While Mother Nature has taken a few more events from Airborne Speedway, the Saturday nights where racing has happened has been nothing short of hot and heavy! The 358 Dirt Modifieds (on asphalt) have proven for the second year to be a spectacular addition to the divisions at Plattsburgh's ½ mile race track. Front runner Don Scarborough from Brandon VT has unfortunately been out of action for the past few weeks. The last time he was present with his modified, he and local favorite Bucko Branham tangled coming out of turn 4, and both cars ended up into the front stretch wall extremely hard. Don Scarborough's car was totaled, and Bucko (being labeled the cause of the wreck) was asked to take a couple of weeks off from modified racing, thus taking both drivers out of the points battle. Mike Bruno, however, is heavily still in the points battle. With multiple wins, and the current points lead he is certainly a driver to watch. Defending track champion, Leon Gonyo, is sitting good as well in a position to possibly repeat. A couple of weeks ago, Leon went over the backstretch wall into a billboard! Another threat to win on any night he is in attendance is Patrick Dupree. Dupree also runs the NASCAR Busch East Series, so did not plan to run every Saturday night at Airborne. However, with multiple rainouts at Airborne, it has worked out that most of the nights he planned to miss were cancelled. So Dupree is still in the points hunt as well. The last couple events should be quite exciting as it comes down to the wire.



In the Flying Tiger series, it appears defending champion Toby Ebersole is on his way to a repeat as he is the current points leader. The Tiger cars could be considered "mini late models". They are 8 cylinder machines that are fully adjustable (suspension, etc.), sort of a throw back to the NASCAR Cup cars of the 1980s era. They are great to watch as they produce much close side by side racing. FUN Racing teammates of Toby Ebersole, Skip Liberty and Shawn Duquette are also at the top of the points standings. Other feature winners include Bucko Branham, Robin Wood, Jim Bushey and others. In fact, the competition was so close that until last weekend there had not been a repeat winner.



In the Renegade division, look for Mike Rivers to capture the title. He is the current points leader, and is always a strong front runner. His main competition was defending champion Sherri Meunier, but unfortunately she has slipped the past few weeks including at least one missed event. Multiple feature winner, Brian Criss could be a threat but I am afraid we are running out of events. The Renegade cars are referred to as "street stocks" in most areas of the country as they are full bodied 8 cylinder cars that are "stock". Of course they have the safety equipment such as roll cages, but no modifications are supposed to be done to enhance the performance. They are great to watch as well and for drivers are a great stepping stone while advancing in racing divisions. Other front runners in 2006 include Robert Gordon, Brian Rogers, Don Bluto, and others. Another division that produces very exciting racing.



The entry level, 4 cylinder division was split into two divisions in 2006. In years past, the 4 cylinder division was comprised of mostly rear wheel drive Ford Mustangs. As time passed, and the division changed, many front wheel drive cars such as Dodge Neons entered. Although both are only 4 cylinder cars, it is tough for a Mustang to compete against a Neon because of the horse power difference. Now there is a division that is only 8 valve motors called the Bomber class, and another that is up to 16 valve motors called the Warrior class. Also, the Bomber class allows only drivers with two years or less experience and is split into a low age class called Hornets. The Warrior division tends to be a bit more of a racier division as it holds drivers with a bit more experience. Defending champion Jim Collins is in the Warrior division and has at least one feature win. However, Rick Doner is the points leader with multiple wins as well. Rick Doner is perhaps on his way to his first championship which would make two for the family, as his brother Ed captured a championship in 2004. Meanwhile, in the Bomber division Steve Ganier is the points leader. Other front runners include Jason Criss, Jason McClatchie, Cody Kilburn, Speedy Bressette and others. This division is usually exciting to watch as the inexperience shows, but it is also interesting to observe drivers progress and become better racers over the weeks.



Please check out the few remaining events at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh NY. It seems as fast as the season started, it is almost over. Of course the multiple rain outs did not help. For local racers, the end of the season does not necessarily mean the work is over as many immediately begin preparations for the next year. Local racers and fans also owe a huge thank you to Mike Perrotte, George and Julie Huttig and company for their involvement in running the great facility. We can only hope that they will continue to do so for many years to come as it is truly an awesome race track.