SOUTH PLATTSBURGH, NY – The luck of the draw and Big Block horsepower set up a wire-to-wire win for Mike Perrotte in the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino Syracuse Qualifier 100 Big Block/Small Block Challenge at Airborne Speedway Sunday.
Perrotte set third fastest time in time trials, won his heat race from the pole and then landed the Mohawk Casino 100 pole when the “invert 3” chip was drawn. Lebanon Valley regular Keith Flach, who timed 1/100th second slower than fast-timer Airborne DIRTcar Modified champion Martin Roy, was Perrotte’s front row partner. Flach rose and fell within the top-5 throughout the race and finished fourth behind Roy and Patrick Dupree.
The toughest competition for Perrotte’s Adirondack Auto No. 35 Big Block was Roy in the Gamache Truck Center No.90. Roy drove his way to the track title on the high side of Airborne’s progressively-banked half-mile, but he ran the low lane to press Perrotte hard from lap 50-70. Roy worked his way to Perrotte’s door in turns 1-2 several times, only to have Perrotte pull away down the back chute.
Two restarts in the final 10 laps proved to be no problem for the winner. “I thought it was possible to keep the tires under a Big Block for 100 laps, but starting up front helped,” Perrotte said. “I never had to work the car really hard, even in lapped traffic.”
“With the rev limiters we run, the difference in power turned out to be a little too much,” Roy said. “I could get to him, but I couldn’t get around him.” Perrotte’s winning margin was five car lengths.
A few car-lengths behind the Perrotte/Roy battle, George Foley and Patrick Dupree ran 3-4 until a lap 81 restart after tire failure ended Pat McGrail’s top-10 run. Dupree took over third at the drop of the green and never gave it up. “With the extra-distance and the sun, the car was loose, something we’ve been fighting all season,” Dupree said. “I’m looking forward to going out to Syracuse and seeing what we can do with it though.” Dupree was a four-time feature winner on the year in the Wes Moody prepared Saranac Country Store No.24.
Foley, the regular season Ernie’s Discount Tools Modified runner-up, started fifth and finished 5th. The second half of the top-10 was filled by Aaron Bartemy, Leon Gonyo, Martin Hebert, Roger Labreche and Andy Heywood. Brett Hearn drove the Bartemy TDI Truck Service & Towing team car, but pitted with motor problems 35 laps in.
Danny Sullivan of Morrisonville drove to his first J&S Steel Sportsman win of the season after several near-misses. Sullivan took the lead on lap 8 and was never headed. Bucko Branham reeled in Jamy Begor to place second. Positions 3-5 went to Begor, 2011 Sportsman champion Robin Wood and Nick Heywood.
Joe Warren of West Chazy also became a first-time winner by holding off Don Franklin in the Versatile Trailer Sales Renegade feature. Robert Gordon, Lonnie Rivers and 2011 Renegade champion Kevin Boutin completed the top five,
The Modified Sportsman made their Airborne debut. Their 25-lap feature was won by 16-year-old Jessey Mueller of Pottersville, NY. Hunter Bates of Pittsford, VT was the runner-up.
The final race on the Airborne schedule is the ACT Late Model Fall Foliage 200 with the Bond Auto Tiger Tour and Airborne’s Renegades, Saturday, October 8.
Modified Results:
1) Mike Perrotte
2) Martin Roy
3) Patrick Dupree
4) Keith Flach
5) George Foley
6) Aaron Bartemy
7) Leon Gonyo
8) Martin Hebert
9) Roger Labreche
10) Andy Heywood
11) Pat McGrail
12) Cam Grady
13) Pierre Berthiaume
14) Kevin Kezar
15) Daniel Brown
16) Chris Cayea
17) Matt Woodruff
18) Mike Reyell
19) Mikael Labreche
20) Colleen Salisbury
21) Kris Vernold
22) Brett Hearn
23) Todd Stone
24) Jim McComb
25) Vince Quenneville
26) Greg Atkins