PHOTO: Martin Roy flew into Airborne Speedway from Trois-Rivieres, Que., on Saturday night and won a messy Modified feature. (Ricky St. Clair/VMM photo)

–by Ricky St. Clair

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — It took seven cautions, one red flag period, and 56 minutes before the DIRTcar Modified division was finally able to complete their 30-lap feature event on Saturday night at Airborne Speedway.

When the mayhem finally came to an end it was Napierville, Que., driver Martin Roy who picked up his second consecutive checkered flag and his third victory of 2011 at the Plattsburgh half-mile.

Roy started 13th in the 27-car field and avoided a total of seven incidents before the first 10 laps of the feature event were completed.

“I knew that we were going to survive this race,” Roy said in the garage area following his win. “The restarts weren’t any good. Everybody was making slingshot moves and that caused a big mess.”

Roy used an 11-lap green flag run between laps 10 and 21 to chase down race leader Greg Atkins. Roy, now a 21-time Airborne feature winner, used the top side of the speedway to maneuver around Atkins and take the lead on lap 21.

“[Atkins] was kind of sideways out of the corner,” said Steve Morin, crew chief of the Gamache Truck Center No. 90. “I don’t know why he abused his tires early in the race. If you want to catch people here you need to go on the outside. From my point of view the car seems to be good everywhere.”

Roy had an eventful afternoon as he had to qualify his NASCAR Canadian Tire Series stock car at Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. Roy, a rookie driver on the NCATS, will roll off 29th in the 33-car field Sunday afternoon at 3:30pm.

“I came over in a helicopter because I was almost late for the races,” Roy chuckled. “It ended up paying off.”

George Foley, Leon Gonyo, Atkins, and Vince Quenneville, Jr., rounded out the top five, followed by Mike Phinney, Andy Heywood, Jimmy Ryan, Pierre Berthiume, and Chris Cayea.

Robin Wood collected his sixth checkered flag of the season by winning the 25-lap Sportsman feature.

The Plattsburgh, N.Y., native used a lap 9 restart to pick off race leader Jamy Begor on the outside groove to solidify himself in the top spot and lead the remainder of the event. The victory was Wood’s 28th career Sportsman win.

Begor would finish second with Bucko Branham, Nick Heywood, and rookie Dave Rabtoy rounding out the top five.

Reining Renegade champion Kevin Boutin of Swanton, Vt., used the top side of the speedway to his advantage in the 25-lap feature.

Boutin benefited from a lap 16 caution period and restarted on the outside of Robbie Favreau. He would let it all hang out by racing side-by-side with Favreau for nine consecutive laps before edging Favreau out at the finish line by a mere 0.063 seconds to grab his second win of 2011.

Lance Rabtoy, Josh Allen, and Robert Gordon completed the unofficial top five behind Favreau.

Rookie Erick Sayles of Lake Placid, N.Y., grabbed his fourth checkered flag of the season by winning the 15-lap Mini-Modified feature. Kris Clark, Josh LaPorte, Speedy Bresette, and Chris LaVair were the top five finishers.

Curtis LaGrave Jr., of Plattsburgh was the victor in the Bomber main event. The win marked LaGrave’s third win this season. Josh Durivage, Dale O’Neil, J.M. Bresette, and Travis Sherman completed the unofficial top five.

Begor and Renegade driver Josh Terry earned the honors in their respective “Dash for Cash” events. Begor and Terry each collected the $250 Dash bonus after defeating five other competitors earlier in the night in 6-lap sprint races.

Weekly racing at Airborne Speedway continues next Saturday night with the second annual Sportsman 4-20’s — four 20-lap segments — along with the open-wheel Midget-type Speedstr Racing Series. Post time is slated for 6:00pm.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — Della Auto Group/Agency Insurance/Haun Welding/Aird Dorrance Night
Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Saturday, August 6, 2011

Pos.-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)

Ernie’s Discount Tools DIRTcar Modified (30 laps)
1. Martin Roy, Napierville, Que.
2. George Foley, Saranac Lake, N.Y.
3. Leon Gonyo, Chazy, N.Y.
4. Greg Atkins, Clintonville, N.Y.
5. Vince Quenneville, Jr., Brandon, Vt.
6. Mike Phinney, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
7. Andy Heywood, Morrisonville, N.Y.
8. Jimmy Ryan, Shoreham, Vt.
9. Pierre Berthiume, Joliette, Que.
10. Chris Cayea, Mooers Forks, N.Y.

J&S Steel Sportsman (25 laps)
1. Robin Wood, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. Jamy Begor, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
3. Bucko Branham, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
4. Nick Heywood, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
5. # David Rabtoy, Swanton, Vt.
6. Jimmy Bushey, Mooers Forks, N.Y.
7. Howard Stoner, Altona, N.Y.
8. Shawn Duquette, Morrisonville, N.Y.
9. Jamie Atkins, Ausable Forks, N.Y
10. Casey St. Clair, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Versatile Trailer Sales Renegade (25 laps)
1. Kevin Boutin, Swanton, Vt.
2. Robbie Favreau, Peru, N.Y.
3. Lance Rabtoy, Fairfax, Vt.
4. Josh Allen, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
5. Robert Gordon, Milton, Vt.
6. Don Franklin, Milton, Vt.
7. Joe Warren, West Chazy, N.Y.
8. Andrew Bordeau, Dannemora, N.Y.
9. Mark Caron, Peru, N.Y.
10. Josh Terry, Morrisonville, N.Y.

Keeseville NAPA Auto Parts Mini-Modified (15 laps)
1. # Erick Sayles, Saranac Lake, N.Y.
2. Kris Clark, Keeseville, N.Y.
3. # Josh LaPorte, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
4. Speedy Bresette, Castleton, Vt.
5. Chris LaVair, Gabriels, N.Y.
6. Josh LeClaire, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
7. Scott Richner, Rouses Point, N.Y.
8. Mike Whalen, Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.
9. John Bradley, Morrisonville, N.Y.
10. Jamie LaFountain, Plattsburgh, N.Y.

Busch Beer Bomber (15 laps)
1. Curtis LaGrave, Jr., Plattsburgh, N.Y.
2. Josh Durivage, West Chazy, N.Y.
3. # Dale O’Neil, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
4. JohnMichael Bresette, Keeseville, N.Y.
5. Travis Sherman, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
6. Tyler Bresette, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
7. Brian Montroy, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
8. Bill Joyal, Sr., Ausable Forks, N.Y.
9. Ray Germain, Bristol, Vt.
10. Joe Fountain, Plattsburgh, N.Y.