La version française ici : https://360nitro.tv/articles/2019/06/27/rien-nest-gagne-pour-le-championnat-a-airborne

The Egglefield Ford 358-Modifieds division at Plattsburgh Airborne Park Speedway has one of the closest points battles going throughout the Northeast.

With just 72 points separating between first and eighth place, there is clearly no one showing any dominance within this division. The competition is both good for fans who will see some superior heads up racing and for teams as no one really has any great advantage. It is shaping up to be a nail biter of a season.

I asked Dany Gagne from Chateauguay, QC, who is just six points off the leader Chris Raabe, his thoughts.

“We went into the season looking to get at least a third-place finish in points. As I have only been in the 358 division a few years now, I knew the competition was going to be tough with so many good drivers. We looked at what would be a reasonable outcome for such a new team in this class and so far we are very happy with our results. But we know there is still a long season of racing ahead.”

Chris Raabe, the 2017 track champion, took the points lead after this past weekend’s second-place finish.

«We are still having to work very hard for each and every point this season.” Chris continues to explain. “The first part of the season was very tough, trying to dial in our new car as none of our adjustments would work. Our team regrouped using our old car for a few races as we ironed out the problems with the new car. Finally, we got our first win here at Plattsburg as our new car finally started coming around, but it was short lived as the car was badly damaged the following night at Cornwall Speedway. We came back with our backup car this past week and managed to get a second place along with a slim lead in points. The next few weeks will be tough as we get things back in shape at the shop.”

It has been much the same at the Willix racing stables as they lost their main engine a few weeks ago and is down to one back up.

“It’s been tough few weeks,” Lance explains. “Racing on a backup, plus loaned rides, just to keep our points run alive is tough but all in all it’s working so far. Things really turned around once Mike Sauvé and team Raabe lent use a backup motor as we were back on the track defending our points position. We would like to thank Chris Frennier and his race team for lending us their cars. Definitely a huge thank you to Joel Doiron, Mike Sauvé for lending us their motor and Chris Raabe for helping to put the deal together.”

Steve Bernier, the current track champion, has also had problems over the last few weeks but has battled through the rough spots.

“A few weeks ago we lost a motor, which set us back. The team then had to deal with car set-up with the chassis but we will try something different in the coming weeks which should help on the track,” explained Steve. “I would like to thank the 14 Team of Ryan Maclean for allowing us to use their car to keep us in the points. I would also like to thank my girlfriend, my family, everyone who works on the car as well as my loyal sponsor, for without them we would not be racing.”

In recent weeks, Mike Mahaney in car 35 has really started to pick up his game as it finally looks like they have got a good set up for the car. With his recent win at the Plattsburgh track, Mahaney has joined the pack in the hunt for this year’s championship.

The hard charging Jessey Mueller is still within striking distance of a championship but the team has been on and off all season. Then came the big wreck last weekend, which will set the team back some, but knowing team Mueller, it won’t take long for them to get back on track.

For teams Woodruff and Foley, consistency is paying off. So far, both teams have avoided some of the troubles plaguing the front-runners. As in many cases consistency wins in the end.

With eleven weeks of racing left in the championship fight, it is clear to say that any of these top drivers have a fair chance of taking home the title and will make for some good racing as the weeks unfold.