La version française ici : https://360nitro.tv/articles/2019/03/31/airborne-prends-du-gallon

Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway — Set to Unleash a Stellar Field of 358 Modifieds for 2019

After a long drawn out winter Airborne Speedway is set to come alive with the roar of the Egglefield Ford 358-Modified division as they hit the track for the 2019 season opener.

The 2019 season was set in motion last Fall to come up with a new plan with the departure of John Walker, as promoter.

The track owners reached out to long time media specialist Robby Knowles to succeed Walker in the promoter’s role. Robby humbly accepted and began working on changes along with a new vision for the track.

Over the winter months, Knowles and his team worked to strengthen each of the class at the 66-year-old race facility but knew the team had to make a strategic effort to grow the 358 Modified class.

Shortly into Knowles’ new role, there was some good news in early December from the Huttig Building Products, Inc., racing camp. They will be racing once again in the 2019 season at Airborne after acquiring Mike Mahaney as their new driver. Mahaney, who comes with a wide range of experience, is sure to be one of the main challenges for this year’s championship.

Weeks later, Knowles and his race committee received news that Moody Mile Motorsports will be running two cars this coming season in the 358 class with the signing of Jordan McCreadie. McCreadie, son of legendary Bob McCreadie, will be racing along side Patrick Dupree who still holds the record “most wins” on asphalt at Airborne.

I asked Jordan about the great opportunity to field the No. 9 Moody Mile Motorsports car at Airborne this season.

“I’m looking forward to getting the year started racing with Wes and his guys with Moody Mile Motorsports for sure. Airborne has picked up quite a few cars this year and it sounds like it should be a very competitive season which is cool for the fans,“ explained Jordan.

Days later, it was confirmed that Willix Racing will be racing at Airborne for the 2019 season. Lance who has finished second in points at Mohawk International Raceway for the last two seasons,along with a 358 championship at Can-Am Speedway a few years back, brings 30 years of racing experience to the famed-Airborne track.

Lance explains: “We’ve raced there on the asphalt and always wanted to get up there on the dirt so we figured why not this year. It’s going to be a challenge, to say the least. The quality of drivers is really good up there and it sounds like it’s going to get even better this year.”

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With the addition of some top drivers this year at Airborne, I reached out to the current track champion Steve Bernier on what his thoughts are on the news of these top driver coming to challenge for this year’s championship.

“Yes, its going to be a good season of racing and I will be defending my championship at Airborne, but there are some really tough drivers coming to race at Airborne this season, which will make my job even tougher,” explained Steve.

Not to be outdone, fellow Quebecer Dany Gagne has put a lot of focus and effort over the winter months into making a run for the championship this year at Airborne. He is realistic with his goals thou as this is just his second full-time season in the 358 Modified class.

“It would be nice to get a 358 championship but there is some tough competition like Steve Bernier and Mike Mahaney. So my goal would be to finish top three in the championship,” Dany explained. Dany went on to thank “Côté, Napa Chateauguay, Creekside Store, and RFT Technologies, for without their support we wouldn’t be able to race each and every week.”

Matt Woodruff will also be back to challenge for the championship. Last season, Matt had a good year with consistent results, picking up one feature win along with six top-five finishes. Matt finished third in the championship points’ battle and is hoping to do even better this season, even though there are some tough drivers calling Airborne their home track.

“The competition, I think, is going to be very tough this year at Airborne. Looks like there could be 8-10 drivers that could win on any given night and we believe we are one of those,” Matt explained.

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Jessey Mueller from Olmstedville, NY, has prepared all winter and the team recently posted:

“We’re excited to get this season started. Everything is coming together in the shop. Looking forward to opening day at Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway and Albany-Saratoga.”

Always a fan favorite, the young hard charging driver will be one to watch this season.

As he explained: “Yes we will be there every week, gunning for the championship, as everything is ready to go racing.”

Maxime Plante confirmed that he will be back racing the same schedule as last year.

“Yes, we will race at Airborne this summer! But not a complete season because we will also be racing at RPM Speedway which runs bi-weekly,” Max explained.

Josianne Plante will also be racing Airborne alongside her brother Max.

Josianne explained: “We love racing at Airborne and we will go racing there but only bi-weekly as we are racing RPM as-well, so it won’t be for the championship!”

Gino Clair from St-Germain, QC, has also confirmed that he will be racing at Airborne several times over the season. Gino who brings over 15 years of experience along with over 200 starts racing 358 Modifieds will bring even more excitement to the field of drivers scheduled to run at the track this season.

Gino explains: “We are scheduling to race June 8, July 13, August 10 and August 24, and if our budget allows, we will be racing Airborne on other dates which do not conflict with our other track of Drummond. We are looking forward to the Racing Airborne this year and are hoping to come home with some good results”.

Roger Labreche from St-Remi, QC, who has been a long time competitor at Airborne, will miss the first few weeks of the season as he and his wife have just built their new home.

Roger said: “Once everything is done, we will be back at our favorite track, hoping to get some good results.”

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The latest news has confirmed that the 2017 Airborne Speedway track champion and last year’s runner up, Chris Raabe, will once again be racing for the championship at the famed Plattsburgh Speedway. Raabe, being one of the most accomplished 358 Modified drivers, will surly be one of the front-runners this season.

“We are going to be running Plattsburgh on Saturdays. I think Plattsburgh is going to have a very deep field drivers. Hopefully we have enough equipment and speed to remain competitive,” explained Chris.

The hard work of Robby Knowles with his race committee — Steve Fuller, Jamie Atkins, Chris Craft, Kathy Caldwell, Chris Akey, Pat Leary, and Bob Trombley — is clearly paying off as the 2019 season at Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway is shaping up to be a great season of racing for fans. Drivers like Todd Stone, George Foley, Greg Atkins and Ryan McLean will also be challenging for the points. As Matt Woodruff explained, “There could be 8-10 drivers that could win on any given night.” Not many tracks can claim competition this close, which is surely going to provide fans with some great racing.

So mark you calendar for April 27, as this will be the opening night of racing at the Plattsburgh Airborne Speedway, with some of the best 358 drivers in the Northeast.

To get the full season schedule, be sure to visit their Website at http://www.plattsburghairbornespeedway.com