"Rocket" Robin Wilt is the latest to sign on for both nights at Greene and Champion Speedway May 24th and 25th. We are nearing 40 Speedway signups already for both nights. The deadline to signup is this Sat so please act quickly. May 24th will be the Southern Tier Spring Classic at Action Park and May 25th will be the Hank Bassett Cup at Champion Speedway.

Eastern Speedway Promotions easternspeedwayprom@hotmail.com

Paul Szmal will be the new voice of Action Park East and Champion Speedway! Paul announced for us about 5 years ago and did an excellent job but shortly after had to move out of State. Well, he is back in NY now and called me and wants to be back in Speedway!

Paul has previous commitments for most Saturday nights at Fonda Speedway but will be at all of the Friday Night races at Greene and will be handling all of the Sunday dates at Oswego plus one or two Saturday nights. Basically he will announce about 80% of this years events and will be doing the Sunday races at Empire Speedway should that project come together. Paul actually got his announcing start at Empire, right out of college, in 1986 and loves speedway.

It is hoped that last years announcer, Dirt Track Doug Anderson, who did a fine job, will become the official video person at the races working for us and the Race Report TV show which we will be featured on weekly.

Here is some background on Paul.

Started working as an announcer at Empire Speedway 1986. Has worked at various speedways in the Northeast and Midwest for 20 plus years as announcer/PR person/event director. Has announced selected events in the past at Action Park and Champion Speedway

Has been a radio personality since 1988 in the Northeast and Midwest. He was pit reporter for the 'Rush Hour on Dirt' TV series in the late 90's and also worked on the nationally syndicated TV show 'This week in Dirt' Also works for Rock Maple Racing announcing snowcross and quad events. Is the official announcer of Fonda Speedway. Currently is afternoon drive personality on WOUR 96.9 FM in Utica, NY.

Eastern Speedway Promotions easternspeedwayprom@hotmail.com

Division One is already nearly full for opening weekend in the Southern Tier on May 24th at Action Park East and May 25th at Champion Speedway. If we get a few more, we may go to a 20 rider program. Tom Burge, Jeremy Parsons and Craig Estelle have all said they will be riding this year but may not make opening weekend. There are also another 4-5 Support Class racers who are getting money together for bikes. Opening night at Greene will be the Southern Tier Spring Classic and opening night at Champion Speedway is going to be the Hank Bassett Cup Championship.

Already signed up...

#2 Adam Mittl
#4 Warren Diem
#4J Jesse Diem
#5 Mikey Buman
#24 Russ Cornell
#64 Gene Bonsignore
#71 Len McBride
#72 Tuff McBride
#97 Casey Donholt
#110 Jon Stasiefski
#171 Brian Hollenbeck
#196 Alex Heath
#277 Keith Hawkins
#468 Josh Carr

#60 Dave Clark
Ray Barondick
Andy Crawford
#17 Katalin Davis
#24d Dee Holden
#85 Donny Page
Corey Brookes
#8 Bob Bruzek
Stefan Laessig
#80 Mark Bradley
Jeff Garlinghouse
#96 Jim Hass
Ed Peters
Tracy Dean
Vinnie Oliver
Roger Roberts - Junior
Zach Peters - Junior

The response so far this year has been awesome. There is just so much good stuff happening it is hard to talk about it all in an email but here is a quick breakdown of some of the things being done at the tracks, another email will go out soon to talk about promotional items and improvements to the program...

ACTION PARK ... The Trackside Lounge is re-opening and has a brand new roof. Tim Mathewson has been hard at work grooming the track surface and we are trying to get some more clay to help make the corners even nicer. The walls are getting freshly painted, the score tower is getting painted, thanks to Dale Holden, the property is undergoing a huge cleanup this Sunday with all the garbage and debris being removed, the motocross practice track is going to get groomed and will be available for limited use. The rider field is going to be much larger this year and the races, except for a few Sat specials are moving to Friday Nights. A supermoto/TT track is being added for the ATV's and Youth and adult dirt bikes. We are also hopeful to add a BMX track in the next couple weeks so long as the material can be found on site.

BATAVIA ... The walls have all been freshly painted at Batavia and the track is in the process of being made larger for the flat track and ATV guys, the speedway track will remain the same size. A general grounds cleanup has been completed. It appears there will be a very good speedway turnout for the opener. We may do some bleacher improvements there after the season gets going.

CHAMPION SPEEDWAY...The crumpled up bleachers out in the parking lot are being removed. A TT track has already been added. Improvements are being made to the PA system and track lighting. The BMX track will be open in the next week or so and the motocross track is already open. A starting gate has been added to the moto track. The purse for speedway nights has already been increased for 5 of the 8 regular events.

More great news on the East Coast...The well-known, and enjoyed, Trackside Lounge bar at Action Park is set to re-open as the Ramblin Pig at the Trackside Lounge. The Ramblin Pig, a very well-known Southern Style BBQ in Conklin, NY is moving its operation to Action Park as of May 1st. The lease was signed yesterday and everywhere you go in the Binghamton area you hear nothing but great things about the Ramblin Pig.

There is already a lot of excitement in the Town of Greene over this. The plan is to have the Trackside re-opened by opening weekend, May 24th, hopefully. Obviously the new alcohol license will not be done by then but the Action Park concession stand is renewing its beer license and will be selling beer that people can take over to the Lounge to enjoy their food with and the place will keep bars hours the first race night so that everyone can hang out and have a great time. Good news for speedway fans is that the bar will continue to keep a speedway related theme with speedway pictures hanging and race videos being played after conclusion of the Main Events. The Trackside will be going back to being a first class establishment like it was the way back when it first was opened in 2002 and this news will be a huge boost to the races at Action Park.

The tentative plan as of now for this weekend coming up is to have a work day at Champion on Sat followed by a late afternoon practice. Sunday will be a work day at Action Park but there will be no riding Sunday. There was a great response on Sunday at Champion, may have even picked up two more new riders over the weekend and there were three new Quad riders there. Thanks to everyone who paid for their licenses which went very smoothly. Those of you who did not sign up for your licenses can do so this Saturday as well.

Eastern Speedway Promotions easternspeedwayprom@hotmail.com

Wednesday April 16, 2008

I Spoke with 1987 US Open Champion, Tom Burge, yesterday and he indicated that he will be joining the list of Eastern stars making comebacks this year! He also said his daughter may try junior speedway! This is more great news for the NY scene! Burge has been a longtime standout rider and won the 1987 US Open at Action Park and finished second overall in 2005 before retiring. Burge joins Lenny McBride, Warren Diem, Jeremy Parsons and Craig Estelle as top D-1 riders who have announced they are coming back to racing. Jim Hass, Shawn Engel and Joe Greene have said they will be returning from long layoffs in Support racing and Dave Clark has bought a new bike to make a full-time return with. Bob Bruzek has signed up for opening night. The racing is going to be first class in NY this year! Now, will Tommy Sephton comeback??? George Lazor??? Stay tuned!

I have had many people asking me what we plan to do with the US Open this year after news leaked of USA Speedway/AMA now planning to schedule a Round of the AMA National over us. To answer the question for people .regardless of them scheduling over us, which unfortunately will likely mean our plan to bring Billy Hamill out will not be possible for this year, which is understandable, I still plan to keep our intended dates of July 24-27. I think the event is still going to be great and I can't believe the interest it is attracting this year. Even with the schedule conflict I have already had interest from Shawn McConnell, Josh Larsen, Dukie Ermolenko, Eddie Castro, Phil Collins (Wow), Jon Stasiefski, Devin DeFreece, JT Mabry, Rick Valdez and I even had a call the other day from former 2-time US National Champion, "Rad" Brad Oxley, saying he wants to come out retirement for the event! It should be some great racing! As soon as venues are confirmed we will release more info. As of now, Rounds will take place at Action Park East and Champion Speedway for sure.

Eastern Speedway Promotions easternspeedwayprom@hotmail.com

Thursday April 10, 2008

Former East Coast Points Champion, Jeremy "Dark Horse" Parsons, has confirmed he will be making a comeback to Speedway this year at Action Park East for most of Friday dates.

Craig Estelle has also confirmed a comeback to speedway for 2008 and will target most of the Champion Speedway dates and possibly some at Action Park East.

We have also received calls from popular Support Class riders. Shawn "Steamboat" Engel, Joe "Pig Farmer" Greene and Jim Hass, who all said they are working to put programs together that will see them back on track as well.

Sounds like we are going to have a great field of riders this season. Should be quite the show! Jason

I would like to thank the Holden family and Holden's disposal who have kindly offered to be the official garbage sponsor of Action Park Speedway for 2008!

Many thanks, this is a huge help for us this season!

Jason

Monday March 31, 2008

We would like to thank former Champion Speedway Promoter, Walt Stephens, and the Skylark Diner in Vestal, NY, for their contribution of $250.00 as a Champion Speedway purse increase sponsor for 2008!

If your in Vestal, stop in to the Skylark for some of the best food in the Southern Tier!

Only 4 more sponsors needed to meet our minimum goal for increased purse at Champion for this season.

Thanks,
Jason

Friday March 21, 2008

I would like to say a very sincere thank you to Martin Barondick and Family from Lebanon, PA, who are the latest to be added as Champion Speedway purse sponsors for the 2008 season.

Martin's son, Ray,enjoyed a fine first year last season as one of the hottest rookies on the Eastern Speedway scene. The Barondick's are great people and have stepped into the sport in a big way having purchased two bikes, including a brand new JRM, and are very dedicated, making the long trip to Owego and Greene almost every race in 2007.

Ray was well on his way to the D-1ranksbefore a broken shoulder ended his year early.

They are a pleasure to have involved and their latest sponsor gesture is greatly appreciated.

Only 5 more sponsors needed to meet our initial purse increase at Champion Speedway! Things are shaping up for a big year in NY.

Thanks Jason

Friday March 21, 2008

East Coast Speedway Racer, Stefan Laessig, and his ALL BALLS Racing Company, producers of motorcycle bearing kits and components, has signed on as the presenting sponsor of Champion Speedway for 2008 by committing a large amount of support to our advertising budget!

This help is huge and allows us to have a strong advertising campaign with repetition for all 2008 events. This gives us a much larger budget than what we have had to work with for the past three years. Thank you very much to Stefan and ALL BALLS!!!

For more info on ALL BALLS products and services, please go to www.allballsracing.com.

Thanks Jason

Thursday March 20, 2008

I just want to say a very sincere thank you to "Jammin" Jeff Garlinghouse, his wife, Kim, and Jeff's father, as they have signed up as our first $250.00 nightly purse sponsors at Champion Speedway for 2008.

Jeff and Kim will be sponsoring one night and Jeff's father will be sponsoring another night. This is a huge help and we can't thank them enough!

Jeff is entering his second full year in Speedway after doing very well in his rookie season! He is picking it up quickly and has caught the bug hard...he has purchased two really nice laydowns and a brand new NJK suit! He is a true enthusiast and is doing it with class!

We salute you "Jammin" Jeff! On behalf of Champion Speedway and the riders the money will be going to, thank you!!! Now we just need 6 more nightly sponsors to reach our min purse goal at Champion for the season.

Thanks Jason

May 25 SUNDAY
May 31
June 14
June 29 SUNDAY
July 27 SUNDAY US Open Championship Final
August 9
August 23
August 31 SUNDAY

We have several junior bikes completed and are looking for kids who are interested in riding speedway on the East Coast. The bikes may be available for rent or sale and any parents with interested kids please contact me. We have three kids with bikes already and want to build up the program of juniors for this season.

Jason 585 723-9746

Champion Speedway is seeking nightly sponsors of $250.00 for our 2008 events. The goal is to sell each night of racing to different
businesses or private supporters and put the money directly into each evenings Division One purse. This money is to go straight to the riders. In
return for the $250.00, the sponsor will get... included in all advertising for that event (we will be doing a good sized radio and newspaper schedule for the week leading up to each race)

If anyone would be interested in helping or knows of people who would be, we would be very appreciative! This is strictly an effort to increase purse for the riders!

Thanks!
Jason 585 723-9746

McBride retired in 2000 but returned for half a season in 2005 and won a Scratch Main at Champion Speedway but had to end his year with work commitments. The pair produced some of the best racing seen anywhere in the late 90's when they would go head to head in a rivalry for the top of the throne and they will be a great addition to a very exciting program for this summer. Another multi-time East Champion is also mulling over a return presently and his addition to the talent pool could make things even more interesting. Several more exciting announcements will be coming in the near future.