Mahaney bests Fuller in mod thriller, Heywood back to winning ways Duquette impresses with renegade win

9/2/2024

Airborne Park Speedway

Mahaney bests Fuller in mod thriller, Heywood back to winning ways Duquette impresses with renegade win

PLATTSBURGH, NY.-- Many people would probably be surprised if they found out Mike Mahaney hadn’t won a 358 modified feature at Airborne Park in 2024 until Thursday, but what the Elizabethtown racer and fan-favorite lacks in Airborne win quantity for 2024, he makes up for with win quality. Thursday’s Be Cool Heating, Cooling and Refrigeration 358 Modified Feature was one of the best of 2024, bringing the crowd to their feet for all 30 laps.

Jordan Fornwalt and Jeremy Roy led the field to green with cool temperatures and minimal sun accenting the fall theme of back-to-school night. Fornwalt led the first seven circuits, until Fuller promoted himself to the top spot, running the middle line, on lap eight. Mahaney was still back in 4th position, where he started. While Fuller was rolling the slick middle, exiting high and launching down the stretches, Mahaney had found the cushion way up top on both ends, entering just feet off the outside wall and carrying his speed all the way through the corner.

He quickly went to 2nd from there, scooting around Fornwalt and Roy, but then he had to track down Fuller. He ate up the one second gap between them but couldn’t find a way by. The laps wound down as Mahaney followed Fuller, on the ragged edge trying to find a way around. Finally, on lap 23, it happened. As they approached lapped traffic with only seven laps remaining, Mahaney closed in again off turn four and drove deep into the top of turn one. Fuller rolled through the middle, waiting to hit his mark where he’d been sliding up to the top to exit the corner, but Mahaney beat him to his spot and sailed past him on the backstretch.

He never gave up the outside lane, ripping it for the final seven laps as Fuller continued to roll the middle. They got through lapped traffic and Mahaney picked up the win. Fuller was 2nd with Chris Raabe 3rd, Fornwalt 4th and Justin Stone 5th. The win marked Mahaney’s first at Airborne Park in 2024, and served to pad his point lead over Fuller, which now stands at 15 points.

The J&S Steel Sportsman Feature was nearly equally exciting, with Nick Heywood earning his 3rd win of the year at Airborne Park. Heywood ran the bottom primarily for the entire race but was able to take the lead from Dylan Rabtoy on lap 14. Rabtoy led from lap seven until that point, after taking the top spot from Beau Reeves.

Heywood’s path wasn’t easy, even as the leader. He had to deal with multiple restarts in the second half of the race with Travis Bruno, Joey Scarborough and Fire Swamp all firing shots at Heywood, trying to get to the top spot. But car No. 29 was strong on the bottom and Heywood went to victory lane. Bruno was 2nd with Beau Reeves earning his best run of the year in 3rd. Joey Scarborough was 4th, padding his points lead over Donovan Lussier, who finished 5th.

Shawn Duquette, of Morrisonville, won the 9th State Cannabis Renegade Feature in impressive fashion, with a sizeable gap between himself and renegade world-beater Tylor Terry, even with multiple laps of them running 1st and 2nd. Richie Turner started on the pole with Bart VanLuevan to his outside and Turner led the first two circuits. The Highgate, V.T. driver has been solid in recent weeks, following a slow start to the 2024 season after repeating as the champion in 2022 and 2023. Duquette started 5th and crawled along the bottom, the line he prefers. He quickly made his way to the front with Terry and Nate Guay moving forward from 7th and 6th starting positions, respectively. Terry reached 2nd on lap four with Duquette in the lead, but was never able to do more than pace Duquette, who went on to collect his second win of the year with apparent ease, two seconds between him and Terry at the stripe. Guay was 3rd with Turner 4th and Josh Terry 5th.

The Moore Recycling Mini Stock Feature was a barnburner, with Kyle Botala, Jason Bradley and Cody Agoney battling fiercely for the lead for most of the race. Botala led the first nine circuits with Agoney and Bradley hot on his tail. As the race went on, heavy hitters from the back reeled in the top three. Speedy Bresette, the Tourvilles and Rick Doner were all on the move.

Agoney got by Botala on lap 10 to take the lead on the bottom. Botala tried to regain the spot on the top but could not get back around Agoney. Coming to the two-to-go signal, Tourville came to the inside of Agoney and took the top spot away. From there, Caleb’s father Kenny moved into 2nd position. The final lap would be decided between father and son. In the end, it was Caleb Tourville securing his first A-main of 2024. Kenny Tourville was 2nd and Speedy Bresette was 3rd. The B-feature was won by Glenn Engstrom with a late-race pass on Makaela Goddeau. Jamie Whitney, Jr., and Cody Young completed the podium. Goddeau was 4th. Ed Goddeau was 5th.

This week, Airborne Park races on Wednesday, September 4 at 7PM. The 358 modifieds, sportsman, renegades and mini stocks will all be racing. General admission is $15, kids 12 and under are free. Pit passes are $28 for members and $38 for non-members. The pits will open at 4PM and the grandstands will open at 5:30.

With just a few races to go in the 2024 season at Airborne Park Speedway, points battles are heating up! Mike Mahaney is trying to secure the 358 modified title with his 15-point lead over Tim Fuller. Joey Scarborough’s sportsman lead is 17 points over Donovan Lussier, Nick Heywood is only 21 points out of the lead. Shawn Duquette has a 14-point lead over Tylor Terry and 28 points over 3rd place Nate Guay. Ryan Senecal’s mini-stock points lead is only 28 points over Speedy Bresette. With 2-points per spot and heat race points all in play, the title fights are all wide open headed into the last month. Don’t miss the history being made at Airborne Park!

OFFICIAL RESULTS – Airborne Park Speedway – 8/29/24

Be Cool Heating, Cooling and Refrigeration 358 Modified Feature (30 laps)