PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Matt Tanner left no doubts about it at Airborne Park Speedway.
The championship point leader for the McGee Automotive Family Sprint Cars of New England Tour laid down a flawless race on Saturday, August 9, to post his second win of the season and inch ahead in the battle for the season-long Fred Frame Championship Trophy.
The race was the opening round of the new Lacaillade Masonry/LA Transportation Services “Lake Champlain Series” weekend doubleheader, with the two-race mini-series title to be decided at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on Sunday evening.
Stephentown, NY’s Tanner started fifth in the 25-lap A-Main feature event and wasted little time in advancing to the front. He made a bold, three-wide pass to get to third place in opening laps, picked off Nick Kruger for second two laps later, and tracked down rookie Tyler Chartrand for the lead by the ninth lap. Tanner opened a big lead in the middle stages of the race before he was slowed by heavy lapped traffic near the end of the run, allowing Chartrand to get to within five car lengths, but Tanner was not seriously challenged and drove off to the victory.
Chartrand’s runner-up finish was his best of the year and served as a solid platform to land on after a big flip in the McGee SCoNE Tour’s most recent race at Unity (ME) Raceway two weeks ago. Veteran driver Floyd Billington was smooth and consistent to finish third, while Kadyn Berry grabbed his best run of the year in third and Nick Kruger posted his best finish ever in fifth place. Canadian visitor Dale Gosselin was sixth, followed by Travis Billington, Jake Williams, Caiden Herbert, and Mark Reynolds.
