Champion Speedway
344 East River Drive
Owego, New York 13827
Danny Moonbeam Fallon / New York State Championship Round 2
Champion Speedway, Owego, NY
August 21, 2021
By Jason Bonsignore
L-R Spencer Portararo, Len McBride, Brian Hollenbeck and Jason Bonsignore
Photo by Jessica Warke
Portararo Takes New York State Speedway Championship
The 2021 New York State Speedway Championship was contested over two rounds and named in honor of Danny "Moonbeam" Fallon, a larger than life character who graced East Coast Speedway as a rider, announcer, friend, coach and ambassador for 40 years before passing away of lung transplant complications two years ago.
Round One was Friday night August 20th at Action Park East and "Sideway" Spencer Portararo dominated the evening sweeping every event including a special Handicap Main the riders ran at the end for the crowd. Portararo rode his Justice Bros/Tanks Auto/Harman Boyz/Scotts Headers/Walter Earth Co/Sammy Tanner Arai sponsored GM to perfection! His teammate, Len McBride, would follow him home to second in the Scratch Main with Jesse Diem 3rd and Alex "Hazard" Heath 4th.
Round Two was at Champion Speedway on Saturday evening and the race track was soft and challenging from the previous night's hard rain. The track was scraped twice and the poles moved out considerably and the riders put on a good show.
McBride was a favorite as he won all is heats and looked to be the fastest guy using a 22inch rear wheel. Portararo was still fast but had to change to a borrowed bike towards the end and was a bit slower. Brian Hollenbeck and Mike Cortese also got transfers out of the semifinals to make a nice feature lineup.
The tapes were a bit fast to go up in the Main and McBride was not ready and got caught out. Hollenbeck made a great start and Portararo was in pursuit but just could not quite catch the smooth running Hollenbeck as he sped away to the Scratch Main Event victory! It was a great win for him as he was coming back off a serious leg injury last season. He showed a lot of character to battle back to the top of his game!
With a 1st and a 2nd overall Portararo would be named New York State Champion. McBride ended up 2nd overall.
The East Coast now prepares itself to host, for the first time ever, The AMA Speedway National Championship Series, Sept 4th at Action Park East in Greene, and Sept 5th at Champion Speedway.
The best riders in the Country will be here, led by current, and 10-time AMA US National Champion, Billy Janniro!
Results
Division 1
1. Brian Hollenbeck
2. Spencer Portararo
3. Len McBride
4. Mike Cortese Jr.
Division 2
1. Jerry Harman III
2. Levi Harris
3. Dana Marsh
4. Neil Miller
Division 3
1. Scott Vargo
2. Zachary Ostrander
3. Alexis Pearl Heath
4. Ray Schweiger DNS
Junior
1. Joel Farwell
2. Cody Pierce
3. Dalton Marsh
4. Gracie Bailey
(New York State Championship Round 1)
Overall New York State Champions
Division 1
1. Spencer Portararo
Division 2
1. Levi Harris
Division 3
1. Zachary Ostrander
Junior
1. Joel Farwell
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