Champion Speedway
East River Drive
Owego, New York

New York State Championship
Champion Speedway, Owego NY
August 16, 2012
by Kelvin Herrala

Was this a race or a battlefield, that is the question. The riders that showed up for this event had one thing on their minds and that was to win. Virtually every heat was a main event as riders pushed for every point for the chance to be in the A final.

The first heat saw Casey Donholt a local favorite and previous double main event winner take the win. It was his birthday today and what a way to start the celebration. Heat two had father and son Warren & Jesse Diem with Dave Clark and Mike Buman. Clark made a strong surge from the first gate position with Buman pushing hard from the outside with Diem & Diem sandwiched in the middle. Buman was able to work his way around Clark to the lead in turns 3 & 4 on the first lap. Jesse Diem used the same outside line to pass his father the next lap only to find a little extra water still standing out wide in turn one. This caused Diem to loose grip and slide out and allow the elder Diem back in the points.

Next heat saw Adam Mittl, Josh Carr, Russ Cornell and Jeremy Parsons. Parsons made a brilliant start from gate four forcing Mittl to revert to the outside if he wanted to take the win. If you have ever seen Mittl ride then you know he is no stranger to the outside line and does some pretty crazy antics on the bike while out in the dirt. He did not disappoint and crossing the line first was Mittl followed by Parsons,Carr and Cornell.

Heat four saw none other than 64 year old "Mean Gene " Bonsignore, Zach Peters, Keith Hawkins and Jerry Harmon. Bon sing no re drove hard from the tapes into the first turn pushing Harmon toward the outside through turn two allowing Hawkins underneath him going down the back stretch. Side by side Bonsignore and Hawkins battled for the lead neither rider giving an inch. Sitting back in third place Harmon was not going to give up either. When it was all said and done Hawkins had 3 big points, Harmon settled for 2 and Bonsignore took the last paying position in a very strong field.

Round 2 saw the Birthday rider Casey Donholt's night start to go downhill scoring only one point in a hard fought race with Parsons, W. Diem and Hawkins. Positions changed multiple times during this race as the track had shaped up superbly allowing riders to use multiple lines and drive for overtaking.

Round 3 saw Donholt locked in a fierce duel with Mittl when on the last lap he caught too much drive coming out of turn two trying to get past. The bike stood straight up and down all the way down into turn four in a giant wheel stand. It looked like he was going to manage to hang on but ended up going down in turn four and going from at least 2 points to zero.

Round 4 saw Clark and Mittl waging war out of turn two banging elbows and leaning allover each other. Clark pushed Mittl up against the wall going down the back straight giving him just enough room to not go down but that was it.

In the A final we had Buman, Clark, Mittl, Harmon and Parsons all earning their way on total points for the heats. First attempt saw Harmon break the tapes with his helmet and Clark clipping Mittl's rear wheel with his front and going down hard while Buman had made a clean start. Harmon went to the penalty line along with Clark for the restart. Mittl got a good jump this time leaving Buman in second. Then Buman's motor decided to let go and his night was over.

Adam Mittl who seems to be coming into form just at the right time for the US Open took home the title N.Y. State Champion.

A Final
1.) Adam Mittl
2.) Jeremy Parsons
3.) Dave Clark
4.) Jerry Harmon
5.) Mike Buman (engine failure)

B Final
1.) Warren Diem
2.) Gene Bonsignore
3.) Casey Donholt
4.) Lee Bailey
5.) Keith Hawkins

C Final
1.) Russ Cornell
2.) Josh Carr
3.) Ron Walker
4.) Chuck Podany
5.) Zach Peters

Support Final
Brian Bailey

East Coast Speedway Promotions eastcoastspeedway@hotmail.com
Monday, August 20, 2012 9:16 AM
East Coast Points / Champion Speedway Track Points Final

Congratulations to Adam Mittl for winning his 3rd NYS Championship Saturday night and also on winning his 4th Champion Speedway track Championship which ties the record shared by Hank Bassett, Lenny McBride and Tommy Sephton and also for collecting his 3rd or 4th East Coast Points Championship.

I got grief from one or two riders who went to Canada to race a few weeks ago about it being a double points night back at Champion, which has usually been pretty standard procedure on a night of conflict on both the East and West Coast, and just want to point out that if you do the math even without the extra double points, Mittl would have still won the points and David Clark would have still been 2nd place.

I wanted to mention and congratulate Clark also as with last years flood disaster and everything we were dealing with it got overlooked, but Dave won last years Track championship and Overall points championships. He has developed into a fast and consistent rider. He made every Main last year just as Mittl did this season. Consistency pays off.

Also congrats to Jeremy Parsons who won the NYS Champ last year after round 2 was rained off. I want to point out also that we gave fair warning about riders using motocross gear in first division for two years now and about docking points possibly for those who owned suits but continued to wear moto gear so please consider this before being upset if it affected your standing.

Below is the final points listing for this season, the top 14 in points have gained an automatic berth in the US Open Championships Sept 1 and 2. I am still working out who will be given wild cards, 2 have already been awarded to Sam Ermolenko and David Meldrum, and what will happen with riders below the top 14. I finished in the top 14 but only rode one full night and obviously will be giving my spot up so the next rider moves up to that position.

1. Adam Mittl 504
2. Dave Clark 488
3. Casey Donholt 434
4. Mikey Buman 370
5. Jeremy Parsons 340
6. Jerry Harman 250
7. Jesse Diem 216
8. Warren Diem 204
9. Tuff McBride 168
10. Gene Bonsignore 166
11. Lee Bailey 138
12. Keith Hawkins 114
13. Russ Cornell 98
14. Jason Bonsignore
15. John Lewis 68
16. Andy Crawford 62
17. Josh Carr 60
18. Zach Peters 60
19. Dave Meldrum 54
20. Corey Brookes 38
21. Brian Hollenbeck 38
22. Jeff Garlinghouse 26
23. Stefan Laessig 16
24. Ron Walker 13
25. Chuck Podany 6