Airborne Park Speedway

Lussier wins the race, Championship on final weekend at Airborne Park; Champions crowned during two-day racing festival

9/30/2024

Airborne Park Speedway

Lussier wins the race, Championship on final weekend at Airborne Park; Champions crowned during two-day racing festival

PLATTSBURGH, Ny. -- St. Denis, Quebec’s Donovan Lussier has been one of the most successful drivers anywhere in 2024. With nine sportsman wins at Airborne Park and three more at Autodrome Granby, Lussier has enjoyed quite the year. His pairing with the Boissonneault No. 61 race team prior to the 2024 season was a major success early, as he secured the first two J&S Steel Sportsman features of the season in Plattsburgh.

As the summer went on, Lussier continued winning, establishing himself as a championship contender, alongside Joey Scarborough and early points leader Nick Heywood. Heywood’s fortune faded in the waning weeks of summer, and Scarborough and Lussier set themselves apart from the field to settle the $5,000 track title between themselves.

Entering the weekend, Scarborough had a 12-point advantage. The most consistent driver of the year, Scarborough finished in the top 10 in 16 of 19 races, 11 times in the top-five. As the Elegance Coating Championship 100 began on Sunday evening, Lussier started towards the front of the grid and Scarborough started on the opposite end, transferring through a consolation race. While Travis Bruno and Jamy Begor rocketed away from the field on lap one, Scarborough was collected in an incident that saw Chris Cayea upside down with Codie Aubin involved as well.

When the race got going again, Lussier began making his way forward from his 6th starting spot while Scarborough worked through the field. Lussier took the lead on lap 12 and Scarborough was up to 17th. As the race went on and some rubber developed on the low groove, Scarborough’s progress stalled and Lussier continued to lead.

Different contenders emerged, challenging him through traffic. Fire Swamp, Bruno and Jordan Fornwalt all took turns running behind Lussier trying to track him down.

On lap 72, a restart bunched up the field, resulting in an accident involving Tanner Siemons, Tanner Forbes, Dylan Rabtoy and Scarborough, among others. When the track was clear and racing resumed, Scarborough had a bent front axle and an ill-handling machine, but he did not quit. The Brandon, V.T. driver made his way forward in the final laps, trying to secure as many positions as possible.

Up at the front, Lussier was trying to hold off Fornwalt in lapped traffic, and in the final 10 laps the drama was high. Fornwalt nearly went by for the lead as they lapped Gary English on the front straightaway, but Lussier prevailed. On the final lap, Beau Reeves and Evan Roberts nearly impeded the leader’s progress again, but Lussier snuck by to take the win. Fornwalt was 2nd with Bruno 3rd, Michael Wright 4th and Vince Quenneville, Jr., 5th. Scarborough finished 14th, coming up six points shy of the title. Travis Bruno finished 3rd in points.

Eric Shaw earned the CleanEngine Hard Charger Bonus, going from 28th to 11th, passing 17 cars.

Sunday also featured the crowning of Shawn Duquette as the 9th State Cannabis Renegade Champion. Duquette capped off the year with a 3rd place finish in the 40-lap finale for the full-fendered renegades, making a perfect 18 top-fives in 18 races, including three wins. The winner of the final feature of the year was Essex, Ny.’s Josh Terry, who worked his way to the front quickly, assuming the lead on lap two after getting around Bart VanLuevan and Shawn Fountain, along with Richie Turner and Tyler Irwin. Terry led the rest of the way on the bottom, nabbing his 4th win of the year. Nate Guay was 2nd. The Precision Heating and A/C Hard Charger was Nate Guay, going from 8th to 2nd.

The 500cc mini sprint segment race was completed Sunday, putting Orwell, V.T.’s Ray Hanson in Victory Lane. The young Destin St. Clair, from Peru, Ny. won the first segment on Saturday, impressing his hometown crowd, but the invert for Sunday’s lineup gave the youngster some trouble, and it was the veteran Hanson who was able to navigate traffic and secure the win in segment No. 2 with St. Clair coming up to finish 3rd, giving him 2nd place overall after the two segments. Jenna Zakrzewski was 3rd in the overall. Both segments were 10 laps, and both were caution-free.

The final mini-stock race of 2024 was a show-up points, home-track rules race, inviting other area mini stocks to compete with Airborne’s regulars. Forty cars signed in to compete, with about 30 Airborne Park Regulars and 10 invaders from Devil’s Bowl and other tracks. Freeport, M.E.’s Jason Porter charged from 23rd to win the 15-lap main event, passing Josh LaPorte, Sr. on a late restart to take the win, after drawing the 4th-worst chip and starting in the last row of his heat race, barely making the A-main transfer to the 25-car field. LaPorte, Sr. held on for 2nd with Speedy Bresette 3rd. Kenny Tourville led a number of laps and finished 4th with Greg Zindler charging from 22nd to 5th. JP Corrow held off Jeremy Brownell to win the B-feature and transfer to the A-main. Corrow came up to finish 16th.

The 2024 Moore Recycling Mini Stock Champion is Ryan Senecal. Despite a wild final few weeks of the year that saw the point lead change hands multiple times with DNF results for Speedy Bresette and Senecal both, the Plattsburgh native collected one win, but struck the top-five 11 times in 18 races and added three more finishes between 6th and 10th. Clintonville’s Rick Doner was 2nd in the final standings, 38 points back. Bresette was 3rd, 57 markers back.

Saturday’s racing program was jam-packed full of action, offering a J&S Steel Sportsman Feature, limited sportsman, pro stocks, crown vics, mini stocks, a segment for the mini sprints, and a 50-lap, $1,000-to-win Chris Frennier Motorsports enduro.

Chris Cayea of Mooers Forks, Ny. won the 25-lap non-winners’ race for the J&S Steel Sportsman Saturday. Cayea started on the point and led all 25 laps, holding off Jordan Fornwalt in the final five laps to score the win. Michael Wright was 3rd with Michael Wagner-Fitzgerald 4th and Taylor Wason 5th.

Young Caleb Durgan won the limited sportsman feature on Saturday with a decisive move in lapped traffic late in the race to take the lead from Ripton, V.T.’s Don Williams, who impressed in his Airborne Park debut with the limiteds, leading fourteen of the 25 laps before surrendering the lead to Durgan in lapped traffic. He went on to finish 2nd. Logan Denis was 3rd with Gary English, Jr., 4th and Keith Pelkey 5th.

Seventeen cars entered the pro stock race on Saturday. Burton Ward and Robert Larocque won the heat races, before an invert turned the lineup around for the 25-lap main event. Queensbury, Ny.’s Kyle Hoard started on the pole alongside Massena’s Kevin Fetterly. Jonathan Levesque immediately established himself as a contender on the bottom, but Hoard held him off and pulled out to a few car length advantage. That gap stayed pretty even until a pair of late restarts, one of which put Burton ward on Hoard’s outside, but Ward attempted to get down to the bottom entering turn one, resulting in a melee behind the leaders, setting up a battle between Bruno Cyr and Hoard for the win. With a few laps left, Hoard had trouble in turns three and four, bringing Cyr right to the back bumper, but Hoard held him off and went on to win. Cyr was 2nd with Deni Gauvreau 3rd. Fetterly was 4th and Caron was 5th.

Eric Friend won the inaugural crown vic feature at Airborne Park Speedway. Matt Moaghan had the field covered in the heat race aboard his No. 9TH car, but just like St. Clair in the mini sprints, the invert gave him some trouble on the slick track. While Friend started 3rd and took the lead on lap two, Monaghan had to slowly work through the field, picking off cars one by one. He arrived in 2nd position with a few laps to go, but Friend was six seconds ahead at that point, and Moaghan couldn’t catch up. Chad Merrill was 3rd following a great battle between him and 4th place runner Zach Wood that lasted nearly the entire race. Both the heat and feature went caution-free.

Saturday’s Moore Recycling Mini Stock Feature was won by Kris Clark of Keeseville. JP Corrow started 2nd and led the first two laps before Speedy Bresette took the lead from 7th. Clark started 19th on the grid, arriving at the front by halfway. He battled fiercely with Bresette for the win with Rick Doner looking on from 3rd. Ryan Senecal was 4th, securing the championship. Cale Manor was 5th. The B-feature was won by Jeremiah King.

The Chris Frennier Motorsports Enduro was won by Brent Wilbur. Wilbur, a multi-time enduro winner at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in the last two years, drew the pole position for the 49-car starting field, leading every step of the way to score the win in his Airborne Park Speedway debut. Wilbur’s win was made possible, in large part, by his ability to lap several of the drivers starting at the back of the pack in the first 10 laps, including the regular “ringers,” drivers with regular or semi-regular racing experience in other divisions, like Michael Wright, Eric Messier and Richie Turner.

The 2024 season at Airborne Park Speedway has come to a close. Airborne Park Speedway wishes to thank every fan, competitor, official and crew member for their support this season. The awards banquet will be held on Friday, November 22nd at the Rainbow Banquet Hall in Altona. More details will be available in the coming weeks on the Airborne Park Speedway website and Facebook page.

OFFICIAL RESULTS - Elegance Coating Championship Weekend

J&S Steel Sportsman Feature (100 laps)

(6) Donovan Lussier, St. Denis, Q.C. (CHAMPION)
(7) Jordan Fornwalt, Bradford, V.T.
(1) Travis Bruno, Morrisonville, Ny.
(8) Michael Wright, Alburgh, V.T.
(12) Vince Quenneville, Jr., Brandon, V.T.
(3) Fire Swamp, Akwesasne, Ny.
(13) Bucko Branham, Plattsburgh, Ny.
(20) George Foley, Vermontville, Ny.
(2) Jamy Begor, Mooers, Ny.
(9) Richard Murtaugh, Fulton, Ny.
(28) Eric Shaw, Wells, V.T.
(11) Taylor Wason, Middle Grove, Ny.
(27) Joey Scarborough, Brandon, V.T.
(24) Beau Reeves, Plattsburgh, Ny.
(25) Codie Aubin, Plattsburgh, Ny.
(23) Elliot Gamache, Drummondville, Q.C.
(29) Evan Roberts, Fletcher, V.T.
(32) Matt Leonard, Plattsburgh, Ny.
(18) Skylar Ladouceur, Cornwall, O.N.
(10) Patrick Lague, Farnham, Q.C.
(15) Gary English, Jr., Salisbury, V.T.
(17) Tanner Siemons, Claremont, N.H.
(14) Tanner Forbes, Jay, Ny.
(5) Dylan Rabtoy, Swanton, V.T.
(31) Ricky Thompson, Akwesasne, Ny.
(22) Jonathan Toohill, Peru, Ny.
(16) Dave Camara, Poultney, V.T.
(26) Shawn McPhee, Rutland, V.T.
(19) Keith Pelkey, Clintonville, Ny.
(30) Chris Cayea, Mooers Forks, Ny.
(4) Caleb Durgan, Peru, Ny.
(21) Nick Brundige, Round Lake, Ny.

Did not qualify: Cameron Reif, Rico Hernandez, Mike Palmer, Rick Frenyea, Chad Gregory, Brent Warren, Bubba McPhee, Cory Castell, Joe Chartier, Parker Dermody, Josh Masterson, Justin Lazore, Jacorey Arquette, Paul DeRuyter, AJ Munger, Jessie Truax, Marco Poirier, Kyle Reif