Champion Speedway
East River Drive
Owego, New York
East Coast Speedway Series - NY State Championship
Mittl wins his 4th NY State Championship!
Story by Jason Bonsignore
Photos by John Zachary
Champion Speedway, Owego, NY July 19, 2014
The NY State Speedway Championship took place July 19th at Champion Speedway. Unfortunately the gloomy weather was out and rain was hitting surrounding areas which led to a light spectator crowd. Those the stayed home though still missed some good racing as the deep outside cushion racetrack produced several very entertaining runs around the outside, especially by Adam "The Missile" Mittl, Dave "Shark" Clark and Jesse "Jet" Diem!
Round One of the all-scratch competition kicked off Clark showing some nice speed in a win over Jerry "Beufford" Harman. Chuck Podany was third and Ray Barondick fourth. Mittl was in high gear in the second heat race and was unchallenged for first. Diem was a solid second place finisher and Corey Brookes and Don Wheeland were third and fourth. Former State Champion, "Mean" Gene Bonsignore, won his opening ride. Tuff McBride was tussling with Ron "The Reaper" Walker for second when his clutch lost springs and he had to pull out. Walker went on for second with "Doctor Dirt" Russ Cornell taking third.
Harman rode the inside well to score three points in the second round, just ahead of Diem. Walker grabbed a point for third with Brookes last. Clark and Mittl were neck and neck in the first lap or two of the next race until Mittl went storming around the outside in turn 3 to take over and win. Clark hung on for second. McBride would come in third with Barondick last. Bonsignore kept up his momentum with another victory to close out the set over Podany, A. Clark and Cornell.
In the third round it was Diem's turn to use the outside and he did it well to take advantage of the event and go on for the win over McBride. Podany stayed consistent with a point outta third over Cornell. Clark and Mittl met up again and this time Clark would come out on top but not before a great side by side battle for two laps! Mittl took two for second, Walker one for third and last went to Brandon Sturzenegger. Harman touched the tapes on the first attempt at the last ride of the round and got a warning from the referee then used his break to his advantage and outgated Bonsignore and went on to win. Bonsignore would claim second ahead of Brookes and Barondick.
Clark was sharp again in the final run of heats and handed Harman a defeat. Diem would end in third but in front of Podany. McBride pulled out for the night at this stage with a back injury, this opened up the door for Brandon Bruzek to take the main stage in his first ever division 1 scratch ride and he didn't disappoint... Bruzek rode a smooth line to lead all for a couple laps until making a mistake and getting too far outside which allowed Walker by for the win. Brookes would come in second. Mittl was again extremely fast and took the final heat win but almost lost it to Bonsignore as he caught major traction on lap two coming out of turn two and stood the bike straight up in the air! He recovered nicely and Bonsignore stayed in position for second. Barondick nailed third and Cornell was last.
There was some great racing in Division Two on the night...in the final young, Spencer Portararo became NYS Champion with a convincing win. Unfortunately the feature ended with a crash involving Don "Wheels" Wheeland and Andrew Clark who got tangled up a ways behind. It was suspected that Wheeland hurt his shoulder.
In Division 3, Bob "Badger" Bruzek made a successful comeback after many years away from the sport to claim victory!
The Division 1 Main events at Champion this year have been awesome, all won by a great pass or two and this one would be no different...Clark jumped out front off the start and Mittl pursued hard for 3 and 1/2 laps but Clark seemed to have it won until Mittl, on his Oakley/Scotts Headers/Justice Bothers/Silkolene/Oury/Tanks Auto/Duffeks Auto sponsored GM, made an unreal dash to the outside in turn 3 on the last set of corners. He scraped the wall coming out of turn four and drag raced Clark to the finish line and won his 4th NY State Title by just inches! Diem would earn third, Harman fourth and Bonsignore fifth.
The next events at Champion are July 26th, the Kelly Moran Memorial and August 2nd, Harley night!
Lonni Whitmore won his fourth feature in a row in the Pro ATV class.
NY State Championship
1. Adam Mittl
2. Dave Clark
3. Jesse Diem
4. Jerry Harman
5. Gene Bonsignore
Division Two
1. Spencer Portararo
2. Brandon Bruzek
3. Andrew Clark
4. Don Wheeland
5. Brandon Sturzenegger
Division Three
1. Bob Bruzek
2. Jim Sanchez
3. Pat Farrell
Pee Wee 50
1. Kayden Vargo
2. Mason Higley
3. Derrick Manvell
Junior Speedway
1. Mason Higley
ATV Pro
1. Lonni Whitmore
2. Shane Smith
ATV AM
1. Jeremiah Delafield
2. W. Huber
3. Mark Platcheck
4. Justin Potter
ATV Mini AM
1. Atrayo Lattimer
2. Jacob Dillenbeck
ATV Mini D-1
1. Lucas Reilly
2. Brooke Reynolds
3. Leon Jenney
Congrats to Adam Mittl on his 4th NY State Championship win this past Sat night. We want to say a HUGE THANKS to Steve Luxton, the big COBRA himself, of Cobra's Garage Mahal!!! Steve contacted me and wanted to do something nice for the riders who chose to support Champion Speedway this weekend...I wasn't sure what he had in mind, but when he told me he was putting up $1,000.00 for the win I was blown away! Adam was blown away too when we announced it! Thanks Cobra Steve Luxton for always being there for us and supporting speedway!!! What an awesome gesture!
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