OWEGO, NY

The program on August 14 at Champion Speedway began with Handicap racing, in which the more-skilled riders start further behind the less-experienced ones. Andy Crawford was able to hold the pack off to win the first heat race, with Dave Clark (above) in second, Jeremy "Darkhorse" Parsons in third and Keith Hawkins in fourth. Casey Donholt followed that up with of a win of his own from the 50-yard line, with Adam "The Missile" Mittl second, Ray Barondick third and Shawn "Steamboat" Engel fourth. Tuff McBride ended the heats rounds by taking a checkered flag as well; behind him were Mikey Buman, Russ Cornell and Jerry "Buford" Harman.

In the first Handicap semifinal, McBride was coming from a 50-yard disadvantage, but he picked off two riders and passed them on the first three laps. On lap four, he made a spectacular split of three more to take the lead and, eventually, the win. Gaining transfer spots in second and third were Clark and Donholt, who just got Hawkins by inches at the line. Engel was fifth. Harman pulled out with an injury.

Buman and Mittl took first and second in the second semi, with Parsons getting third and the last spot in the final. Crawford and Cornell were fourth and fifth, with Barondick sixth.

McBride kicked off the Scratch heat racing with another win; Mittl rode hard and took second, with Crawford third and Engel not finishing. Clark, Parsons and Donholt then had a great race with all four elbows apart for four laps; Clark won, with Parsons second, Donholt third and Barondick fourth. Buman won his heat, over Hawkins and Cornell (and with a open spot, due to Harman's absence).

Parsons and Mittl blasted out in front in the first Scratch semi, but on the third lap Mittl hit a big rut in the track and got moved way out. This opened the door for Buman to move into second and grab a transfer position. Parsons won, Mittl was third, Hawkins was fourth and Cornell was fifth.

McBride stayed unbeaten by winning the last semi. Donholt was second, Clark third, Engel fourth and Crawford fifth.

For the last-chance qualifier, Mittl came out on a 22-inch rear wheel, as there was enough dirt to make it work. It made for a great show, as Mittl rode the outside and Clark took the inside. Mittl won it. Hawkins was third and Cornell was fourth.

Buman drew the pole for the Scratch final, with Donholt in two, McBride in three, Parsons in four and Mittl in five. Everyone seemed to get bottled up off the start, but Buman emerged from the pile and rode a smooth inside line for his second win of the year. McBride was next, with Mittl third, Parsons fourth and Donholt fifth.

The Handicap main had five of the six riders on the 50-yard marker and only Clark ahead of them, on the 40. Clark made no mistakes and held off the pack for the main-event win! McBride was second for most of the race, but Parsons made a nice outside pass on the last turn to grab the runner-up spot. Buman capped off a good night with fourth, Mittl was fifth, and Donholt was sixth.

Champion Speedway now has the new go-kart track open and will play host to a huge Legends of Speedway night (as well as the regular race program) on August 28, and the U.S. Open Nationals September 4 and 5.

Results

SCR MAIN: 1. Mike Buman; 2. Tuff McBride; 3. Adam Mittl; 4. Jeremy Parsons; 5. Casey Donholt.

HDCP MAIN: 1. Dave Clark; 2. Jeremy Parsons; 3. Tuff McBride; 4. Mikey Buman; 5. Adam Mittl.

SUP A: 1. Mark Bradley; 2. Ray Barondick; 3. Ron Walker; 4. Zach Peters; 5. Bunk Harris.

SUP B: 1. Bill Papula; 2. Delbert Roser.

JR SPEEDWAY: 1. Spencer Portararo; 2. Dakota Crone.

JR DIRT/BK: 1. Dakota Crone.