Drew Greeley

Support B Main
1. Mikey Buman 10
3. Bob Bruzek 30
4. Heber Belles 20
5. Bill Carrier 30

Support A Main
1. Dave Clark 20
2. Marc Gauthier 30
3. Russ Cornell 50
4. Keith Hawkins 30
5. Conrad Parshall 30

Handicap Main
1. Cam Rafferty 70
2. Jeremy Parsons 60
3. Lee Bailey 30
4. Tom Sephton 70
5. Mikey Robinson 60
6. Keith Hawkins (non-starter)

Scratch Main
1. Cam Rafferty
2. Jeremy Parsons
3. Tom Sephton (10-yard penalty)
4. Mikey Robinson
5. Ted Fey

Cam Rafferty wins Action Park East's July 20 Handicap Main

(July 24, 2002) The handicap main at Action Park East on Saturday night, July 20, consisted of the 5x of Mike Buman, Russ Cornell (#24), Mikey Robinson, (#34) FTW Racing's Tom Burge (#15), Team JBR's Tom Sephton (#104), and the Tony B's Tire & Auto #427 of Cam Rafferty.

Starting from the 60-yard line, Rafferty was fourth into the first turn as he quickly moved to th outside groove through corners 3 & 4 on the first lap and made the decision to ride where no other rider could or would dare to all evening.

Rafferty overtook Russ Cornell on the fifth lap of the six-lap handicap and cruised to the win the hard way around Action Park. At the finish it was Rafferty followed by Robinson, Cornell, Tom Burge, Tom "The Gater" Sephton and Mike Buman.

Congratulations to Support B scratch main winner Poorman's Trucking-sponsored Casey Donholt for his feature win and to all the riders who competed this evening. --Report by Mike Doty

RESULTS

Support Main
1. Casey Donholt
3. Mikey Buman
4. Carl Van Horn
5. Henry Hanzo

Handicap Main
1. Cam Rafferty 60
2. Mikey Robinson 50
3. Russ Cornell 20
4. Tom Burge 60
5. Tom Sephton 70
6. Mike Buman 20

Scratch Main
1. Tom Sephton
2. Jeremy Parsons
3. Mikey Robinson
4. Chris Strong

It's Rafferty, Carr and Bruzek on July 14 Scott Smith & Sons / Hank Bassett Night

(July 17, 2002) The Hank Bassett Cup on July 14 at Champion Speedway was an outstanding night of racing on a great track before a good crowd. The Legends were also a big hit. "Rowdy" Rick Stone and Jimmy Pierce could no doubt race again with a bit more practice. "Stoney" did wheelies and was racing so hard in the Legends final that he almost ran over Pierce! The regular program featured 50 heats, a long Legends introduction, started at 7:30 pm and concluded at 10:20 pm.

Cam "Kid" Rafferty won the Bassett Cup Championship followed by 54-year-old East Coast veteran "Mean" Gene Bonsignore. The Scott Smith and Sons Legends Night / Hank Bassett Cup was a huge success. Many thanks to all that helped!

See everyone next week and remember that Round One of the U.S. Speedway GP Series comes to Champion Speedway Friday night July 26 at 8:00 pm.
Report by Jason Bonsignore

RESULTS

Support B
1. Bob Bruzek 20
2. Marcus Cole 10
3. Mikey Buman 10
5. Jordan Greene 10
6. Jay Casslebury 10

Support A
1. Josh Carr 50
2. Keith Hawkins 40
3. Merle Craven 50

Last Chance
1. Mikey Robinson
2. Joel Parsons
3. Chris Strong
4. Lee Bailey

Hank Bassett Cup
Scratch Main Championship
1. Cam Rafferty
2. Gene Bonsignore
3. Mikey Robinson
4. Jeremy Parsons
5. Tom Sephton