Airborne Park Speedway

Lussier takes fourth win, Poirier wins SCoNE thriller; Capacity crowd treated to packed show at Airborne Park

8/12/2024

Airborne Park Speedway

Lussier takes fourth win, Poirier wins SCoNE thriller; Capacity crowd treated to packed show at Airborne Park

PLATTSBURGH, NY. -- What seemed like weeks of rain finally subsided long enough for Airborne Park Speedway to race on Saturday, August 10, despite an initially dismal forecast. The weather turned for the better throughout the week, and by 6PM on race day, the weather was nearly perfect, inviting a near-standing-room-only crowd to enjoy a great night of racing, headlined by the J&S Steel Sportsman and the McGee Automotive Family Sprint Cars of New England.

The race was presented by SeaComm Federal Credit Union and Liquor and Wine Warehouse, who, with the aid of several drivers, collected money for the make-a-wish foundation at intermission and gave away six bicycles to youngsters in attendance.

After an intermission period to re-groom the racing surface and provide the best possible racing entertainment, the J&S Steel Sportsman rolled out for a 35-lap, $1,500-to-win feature. Vince Quenneville, Jr. and Raphael Gougeon led the 30-car field to the green flag, with Gougeon taking the early lead in his first Airborne Park appearance. Joey Scarborough started 3rd and quickly made his way forward, bringing Travis Bruno with him towards the front. The first 27 laps were run under green flag conditions, with Gougeon lapping a number of cars on the outside lane of the ultra-fast racing surface. A misplaced infield tire drew the yellow on the 27th circuit, just as Scarborough began to close in on Gougeon in lapped traffic.

Two laps after the restart, Donovan Lussier slid up past Scarborough to take the 2nd position and track down Gougeon, which he did on lap 33. Lussier was better than Gougeon by a considerable margin in turns three and four, but Gougeon was slightly better in one and two. Lussier fired a slide-job at Gougeon in three and four, and Gougeon crossed him over on the front. Lussier went low to defend a return slider in one and two and drove away with the win. Gougeon was 2nd and Travis Bruno was 3rd.

Following the sportsman, the sprint cars made their only appearance at Airborne Park in 2024 a memorable one. Jason Goff and Tyler Chartrand had the front row by virtue of SCoNE’s unique, handicapping format for feature lineups. Chartrand’s 305 power plant was surprisingly up to the challenge against the 360s on the half-mile, and he led the first 12 circuits. It was lapped traffic that became a problem for Chartand, and on lap 13 Matt Tanner went around him for the lead from his 9th starting position. Seven laps later, Tanner appeared to try the middle lane in turns three and four with more traffic ahead of him on the bottom, but the timing was off and Jordan Poirier snuck through for the lead on the inside lane, not lapping the impending traffic until the next time around.

Tanner closed the gap and tried to get Poirier back but ran out of time. He followed Poirier across the line with Floyd Billington in 3rd. SCoNE points leader Matt Hoyt was 4th after starting way back in 13th. Chartrand held on for 5th.

Plantaginet, Ontario’s Marc Lalonde won the 20-lap pro-stock feature, wiring the whole race over Denis Gauvreau. Behind them, the racing was quite the chess match, with Justin Chaput, Zack Daniels, Francois Adam and Bruno Cyr battling fiercely for top-five positions in the last five laps. They’d go on to finish in that order with Billy Thwaits, Marc Peladeau and Jonathan Lemay behind them.

Essex, Ny. driver Josh Terry made a thrilling, last lap pass to win the 9th State Cannabis Renegade feature. Richie Turner led several laps early before Nate Guay outlasted him on the bottom. Guay was followed closely by point leader Shawn Duquette, who appeared quicker than Guay, but did not have the car to attempt an outside pass, waiting for Guay to slip off the bottom and applying pressure in the corners. While they ran the bottom, Josh Terry was able to build momentum in the middle, setting himself up to go around them both. He pulled up alongside Duquette with two laps remaining, then drove around Nate Guay on the final circuit to win in thrilling fashion, but was disqualified following post-race technical inspection, handing the win back to Guay. Duquette was 2nd, Turner was 3rd, Tylor Terry was 4th and Billy Thwaits was 5th.

The Moore Recycling Mini Stock turned in another spectacular race, with Kris Clark winning his 3rd straight. He showed the nose to leader Ryan Senecal with a few laps remaining, prompting Senecal to move up high and force Clark to run the bottom. Though he has been fast on the extreme outside in recent weeks, Clark proved to be equally good down low, skating by Senecal on the final lap to score the hat-trick. Senecal was good for 2nd with Josh LAPorte, Sr. completing the podium. Matt Parker and Kenny Tourville were 4th and 5th, respectively. Caleb Tourville won the B-feature over Greg Zindler, after they both had trouble in their qualifiers. Joe Warren was 3rd.

Bridport, V.T.’s Gage Provencher won the first 500cc Mini-Sprint exhibition feature at Airborne Park just before intermission, after a great side-by-side battle with Orford, N.H.’s Chris Pierce, who finished 2nd. Ashleigh Kulzer was 3rd.

The Chris Frennier Motorsports Enduro was as wild and crazy as promised, with 29 entries going 50 laps. Eric Messier, from Hinesburg, V.T., who is a sort of front-wheel-drive racing ace, picked up the win, leading the majority of the race after Richie Turner was forced pit-side for a brief time. Michael Wright was 2nd with Devil’s Bowl Enduro star Andrew Lopes in 3rd. JP Corrow was 4th and Turner returned to run 5th.

Airborne Park Speedway returns with twice the action on Thursday, August 15. All divisions will have double features (no heats). Mini stock format for the night will depend on car count. Intermission will feature the second round of kids’ racecar rides for 2024. General Admission is just $15 with kids 12 and under free. Pit passes are $28 for members and $38 for non-members. Wristbands from the rain out on August 1st will be honored for the pits and the grandstands. Pit gates open at 4PM, grandstand gates open at 5:30. Racing is set to begin at 7PM.

OFFICIAL RESULTS - Airborne Park Speedway - August 10, 2024

J&S Steel Sportsman Feature (35 laps)

Pos. (start) driver, hometown