OWEGO, NY

The largest crowd of the 2009 East Coast Speedway season was on hand at Champion Speedway on September 6 to witness some great racing at the 2009 Bully Dog John F. Stalma U.S. Open Championships finals.

Round one of the heat races kicked off with points leader Tommy Hedden scoring a win over Jerry "Buford" Harman; Josh Carr was third and Keith Hawkins was last. Next up was defending champion Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell of Bully Dog Racing, and he took a first over Brian Hollenbeck in second, Mikey Buman in third and Warren Diem in last. Track champion Adam Mittl then defeated Jesse Diem; Dave Clark was third and Russ "Doctor Dirt" Cornell was fourth. Tuff McBride concluded the first round of heats with a victory; coming in second was Corey Brookes, while third went to Andy "Crawfish" Crawford and Shawn "Steamboat" Engel was last.

McConnell, Hedden, Warren Diem and Harman were all in the winners' circle in the second series of heat races. Taking valuable second-places finishes were McBride, Mittl, Carr and Buman.

The third round began with Hollenbeck getting his first win; taking second was Brookes. The big showdown between Hedden and McConnell was next, but Hedden outran the champ for first place. Buman scored three crucial points in his heat race with a win over Jesse Diem. And McBride was the winner against Mittl and Warren Diem.

Just after intermission, Warren Diem finished his heat races with a first-place finish, while Clark was second. Next, Hedden remained undefeated with his besting of second-placed Buman. McConnell then got revenge on Mittl from the night before by taking the checkers first. Harman finished things off with a three-point haul over Jesse Diem.

The evening's D final was won by Hawkins, with Crawford second, Ray Barondick third, Engel fourth and Mark Bradley fifth.

Hollenbeck was the winner of the C final, with Carr second, Brookes third and Cornell fourth.

Mittl could not be stopped in the B final, as he led from the gate to the finish. Clark ended up second, Jesse Diem was third and Harman was last.

The four A finals - in which each of the top four points scorers get a gate position once and the fifth rider gets gate five each time - were spectacular. The first feature saw Hedden get a great start, and he was momentarily challenged by McBride for a lap before pulling away to the win. McConnell was third, with Warren Diem fourth and Buman fifth.

The second time out, McConnell was determined to score full points - and he needed to, in order to stay within striking distance of Hedden for the title. He did just that, putting in a perfect ride. Hedden stayed consistent with second, Warren Diem rode hard on the outside for third, and McBride and Buman were fourth and fifth, respectively.

McConnell could not be slowed in the third final, as he won again with a good gate. Hedden was second, with McBride third this time and Warren Diem fourth.

It all came down to the last race, and Shawn McConnell (right, below) needed to win it. He won convincingly, but Tommy Hedden (center) would have had to have been third to force a tie breaker for the crown, and he rode well again to take second - and the championship by one point on his MXRC/NGK/Justice Brothers/Arai Jawa! Warren Diem was third but ended up fourth overall. Tuff McBride (left) took fourth but ended up on the podium in third and was crowned the Stormin' Norman Robinson Cup winner for being the top New York scorer. Buman fell and finished fifth overall.

Results

BULLY DOG CHAMPIONSHIP: 1. Tommy Hedden; 2. Shawn McConnell; 3. Tuff McBride; 4. Warren Diem; 5. Mikey Buman; 6. Adam Mittl; 7. Jerry Harman.

SUP A CHAMP: Chuck Podany.

SUP B CHAMP: Bunk Harris.