Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128116
AMA King of U. S. Speedway Champion Speedway Watson. Overseeing the proceedings was former SoCal speedway star Steve Lucero, whom Bonsignore brought in as referee. Round one of the two-day, allscratch-racing affair saw the Champion track come up bone dry and dusty. The surface soon evolved into a one-line proposition, a state of affairs that would persist through round two on the following night. Both Hedden and Faria repeatedly tried the outside in their heat races, but found no success. Despite early problems with his primary chain and engine, Hedden was particularly impressive at Owego, riding creative lines with controlled aggression. He diced it up with Manchester in an early heat that brought the crowd to its feet. Oxley (riding a vintage Weslake) immediately adapted to the low line, (Left) Runner-up Josh Larsen (left) and third-placed John Cook (right) celebrate atop the podium with new King of U.S. SpeecIw;Iy Gary Hicks, who came out on top of the two-day event at Champion Speedway in Owego, New York. (Below) Hicks (left) handles the microphone, while Champion speedway owner/promoter/rider Jason Bonsignore (right) listens In. The King of U.S. Speedway is a race that Bonsignore hopes will grow into a National Championship-level event in the future. STORY AND PHOTOS BY IAN C. BLAIR OWEGO, NY, JULY 20-21 el Brooks was right: It's good to be king. Just ask "Gorgeous" Gary Hicks, the newly-crowned AMA King of U.S. Speedway. Coming on the heels of his recent Milne Cup win at Costa Mesa, Hicks ascended to the speedway throne by besting an All-Star field of 11 other West Coast riders and eight top East Coast racers at Champion Speedway. The brainchild of Champion owner/promoter Jason Bonsignore, the AMA King of U.S. Speedway series tilted the scales with a hefty $12,000 purse, making it the richest event in North American Speedway in 2001. M 40 AUGUST 8, 2001 • cue I e It may also be the trial horse for a much-anticipated U.S. Grand Prix series, with stops in Costa Mesa, California, Auburn, California, and Owego, New York. Joining Hicks on the West Coast side were Josh Larsen, Brad Oxley, Shawn McConnell, Mike Faria, Bobby Schwartz, Randy DiFrancesco, Cha.rles "Dukie" Ermolenko, Ryan Fisher, Bobby Hedden, John Cook and Chris Manchester. California support rider Mark Hitchcock also made the trip. Defending the local turf were New Yorkers Craig Lane, Craig Estelle, Jason Bonsignore, Gene Bonsignore, Cam Rafferty, George Lazor, Tom Sephton and Pennsylvania's Frank n e _ s (Right) One of the most veteran riders to be found on a speedway bike anywhere in the worid, Cook was impressive, coming through the LCQ to make the main on Saturday, where he finished third. while Hicks and Larsen were finishing either first or second in just about everyone of their heats, securing their respective slots in the round-one main event. The locals had all they could handle and then some. Sephton stayed in the hunt by scoring a heat win against Larsen, Lazor and Estelle; Lazor also tallied a pair of seconds over the course of his four heats in round one. Jason Bonsignore took a solid second in an early heat against Oxley, Hedden and Lane. Lane, a relative newcomer to speedway, wasn't intimidated by the West Coast wonder boys and did his best to defend local pride with a pit bull performance to nail down second, behind Schwartz, in his first heat race of the night. Over the course of Friday evening's action, it was clear that the Champion Speedway crowd had adopted California's Fisher as an honorary New Yorker. The 16-yearold from Norco showed the exuberance and natural talent that has made him one of American speedway's brightest young stars. The round-one semis sent Fisher, Larsen, Hicks, Oxley a~d Ermolenko into the Friday-evening final. Larsen cut a rocket-sled gate and was gone, protecting his lead on the one-line groove and rolling to a wire-to-wire win. Hicks finished second, with Ermolenko third, Oxley fourth and Fisher fifth. The capacity crowd that filled Champion for round two on Saturday night was greeted by a much wetter track, but the single-groove gremlin couldn't be exorcised. Outside racing lines were nonexistent, overtaking was rare and the name of the game was cut the best gate, drive for the holeshot, and then defend the inside line in a processional race. Second-round heat highlights included Hedden valiantly trying every line possible in an attempt to get around Schwartz, and Oxley rubbing