Chris Raabe & Nick Heywood Become Two-Time Winners At Airborne Park
Story By: ROBBY KNOWLES / AIRBORNE PARK SPEEDWAY – PLATTSBURGH, NY – Two of Airborne’s top competitors collected their second wins of the season on Saturday at Airborne Park Speedway.
Plattsburgh’s Nick Heywood drove from position 18 on the starting grid and completed a lap-25 pass to win the Poirier’s True Value Sportsman Modified feature victory.
Jason McClatchie led throughout the first half of the race before Jack Speshock took over control. Speshock ran upon heavy lap traffic in the final laps and tried to work the bottom of the track, but Heywood found a lane around the top and made the pass for the win on the outside.
“We rode down on the inside for most of the race,” Heywood said. “After the heat I said we’d be happy with a top-10, but it worked out better than that.”
Jamy Begor and Speshock completed the podium with McClatchie and Jeremy Roy finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Chris Raabe took advantage of a quality starting spot in the Egglefield Ford 358-Modified feature. Raabe rolled from position four and quickly got to the lead. In the back half of the 30-lap feature, Raabe opened up to a full straightaway advantage and cruised to victory.
Steve Bernier finished second, with George Foley third. Matt Woodruff and Maxime Plante rounded out the top five.
The 358-Modifieds also had a five lap, five car trophy dash for $500 to win. The top five point men heading into the evening had first crack at the dash. Third place point man, Todd Stone had engine problems in his heat and had to scratch from the dash.
Travis Bruno was the next man up and he capitalized on his opportunity. Bruno started on point and led all five laps, eventually winning by six car lengths.
Tylor Terry scored a hat trick with his third consecutive win in the Ernie’s Discount Tools Super Stock division. Terry was challenged by both Brent Jarvis and Shawn Duquette in a finish that was decided on the final lap.
Jarvis, Duquette, Michael Wright and Josh Terry rounded out the top five.
A first-time winner emerged in the Mini-Mod division, as Cam Gadue collected his first checkered flag. Josh Laporte and Dave Demore completed the podium.
Shawn Walker found victory lane for the fourth time in as many attempts. Lynn Denton and Matt Lapan completed the top three for the Strictly Stock division.
Racing action resumes at Airborne Park Speedway next weekend for Mid-Season championships. Post time is scheduled for 7 p.m. For more information, visit airborneparkspeedway.com
358-M0DIFIED FEATURE (30 LAPS): RAABE, Bernier, Foley, Woodruff, M. Plante, Gareau, Labreche, J. Plante, McLean, Mueller, Bruno, Branham, Stone
SPORTSMAN FEATURE (25 LAPS): N. HEYWOOD, Begor, Speshock, Roy, McClatchie, Severance, Wagner-Fitzgerald, Daniels, Thompson, Cayea, Willis, Aubin, Palmer, Cook, Jock, Bruno, Rabtoy, Hernandez, Laware, Rivers, LaFountain, A. Heywood, Branham, Snyder, McCoy
SUPER STOCK FEATURE (15 LAPS): T. TERRY, Jarvis, Duquette, Wright, J. Terry, Daniels, Wells, Salerno, Irwin, Metal Man, McKiernan, Larrow-DNS
MINI-MOD FEATURE (12 LAPS): GADUE, Laporte, Demore, Lauzon, Barcomb, Shepard, Wood, Bell
STRICTLY STOCK FEATURE (12 LAPS): WALKER, Denton, Lapan, Daniels, Mooney, Tourville