One of the most prestigious events in North America for speedway motorcycle racing, The King of Speedway National Championships, is set to come to local tracks, Action Park in Greene, NY  and Champion Speedway in Owego, NY on  August 30th and 31st.

The King of Speedway National Championship originated at Champion Speedway back in 2001 when promoter, professional hockey player, Jason Bonsignore of Rochester, NY, decided to bring out 12 West Coast Stars from California to take on the top racers from the East and paid a $12,000.00 purse for the event. At the time that purse was actually larger than what the AMA sanctioned US National Championship in Auburn, Ca paid.

Bonsignore has not run the King of Speedway since then due to the enormous cost of putting on the series but has run a smaller version of it, known as the US Open Championships, each year with good success. Champion Speedway is also the original home of the US Open which started in 1976 and attracted big name racers from all over the country and huge crowds for several years until the track closed in 1986 due to ownership problems. With it's closure, Action Park East in Greene, NY, another upstart Speedway racing track that was getting large crowds as well, took over the running of the US Open until 1989 when it closed its doors.

Around this time Champion Speedway re-opened for a couple years until 1993 and tried running several Championships but it did not have the financial backing to lure top name stars to make the race what it once was. Champion closed for a second time in 93 and did not host racing again until 1997 when Bonsignore took over. Bonsignore brought back the first real US Open in nearly ten years in 1998 when he flew in 5 big name West Coast racers and paid a large purse. The event started to become a big success again, in 2000 the crowd at Champion had risen to over 1,200 again, and Champion Speedway has changed it to involve other tracks the past few years, including Action Park East, which Bonsignore also renovated and got going again.

Crowds and rider turnout at Action Park and Champion are at their highest point in five years and the sport is becoming the talk of the town again all of the sudden. Things have gone so well this year that Bonsignore has decided to bring back the King of Speedway Championships. Four weeks ago at Champion, there were exactly 70 entries for the US Open Finals and the crowd was so large that the concession stand ran out of food by halftime.

This years King of Speedway Nationals will consist of three rounds...Friday August 29th at Batavia Motor Speedway in Batavia, NY, Saturday, August 30th at Action Park in Greene and Sunday August 31st at Champion Speedway in Owego.

Bonsignore has four International stars on the program already with possibly a few more planned. The defending and three-time US Open Champion, Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell, of Brea, California is back. McConnell rode in the World Class British League in England for years and now rides at home in California and is a Hollywood stunt-man having been in such notable movies as Terminator Three.

Joining McConnell on the visitors list is the 1998 US National Champion and currently the top rider in Northern, CA, Bart Bast. Tommy Hedden of Auburn, CA, another top US racer who just returned from representing the US team in World Team Cup Competition in Hungary two months ago, will also be on hand and negotiations are underway to bring 24 year old, Shaun Harmatiuk of Garden Grove, California, who just served on Team USA in the World Cup during a stint in Britain, along with 2003 US National Champion, Scott Brant, of Riverside, CA and former World Team Cup Champion, Grand Prix rider and World Individual number 9, Josh Larsen, of Costa Mesa, CA.

Local fans will have a lot to cheer about as Bonsignore has talked several local legends out of retirement to make for an incredible show for the fans...leading the way are 6-time NY State Champion, Warren Diem, who now resides in PA, and super brother act, multi-time local champions, Tuff and Lenny McBride of Windsor. A  strong local contingent of up and coming riders may also give the visitors a run for their money. Included in this group would be Adam Mittl of Endicott and Mikey Buman of Binghamton who have both won features so far this year.

Speedway motorcycles have absolutely no brakes, go from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds and slide totally sideways through the turns. They run on methanol and the sport attracts crowds of 20,00 plus for weekly meetings in Europe. There are only several pockets of speedway in the US and New York is recognized as one of the best, second only to California.

The Speedway action gets underway at 7pm on the 30th at Action Park, which is just off Rt 12 at Airport Rd in Greene and at 6pm on the 31st at Champion which is on East River Drive at the end of RT 434 in Owego. ATV and Support Class racing will start one hour prior at both venues. Tickets are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for kids ages 6 to 12 for this special event, however if you attend both local tracks discounts will be offered with the purchase of your tickets at Action Park.

Monday the 1st of September will serve as a rain-date at either venue should one get rained off.

More info can be found by going to www.jbrspeedway.com or www.speedwaybikes.com.