Action Park and Champion Speedway set to host 1st Annual Red Bull Energy Drink NY State Indoor Speedway Motorcycle and ATV Championships April 10/11 at the Chenango Ice Rink.

Well-known local racetracks, Action Park East in Greene and Champion Speedway in Owego, will be hosting an indoor ice racing spectacular for the first time ever at the Chenango ice rink, on the standard size hockey arena surface, April 10 and 11.

The event will be supported by Red Bull Energy drink and will serve as The New York State Championships on ice for Speedway motorcycle racing and ATV's. This will mark the first time a State Ice Championship has been held since 1976 at the Syracuse Arena and the only time an indoor event has been hosted locally since 1979 when a large audience witnessed racing at the Broome Arena. Just several weeks ago an outside touring event consisting of the same show came to Elmira's First Arena for two nights and the show sold out with capacity crowds of 4,000 both evenings.

Ironically, the promoter of the events at the Chenango Ice Rink, Jason Bonsignore of Rochester, who owns Action Park and Champion Speedway, is a former professional NHL hockey player and will now be bringing his latest venture to the hockey ice!

The Speedway motorcycles and ATV's that will feature in these programs have over 1,000 razor sharp silver screws in each tire! The Speedway machines have absolutely no brakes, run on methanol, are capable of going from 0 to 60mph in less than 3 seconds and will be sliding totally sideways through the corners. The ATV races will culminate in an insane Main event each night where there will be 6 riders at once in the extremely tight confines and there will be sure to be plenty of bumping and passing. 

Riders will be coming in from as far away as North Carolina and California to compete in the two night Championships that will also feature a full field of our local best. Headlining the Professional Speedway Division from out of State will be 3-Time US Open Speedway Champion on dirt and current Ice Racing star, Shawn "Mad Dog" McConnell of Brea, CA and experienced ice veteran "Rockstar" Ronnie Kemp of Charlotte, NC. McConnell won the Elmira races and is also a Hollywood stuntman who has appeared in such films as Terminator 3. They will face tough challenges locally as current NY State dirt Title holders, Adam Mittl of Endicott and Gene Bonsignore of Rochester are expected to compete along with speedway legend, Tuff McBride of Windsor, former track Champion at Action Park, Casey Donholt, flat-track Champion Craig Estelle of Windsor, 15 year old sensation, Corey Brookes of Apalachin and a host of others. Dan Hawk of Binghamton, who finished second in the Pro ATV class in Elmira is an early favorite on four wheels along with long-time star, Dave Kent of PA and former State Champion, Ed Reilly of Apalachin. Dave Dent of Rochester, who won the Canadian Points and Batavia Track Championships in recent years may also compete plus a strong contigent of other racers from the tri-cities area.

Bonsignore hopes to make this an annual listing on the calendar each year and plans to add events at the Broome County Arena next year. The popular summer dirt seasons at Action Park and Champion Speedway, which attracted thousands of fans weekly in the 70's and 80's and is making a big comeback in recent seasons, begin May 17 in Owego with a Sunday special and on May, 23 at Action Park. Action Park will race one Saturday each month and Champion will race weekly, mostly on Saturdays with some Sunday specials. BMX and night-time motocross racing are also planed at Champion Speedway this summer and the track is hopeful to add a concrete oval go-kart fun track as well.

Start times for the ice races April 10th and 11th will be 7:30 pm both nights although the Friday show may be delayed slightly closer to 8pm to allow time for people traveling from work to get there.  Gates will open at 6pm. Ticket prices will be $13.00 on Friday and $15.00 on Saturday. Special seating inside the bar and restaurant at the end of the arena will be available for more. Tickets will be available at the arena the nights of the races but seating is limited so fans are encouraged to purchase in advance. More info can also be found  at www.chenangoicerink.com or www.eastcoastspeedway.com