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Events
(Left) Gene Bonsignore
leads Warren Deim and
Cam Rafferty in the
Scratch ma in event at New
Champion Speedway in
Owego, New York.
Bonsignore took th ird,
Rafferty took second, and
De im took home the Ha n k
Bassett Cup,
(Rig ht) Joe Oeh lhof (132)
wa s w ired a t Frozen Ocean
Motocross Park in Auburn,
New York, fly ing to wins in
both the 125cc and 250cc
P ro Expert c lasses a t the
Stadiumcross
Ch a mpionsh ip .
Speedway's Deim deemed
Bassett Cup winner
By Tim Ma theson
Photo by Russ Cornell
OWEGO, NY, JUNE26
For the seco nd year in a row, Warren Deim took
home one of New Cha mpion Speedway' s highes t ho nors, the Ha nk Basse tt Cup. Thi s eve nt ,
conceived by p romote r Jason Bonsignore in 1998
to coincide with the track's "Legend s N igh t,"
pays tribute to one of the East Coast's greatest
and most d edi cated riders. Basset , who in his
day ban ged elbows with speed w ay' s greats,
rem ains one of the East Coast's winningest rid ers, wi n ning jus t abo u t everything exce p t the
East Coast Cha mpionship. The "Hurri cane," as
he is called, is a lso responsible for helpin g ma ny
of tod ay's riders get their start in the spo rt.
The Bassett Cu p consists of four rounds of
quali fyin g heat s, w ith the top eight in points
going to two semifinals. The top two finis hers in
42
eac h se mi tra nsfer d ire ctly to th e main event ,
whil e the third- and fourth-place finis hers duke
it out in the last -chan ce q ua lifier for the remaining spo t in the five- ma n ma in event.
In the first se mi, Bonsignore's fat he r, Gene,
took the initia l lead, followed by Deim, Kelvin
Herrala and Jason Bonsignore. Deim mad e his
wa y ar ou nd th e ou tside go ing down the back
stret ch a nd assumed the lead by turn three. From
the re, Dei m checke d out , winning by al mos t a
full strai ghtaway. Gene took the last direct transfer, with He rrala and Jason heading for the LCQ.
In se mi two, 15-year-old Ca m Rafferty wa s
on the pole. The first race was red -flagged due
to a horrend ous crash involving David Oa kden
a nd Fran k Wa tson, but neither ride r wa s se riously hurt. Watson di d not return for the restart.
As the tapes wen t up , Tommy Sephton left first,
but Rafferty also ha d an excellent tra p and the
inside line. Neither rider seemed to have a clear
advan tage, ridi ng most of the race side by side .
As the y crossed th e line for th e start of lap tree,
Rafferty led by abo ut half a bike len gth. Sep hto n
tri ed to cross und ern eath b ut the yo u ngster
started to pu ll a way. Rafferty we nt on to win by
five bike lengths , with Sephton seco nd and Oa kden a d istan t third .
In the LCQ , jason Bonsignore moved firs t
bu t lifted sligh tly, a llowing Oa kd en to gain a
slight advantage. Bonsignore pulled even out of
the tum, forcing Oakden wide . Bonsignore had
a three-bike-len gth lead coming into turn thr ee,
but he ca ugh t tr acti o n a nd st ra ig htened up,
allowing Herrala to close the gap , bu t the tumtwo rot claimed another victim, upsetting Herral a's concent ration jus t eno ugh to allow Bonsignore to drive pa st on the outsi de. Herr ala, at
the start of the third lap, backed his God de n into
turn one too hot, stra igh ten ed up and d rifted
wide, al most collecting Oakden. who was running third. From the re, Bonsignore cru ised th e
last lap an d a ha lf to an easy win, picking up the
last s po t in the m a in even t. Her ra la's ni ght
wo u ld e nd w it h a fru stra ting seco nd pl a ce,
while Oakden finis hed third .
The lineu p for the main had Rafferty in one,
Gene Bonsignore in tw o, Deim in three, Sephton
in fou r a nd [ason Bonsignore in five. When the
tapes wen t up , Rafferty, Deirn and Sephton left
at virtually the same mom ent , entering the first
turn three abreast. Rafferty ga ined almos t a full
bike length over Deim. Sephton rema ined a close
third , followed by Gene and jason . Rafferty held
a narrow lead coming into tum three, but Deim
wa s coming up fas t on the ou tside . They crossed
the line for the start of the second lap with Deim
lead ing Rafferty by half a length . By the midd le
of the tum, Deim had en ou gh of a lead to pull
his line back down. on the pipe, but Rafferty was
not about to let the veteran walk away from him .
. For the next 2 1/2 laps, the teenager stuck with
Deim, never falling more than thr ee bike lengths
behind. The race ended with Deim in first, Raffcrty a very impressive second, Gen e Bonsignore
third , Jason in fourth and Sephton finishing last.
Results
HANK BASSElT C UP: r. Warren Deim (Jo1w);2 Cam R.lfferty (jaw) ; 3. Cen e Bonsignore (Jaw); 4. Jaso n Bonr;.igno (Jaw); S.
re
Tom Sep hton (Gdn) .
LEGENDS: 1. Ted Fry (Jaw); Mil«- Buman ,{Wes)
.
HDCP A: 1. IH:vC' Smith (Jaw); 2. Jerry Harman Jr. (JolIW); 3.
Joe Greene (Wes); 4. Les W.l3hbon (Jaw ); 5. Kendall Brooke!!(jaw) .
HDCP B; 1. Anderson (jaw); 2. Chris Strong (Hon): 3. Jeff
Houston (jaw) ; 4. Robinson (JawkS. Jim Fey (Jaw).
Theis great at Scott SX
By George and Ka ren Hodkinson
JORDAN, MN
,jULY 9
Lee Theis of Craver, Minnesota, was the vietor in
the Pro class a t round five of the seven-ro und
Minnesota State Supercross Cha mpionship, held
once again at the Scott County fairgrounds and
spo nsore d by Jim 's Au to Sales a nd Mid w es t
Wa terspo rts. Theis took hom e the bulk of the
$1000 Pro purse , riding his Cities Edge /Sinisalo / Factory Conn ection / Silkolene-backed KX250
to the wins in bo th the heat race and the ma in
event. Theis is also the po ints leader in the series,
with just two rounds to go.
Once again a jump contest was held , an d this
time it was Mike Kann who took hom e the bu lk
of th e mon ey, over Brett O hland a nd Na tha n
Bro ughton.
Durin g the eight-lap Pro heat race, it was all
Theis from start to finish. Craig Schwarz ran sec-.
ond in the early going, with Cha d Sparks, on a
YZ400, in third , as Kann went down in tum one
and had to remount in dead last. Mike Atkinson
quickly moved his way thro ugh the pack on the
first lap and settled into second . Theis pulled out a
little lead on Atkinson and at the finish they went
one-two, with Schwarz close in third . Sparks took
fourth, and Kann came back to claim fifth.
In the main event, w here it a lt coun ted for
the money a nd series points, Atki nson put his
YZ250 o u t front a n d in the lead, in fro n t of
Schwarz and Theis. Theis rod e like a mad ma n .
. from the get-go and shot by Schwarz, an d then
. battled Atki nson fo r th e lea d . The two went
back an d forth for the be tter part of the first lap,
and it was a nyone's guess who woul d come out
on top. Theis finally emerged in front of Atkinson, and once he did, he set himself up for the
main-even t win. Theis pulled abo u t one seco nd
per lap on Atkinson, a nd when the chec kered
flag came out at th e end of the 12·l a p e ve nt,
Theis took the win. Rid ing a 125 and th us at a
slight d isadvan tage against the bigger machines,
Karin , by the end of the race , reached Atkinson's
back w heel, bu t he ran out of steam, an d the
experienced Atkin son held off Karin, an d the
tw o took seco nd and thi rd . Schwarz took fourth ,
wi th Ryan Megaw taking fifth.
Results
50 CHAIN : 1. Kyle Oh land ; 2. Elliot Kastnt!l' 3. Ryan Milia ;
;
e
4. Tylt"f Pederson; 5. Blak Dungey.
50 S H AfT : 1. Ma rio Fr asson ; 2. Kurt O hnso rg : 3 . B1i1ke
Dun gey; 4. Dylan Ha rvey ; 5. Kyle O hnso rg.
P/W: 1. Ryan Dungey; 2. John Heinlein Ill; J . Matt Woodt ke;
4. Austin Vig; 5. Elliot Kastner.
80 BEG: 1. Joe Me yer; 2 Mdtt Wood tkc; 3. Da niel Wann; 4.
Aaron Dcce 5. Andrew leunissen .
80 EX: 1. Bret t Oh land ; 2 Tyler Neese; 3. John He inlei n IU; 4.
Barry Ri~graii; 5 . Ryan Du nge y.
125 B; 1. Nathan Broughton; 2. Ton y RobC'fbon ; 3. JOtlh Ca rlson; 4. Brand on C rapper; 5. Brad Gue tter .
125 C: I. Luke Theis; 2. Brian O"Keefe; 3. John Ht'nt ges; 4.
J-.e RarJUibuTg; 5. Wade Hardfol.
ne
VET: 1. A" ro n N dson; 2. GC' Miller; 3. Rick Riehm; 4.
Detry Foyte-;5. Ross Thomp!lOn. 250; I. Mike Clark; 2. A.tron Ndson; 3. Rick Rit'hm; 4. Gene Miller, 5. Mike Little.
PRO: 1. l.- 'Theis; 2. Mile Ailimon; 3. Mike K.1.nn; 4. Cra ig
Schwa rtz; S. Ryan Megaw.
Oehihof titanic at Frozen
Ocean Stadiumcross
By Sue Denman
AUBURN, NY,jULY 10
The Coca-Co la/M&R Sports & Mower Stad iumcross Championship at Froze n Ocean proved to
be pr ofitable for Joe Oehl hof. The A.M. Leonard
KTM rider won bo th the 125 a n d 250cc Pro
Expert classes , taking home a tita nic $1200 for
the evening. Barry Carsten and Carlo Coen raced
to secon d- and third-place finishes, respectively,
in the I5-lap main events.
In the main event of the 125cc Pro-Expert
class, Carlo Coe n go t th e holes hot, wi th Ch ris
Coleman rig ht beh ind him an d joe Oehlhof in
fourth. Oehlhof mo ve d up quic kly , passing
Coleman by the third la p and se tting off after
Coen . Oehlhof made up ti me in the whoops
sec tio n every lap . By la p 10, Oe h lhof was on
Coen's rear fender, trying to make the pass in
the comers , and he finally go t an ins ide line
before the whoops and pulled the lead for the
rema inin g fou r laps to take the chec kered flag.
Coen finished second, a nd Barry Ca rst en , who
had a poo r sta rt , ma d e hi s w a y th rou gh th e
pa ck to catch up to Coe n for th e last thr ee lap s
to finis h fo u r th , fo llowed b y Co le m an a nd
Aa ro n Dieter.
In the m ain ev ent of the 250cc Pr o-Expe rt
class, Coen pulled th e ho leshot ag ain, followed
by Oehlhof and Carsten wa s aga in at th e back
of the pack - but not for very lon g, as he moved
u p to third by the halfway point. Oehlhof blockpassed Coen and wen t on to win, an d Carsten
cau ght up to Coen w ith only a few laps fo go
a n d m ad e th e p ass to fi ni s h se co nd beh ind
Oehlhof with Coe n, Dieter and Casey Higgins
behind them.
. In th e 80cc cla ss, local favorite Bob Kiniry
continued to d om inate his class, eas ily winning
the heat and the main eve nt aga in. In th e 50cc
class , Ryan Blizzard won the heat and the main
event. He also finished sixth in the 60cc class.
Matt Morgan wo n the 125cc Ama teu r class, and
Matt Alle n wo n the 250cc Amateur class; both
placed first in their heats and in the ma in events .
Results
50: 1. Ryan Blizza rd (Cob); 2. Mdtt Guilfoi l (Cob); 3. NM:hoL'ls
Mc~ (Cob);
4. Colton Ha rrison ( K'TM); 5. John Verga lito (Cob>'
60: 1. Chad Dunning ( Kaw); 2. Scott SeanJ ( Kaw); 3. Jason
MM:Md ()(a w ); 4. Jeff Swarthout (K.1.w ); 5. Ry.n Bhzurd (K.iw)'
80: 1. Bob Kiniry (1<.lw) ; 2. Cody Du nni ng tKa w); 3. Jason
DoyiC' (Yam); 4. Scott 5t'a nJ (K. w); 5. Fra nk Joh n Bums (K.aw).
125 BEG: 1. Nick. D'Ambrosia (Kaw); 2 Jeff Whaley (Suz:) 3.
;
Justi n Smith (Suz); 4. Kl"VinJenks (Kaw) ; 5. Mil«- Dividson (Ydm).
125 NOV : 1. Dani el Phillips. O'a m); 2. Bobby Butlt"l" (Kaw); 3.
T.J BeD (J(aw); 4. Josh Utberg (K.1w); 5 Milton Duffy (Suz).
125 AM: 1. Matt Morgan (Suz); 2. Mike Aym (Suz); 3. Jack
Carpentt"l" (1rCTI¥1); 4. Jordan JMk. ;o (fi on ); 5. Josh Bam har1 (J(aw) .
o n
125 EX: 1. Joe Oehlhof (K'TM); 2 Ca rlo Coen (Yam) ; 3. Barry
Canren tSuz>; 4. Chris Co lema n (Hon );5. Aaron Dit't et' (Suz).
250 BEG: 1. Rodger White (y am): 2 Michael No rams (Suz); 3.
. Ja nod Dudek (Hon ); 4. Greg ory Btocott~ (Yam) .
250·NOV ; I. JaTnC'li DiSalvo (~w ); 2. Jdf MedUc k (Y.m); 3.
Mikt>Kna pp (Kaw); 4. Th oma s Britz ke (Yam); S. Ga ry Delahunt
(Kaw ).
1t."n
250 AM: 1. Mat A1 (Kaw); 2 Bryan Vro man (Hon) ; 3. Sean
O'umnor (5uz) ; 4. Jacob Denn~ (Kaw ); 5. Marlin Houston (Yam) .
250 EX: 1. Joe Oe hlhof (KTM); 2 fu rry Ca rllten (Suz ); 3. Ca rlo
Com (Yam); 4. Aaron Dieter