PHOTO: Bobby Therrien (center) celebrates his Tiger Tour victory with Diane Forsey (left) and Mike Forsey (right), wife and brother of the late Geoff Forsey (T.J. Ingerson/VMM Photo)
— by T.J. Ingerson
PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Bobby Therrien had a special passenger riding with him at Airborne Speedway on Saturday. Former racer Geoff Forsey, who always helped Therrien when he needed, lost his battle with cancer on Thursday. Therrien honored his friend with placing Forsey’s name above the driver’s door and “renumbering” his No. 4 car to ‘4C.”
But, Therrien was able to honor his friend in a far greater way by winning the Bond Auto/WIX Rent-A-Wreck Tiger Tour 100.
A lap 90 caution flag put Therrien on the outside of fellow competitor Derrick O’Donnell. O’Donnell, of Bradford, took the lead from Therrien on a lap 86 restart after then leader Jason Bonnett was penalized for contact with Dylan Payea. With the outside line seemingly being the preferred line on restarts, Therrien edged O’Donnell on the restart and battled side-by-side for a few laps. Then, Therrien pulled away from O’Donnell to claimed his first Bond/WIX Tiger Tour victory of the season.
“I knew when we had the caution when we took the lead, and Derrick comes up next to me, I knew I had a fight on my hands,” said Therrien, of Hinesburg. “He got by me and I thought ‘okay, well, maybe we have a second place tonight.’ Then we had that last caution, and I knew I had preferred line at that point. I was able to get to the outside of Derrick. He’s one of the cleanest guys in this division, and you can run an inch off his door and not worry about it. It means a lot for him to trust me to do that too.”
After his victory, Therrien shared a special moment with Diane Forsey, wife of Geoff, and dedicated his victory to him.
“When we had that caution with ten [laps] to go, he was definitely there with me,” Therrien said. “It meant a lot. I told him ‘let’s go,’ and away we went. It was awesome. It means a lot to me and our team. To have Geoff’s family here tonight meant a lot as well. This all goes to them. We lost a really good guy, a really good friend and this is what he loved and we love to give it back to him.”
Dylan Payea, of Henniker, N.H., rebounded from his lap 86 spin to take second at the line from O’Donnell. O’Donnell settled for third, and claimed the 2011 Bond/WIX Tiger Tour Championship. Fairlee’s Troy Gray gained two places on the last restart to finish fourth, while Georgia’s Joey Roberts was fifth.
Mike Ziter finished sixth, Jason Bonnett settled for second after his penalty, while Joe Steffen and Mike Martin took eighth and ninth. Airborne Speedway regular competitor Dave Rabtoy, of Swanton, completed the unofficial top ten.
2011 Airborne Speedway Renegade Champion Kevin Boutin won the special two-segment Renegade event held during the Rent-A-Wreck Fall Foliage event. Boutin, of Swanton, won the first segment and then took fourth in the second segment. Robert Gordon, of Milton, finished second with a score of eight. Joe Warren, West Chazy, N.Y., was third while Josh Terry and Lance Rabtoy completed the unofficial top five.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — Rent-a-Wreck Tiger Tour 100
Bond/WIX Tiger Tour — Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown
(# – denotes rookie)
1. (5) Bobby Therrien, Hinesburg
2. (4) Dylan Payea, Henniker, N.H.
3. (6) Derrick O’Donnell, Bradford
4. (8) Troy Gray, Fairlee
5. (9) Joey Roberts, Georgia
6. (3) Mike Ziter, Williamstown
7. (2) Jason Bonnett, St. Albans
8. (16) Joe Steffen, Grand Isle
9. (7) Mike Martin, Craftsbury Common
10. (11) Dave Rabtoy, Swanton
11. (13) Scott Coburn, South Barre
12. (14) Mike Billado, Essex
13. (10) Josh Demers, Middlesex
14. (18) Blair Bessett, Worchester
15. (12) George May, Barre
16. (17) Mark Barnier, Essex Junction
17. (15) Tucker Williams, Hyde Park
18. (19) Jeff Wimble, Waterbury
19. (1) Eric Badore, Milton
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS — Rent-a-Wreck Renegade Special (2 x 25 laps)
Airborne Renegades — Airborne Speedway, Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Saturday, October 8th, 2011
Pos.-Driver-Hometown-Score
1. Kevin Boutin, Swanton — 5
2. Robert Gordon, Milton — 8
3. Joe Warren, West Chazy, N.Y. — 10
4. Josh Terry, Morrisonville, N.Y. — 11
5. Lance Rabtoy, Fairfax — 14
6. Robbie Favreau, Peru, N.Y. — 14
7. Lonnie Rivers, Saranac, N.Y. — 15
8. Tyler Terry, Morrisonville, N.Y. — 17
9. Jason McClatchie, Plattsburgh, N.Y. — 17
10. Mark Caron, Peru, N.Y. — 19
11. Curtis Seymour, Plattsburgh, N.Y. — 20
12. Andy Bordeau, Dannemora, N.Y. — 20
13. Rick Doner, Ausable, N.Y. — 21
14. Curt Giventer, Saranac, N.Y. — 27
15. Dan Dubuque, Plattsburgh, N.Y. — 28
16. Freeman Sawyer, West Chazy, N.Y. — 29
17. Jay Dubuque — 35
18. John Boutin — 36
