Champion Speedway
Owego, New York
Champion Speedway
Owego, New York, USA
July 16, 2005
By Jason Bonsignore
It had been four years since former East Coast Speedway star Lenny "Mad Dog" McBride had thrown a leg over a bike coming into this season and many youngsters have gotten very fast in those four years. On the night of the first combined Scratch and Handicap program of the year though, the veteran star showed some of these kids a few tricks and rolled back the years with a confident and well-deserved win in the Scratch Main.
The Scratch heats have become very difficult to transfer out of with so many guys getting fast. In heat one McBride brought home his first win over Keith Hawkins, Josh Carr and Merle Craven.
Heat two had Jeremy Parsons and Tommy Sephton transferring to the semis in front of Andy Crawford and Mikey Buman.
Heat three produced a Casey Donholt win from the hard charging Tuff McBride. Jesse Diem and Russ "Homer" Cornell were third and fourth.
The final scratch heat had Tommy Burge defeating the popular Adam Mittl gaining third over Steffan Laessig.
Semifinal One set up a good match between the McBride brothers. It wouldn't be easy though as they had to contend with Burge and Mittl who are both having good seasons. Len McBride burst into the lead not to be challenged and things got a little easier for Tuff McBride when Burge suffered bike problems. Tuff rode well to stay ahead of Mittl and transfer to his first Main Event in over 11 years!
Semi Two was a clash between Parsons and Sephton again. Sephton who has established himself comfortably the last five years as the East's best rider, was having an off night and this time found himself third behind Parsons and Donholt. Hawkins was fourth.
Many thought Sephton would surely pull it out in the last chance but after leading it for several laps he hit a hole and wheelie'd past the corner allowing Mittl the win with Hawkins second and Burge third. Nobody could remember the last time Sephton hadn't been a part of the Main.
In the Main Event it seemed Parsons would be a likely winner as he had, like it always seems, drawn an inside gate with one. The slick track at Owego usually favors gate one an nobody expected Len McBride to have much of a shot from gate four. Donholt had two, Tuff McBride had three and Mittl had the outside. Parsons made one of his solid starts and was off into the lead but Lenny made a beautiful inside pass on him while in corners three and four on lap one and rode the rest of the race on an unpassable inside line. Parsons stayed in second while Mittl put up a bit of a fight with Tuff McBride cruising in fourth. Donholt fell and was relegated to last. As the Team JBR, Justice Brothers, Red Line Oil, K&N, NGK Plugs, Regina sponsored Lenny McBride took the checkered flag you could see the excitement in his eyes!
In the Handicap program riders taking home heat wins were Sephton, Burge and Cornell.
In the first Handicap Semi Russ Cornell continued to ride steadily only to give up one spot to Burge while Lenny McBride just got his brother at the finish line to grab the last transfer. Craven and Carr took fifth and sixth.
Semi two was another huge surprise as Sephton hit the wall and did not transfer. Parsons, Mittl, Donholt and Buman finished in that order.
Len McBride gave him some pressure for several laps before he made a mistake and drifted off the inside allowing Mittl through and eventually Parsons. McBride finished fourth with Cornell fifth and Burge sixth.
The Support program was dominated by a hard riding Steffan Laessig while newcomer Keith Lengle won the Junior Main.
Scratch Main:
1. Lenny McBride
2. Jeremy Parsons
3. Adam Mittl
4. Tuff McBride
5. Casey Donholt
Handicap Main:
2. Adam Mittl
3. Jeremy Parsons
4. Lenny McBride
5. Russ Cornell
6. Tom Burge
Support A:
1. Stefan Lassig
2. Corey Brookes
3. Bob Bruzek
4. Andy Crawford
Junior Main:
1. Keith Lengle
2. Kayla Boroom
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