Former East Coast Speedway great Norm Robinson and his brothers built a speedway track at the Genesee County Fairgrounds back in 1975, for speedway and flat-track racing. The track ran for five years until the fair board decided to reopen the car track inside of which the cycle track had been built. Motorcycles have run on the car track a few times since 1980, when the purpose-built track closed, but speedway had not returned at all.

Until now.

Local promoter Jason Bonsignore announced he was going to try to recreate the original track for this year's fair, with a speedway and flat-track program, and that he was planning to dedicate the night to Robinson and his brothers by running the annual Stormin' Norman Robinson Cup on the night! The event would also serve as the fourth round of the New York State Speedway points championship. Two special visitors from out west, two-time U.S. Open Champion Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell and up-and-coming racer Shaun "King Tiuk" Harmatiuk, were came out to participate.

Although the new clay surface was a bit tacky and inconsistent, Harmatiuk made it look good in the first heat round, as he put in four full-throttle laps to take the win. Taking second was Adam "Missile" Mittl, with Dave "Smokin'" Oakden in third and Mark "Battlescar" Bradley in fourth. McConnell closed out the round by showing his awesome balance and wheelie skills in a classic display over second-placed "Mean Gene" Bonsignore, one of the pioneers of the original track back in the 1970s. Josh Carr was third and Shawn "Steamboat" Engel was fourth.

McConnell and Mittl clashed in the next round and had a nice battle; McConnell came out on top with three points. Harmatiuk showed more of the same his second time out when he gated strongly and ran four hard laps to the finish. Oakden stayed in second throughout, with Carr third.

Oakden's son Dan was also doing well, taking two Support B wins over "Dangerous Dan" Harbst up to this point in the program. Zach Peters was third in those two support contests.

With Bonsignore done for the evening due to a sore knee, it was down to a five-rider Division One finale. Mittl used his inside starting position to his advantage, leaping out of the gate and into the lead. McConnell was working hard to reel him in. The two put on a great show of side-by-side racing for nearly three laps at a surprisingly fast pace for the tricky one-off surface. On lap three, Mittl drifted wide in turn four and McConnell pounced, putting himself in the driver's seat and powering his NGK Spark Plugs/Justice Brothers/Western Blasting/Oury Grips-backed Jawa to the win in the Stormin' Norman Robinson Cup!

Results

NORM ROBINSON CUP: 1. Shawn McConnell; 2. Adam Mittl; 3. Shaun Harmatiuk; 4. David Oakden; 5. Josh Carr.

SUP A: 1. Mark Bradley; 2. Shawn Engel.

SUP B: 1. Dan Oakden; 2. Dan Harbst; 3. Zach Peters.