American Speedway
American Speedway: Donholt dominates Action Park.
By Admin
Jul 25, 2008, 19:34

Action Park East in Greene had tried switching its races to some Friday nights this year  but it didn't seem to be catching on, although the weather for the few Friday races was terrible.

On July 12 however, Action Park held a Saturday race that they had done some advertising for and it produced the biggest spectator crowd of the year and over 60 participants!

In the first round of handicap racing it began with Josh Carr taking home a win over Adam "Missile" Mittl, who was second and Shawn "Steamboat"Engel, who took third and a transfer spot. Rounding it out was Jesse Diem and Cole Farwell. In the next outing it was Lenny McBride who motored his way from the 50 yard line to take the first place with Stefan Laessig and Tim Murray in second and third. Unfortunately, multi-time NYS Champion, Warren Diem, suffered bike problems while in second and finished out of contention. Rick Sherwood took control of his heat race for a win and direct transfer, followed by Casey Donholt and Tuff McBride who were close behind. Closing out the heats were Mikey Buman, Aaron Hesmer and Dave Clark in that order.

When the semis for the handicap portion of the program began, it was big time racing and no winners could be easily picked. In the first one, Carr again rode very smoothly from the 20 yard line to be the first to the checkered flag. He was pressured all the way by Tuff and Lenny McBride who took the final Main event positions. Donholt was fourth, Clark fifth and Murray last. In the last semi it was Buman who won for the second time with Mittl in second and Hesmer in third. Sherwood was fourth with Engel fifth and Laessig last.

In scratch heat competition, Mittl won the first race over Lenny McBride as the two put on a great display of close racing. Taking third was Russ Cornell and Carr was fourth. Hesmer won his heat ride by holding off Donholt with young Corey Brookes in third. Buman was able to take another win when he outgatedand won from Dave Clark. Tuff McBride finished up the heats with a 3 point haul over Warren Diem, with Laessig back in third.

In the opening semifinal for scratch racing, Donholt roared into the lead off the gate and Tuff McBride was in hot pursuit. The two could not be matched as the grabbed the two Main event spots ahead of Mittl and Clark, who would go to the last chance. Warren Diem got back into a groove in the second semifinal when he made an excellent start and became the first to beat Buman all night. Buman still was second followed by Lenny McBride and in last, Aaron Hesmer.

Lenny McBride was not to be denied in the last chance. He rode to a determined victory with Adam Mittl trying everything he could to get past but to no avail. Mittl was strong enough to stay in second while Hesmer was back in third and Clark at the tail.

Shawn Engel finally got back into the winners circle in the Support A finale. He lead from start to finish over Cole Farwell and Tim Murray and that was your top three.

On turn 4 of lap 3 of the Handicap Main, Josh Carr was on top of the world and hoping for his first win of the year but he hit a rough spot and got out to the wall which left the McBride brothers to have to do a split to avoid him and this enabled Hesmer to squirt through into the lead, a lead he would not give up as he cruised to his first ever handicap feature win!  Adam Mittl also moved up the ladder in the same corner and rode off with second overall while Lenny was third, Buman fourth and Tuff fifth with Carr sixth.

In the scratch final it was all Donholt as he simply made a good start off the inside line and could not be caught up to as he piloted the Holden's disposal JAWA machine to a win with Warren Diem ending up second. Tuff McBride nailed third place with Buman in fourth and Lenny McBride tiring at the back after a long night of racing!