Since 1998 Champion Speedway has hosted the “Hurricane” Hank Bassett Cup, honoring the 4-time track Champion who courageously battled MS for years before passing away just a few years back and it is always an important event for today’s riders. June 25 was the date for this season’s event and the skies were clear and the weather hot!
The first handicap heat of the night was an exciting matchup between former track champions, Spencer Portararo and Casey Donholt. Donholt was coming back from a long layoff, not having raced since early in 2021. They both rode well, with Portararo coming out on top.
The semis would provide some great racing! Trenton Lane would do a nice job in the first semi to advance along with Portararo and Donholt to the Main. The current track champion, Len McBride, would come off the 50 yard line in the second semifinal and would put six nice laps together to also transfer to the feature along with rookie Levi “The Hornet” Harris and Mike Cortese Jr., two younger riders who are getting better and better each week.
Portararo would pick off the riders ahead of him during the six lap Main on his Justice Bros / Harman Boyz / Arai Helmets GM to take the win with Harris holding a good line from low yardage to hang onto 2nd. Cortese rode the inside line for a strong 3rd, with McBride moving through to 4th and Lane and Donholt 5th and 6th overall.
The “Red Rooster” Brian McManamon rode his Belog and Sons Produce GM to the checkers in the D-2 feature while “Rayzor” Ray Schweiger, from Candor, made a great last corner pass on Rochester’s Chloe Schnurr to win D-3!
The scratch portion of the program was for the Hank Bassett Cup and the majority of the payoff, and many expected a battle of the top four riders on the card consisting of Portararo, Donholt, McBride and 5-time track Champion Adam “The Missile” Mittl, who missed his handicap heat but had been rounding back into form the past few weeks after missing last year.
Mittl and Donholt were both fast in their semi, with Donholt taking the win and both transferring the final. Portararo won the other semi with McBride gaining the second spot in the Main. Cortese would have to come through the hard way with a victory in the last chance qualifier.
Mittl would come from the gate one slot in the Main Event, which in recent years has not been the favored gate as the outside line at Champion has been so strong. Mittl used it to his advantage though as he rocketed off the line into the lead on his Scotts Headers / Justice Brothers / Arai / TANKS AUTO Jawa. He put together four perfect full throttle laps to take his 4th Bassett Cup Championship despite the hard-charging efforts of Portararo, who would finish second ahead of Donholt, McBride and Cortese, in that order!
The next event at Champion Speedway will be July 16 at 7 p.m. Visit www.eastcoastspeedway.com to learn more.
The following are the Hurricane Hank Bassett Cup Champion Speedway Results:
1. Adam Mittl, 2. Spencer Portararo, 3. Casey Donholt, 4. Len McBride, 5. Mike Cortese Jr.
Handicap Main: 1. Spencer Portararo, 2. Levi Harris, 3. Mike Cortese Jr., 4. Len McBride, 5. Trenton Lane, 6. Casey Donholt.
D-2: 1. Red Rooster Brian McManamon, 2. Dana Marsh, 3. Zach Ostrander, 4. Tony Terenzi.
D-3: 1. Ray Schweiger, 2. Chloe Schnurr, 3. Alexis Heath, 4. Adam Mittl Jr., 5. Scott Vargo.
JR: 1. Joel Farwell, 2. Cody Pierce, 3. MaColey Saunders, 4. Lilly Cornell, 5. Gracie Bailey, 6. Jenson Pierce.
Trikes: 1. Paulie Crambo, 2. Jordan Taft, 3. Aaron Vogel, 4. Justin Vogel.
Dirt Bikes: 1. MaColey Saunders, 2. Lilly Cornell, 3. Dakota Pierce, 4. Kabriel Howard.
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