Champion Speedway
344 East River Drive
Owego, New York 13827
Hank Bassett Cup
Champion Speedway June 22, 2024
From Jason Bonsignore
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 Junior Division 3 and the JR racing has been super impressive with 12 young riders now! Macoley Saunders won the Junior Division 1 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!
Hank Bassett Cup Full Results
1. Casey Donholt
2. Adam Mittl
3. Lenny McBride
4. Levi Harris
5. Caleb Stewart
Last Chance
1. Adam Mittl
2. Albert Smith
3. Alex Heath
4. Jerry Harman
Division 2
1. Chloe Schnurr
2. Kenny Dahlin
3. Hunter Wagner
4. Dana Marsh
5. Brian McManamon
Division 3
1. Dominic Matias
2. Zach Ostrander
3. Jerry Harman Jr
4. Cody Pierce
5. Luke Helton
Junior Division 1
1. Macoley Saunders
2. Cody Pierce
3. Lilly Cornell
4. Kabriel Howard
5. Joel Farwell
Junior Division 2
1. Jacob Tomchick
2. Jenson Pierce
3. Jake Kilmer
Junior Division 3
1. Dakota Pierce
2. Mikki Card
3. Jaden Slate
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