OWEGO, NY

Each year, Champion Speedway plays host to a Hank Bassett Cup Championship, in honor of one of the most decorated riders in its history, "Hurricane Hank" Bassett, who won four track championships and once won 10 consecutive Scratch main events in the early 1980s at this facility. His riding days were cut short due to multiple sclerosis, but he still comes to the races often. Last year's champion, Adam Mittl (below), had not won during the past few weeks, and he was getting hungry for a win.

The opening round of heat races began with former East Coast champion Jeremy "Dark Horse" Parsons scoring a win with Jerry "Buford" Harman in second, "Jammin' Jeff" Garlinghouse in third, and Shawn "Steamboat" Engel in fourth. Mittl gated strongly in the second heat and won handily over Dave Clark, Casey Donholt and Corey Brookes. Sixty-two-year-old veteran "Mean Gene" Bonsignore got the best start in the third event and got to turn one first, while Tuff McBride stood his bike straight up off the line but was able to recover; McBride tried to chase Bonsignore down but just could not quite get by, and the win went to Bonsignore, with McBride second, Russ "Doctor Dirt" third, and Andy "Crawfish" Crawford fourth.

Parsons looked good again in round two and won the first heat, with Clark second, Brookes third and Crawford fourth. Donholt got in on the fun with a victory in the next outing, over McBride; third went to Cornell, with last going to Garlinghouse. Mittl was again the leader in the final heat of the round, and Bonsignore was second; Harman tried really hard while in third to move up but just could not make the outside work, and Bonsignore rode well.

Donholt took another three important points off of Clark, Harman and Cornell in the third stanza. Then it was McBride's turn, as he handed Mittl and Parsons their first losses of the evening. Bonsignore went on to win his next heat, over Garlinghouse, Brookes and Engel.

Mittl closed out the first of the last heats with a win, which made him the high scorer of the evening, with 11 points; second went to Harman, third to Brookes and last to Crawford. Bonsignore then got a second, which tied him and McBride overall with 10 points; Clark won that heat, with Cornell third and Engel out with an injury. McBride won the final heat, with Donholt second, Parsons third and Garlinghouse fourth.

Parsons went on to win the last-chance qualifier to earn a spot in the Scratch main, with Clark second, Harman third and Cornell fourth.

Mittl had first choice and chose the pole position for the main event. He made no mistakes, and his JBR/Polito/Justice Brothers/Oury/K&N/NGK-backed Jawa carried him to his second straight Bassett Cup title. McBride was right on him but had to settle for second. The first corner was tight and everyone was touching, but Donholt came out of it in third and never gave that spot up. Parsons was fourth and Bonsignore fifth.

The next two events at Champion will be held on July 24 and July 31.

Results

HANK BASSETT CUP CHAMPIONSHIP: 1. Adam Mittl; 2. Tuff McBride; 3. Casey Donholt; 4. Jeremy Parsons; 5. Gene Bonsignore.

LCQ: 1. Jeremy Parsons; 2. Dave Clark; 3. Jerry Harman; 4. Russ Cornell.

SUP MAIN: 1. Brian Bailey; 2. Delber Roser; 3. Bunk Harris.

DIRT/BK MAIN: 1. Jordan Engel; 2. Dakota Crone.

JR SPDWY MAIN: 1. Spencer Portararo; 2. Dakota Crone.