DIRTCar Modifieds Race On Asphalt
Roy, driving the Gamache Truck Center No. 90 outraced his closest rival, Patrick Dupree, to the finish line for his seventh victory of the season. he started 13th in the 30-car DIRTcar Modified field and advanced to third behind early leader Pierre Berthiaume on lap 25. He took the lead for keeps on lap 46. Dupree moved into second on lap 57. The red flag was out on lap 80 after Andy Heywood’s machine broke and veered up the track sending George Foley off the track past the concrete barriers.
“I want to thank my crew, Gamache Truck Center, everyone who sponsors races and Steve Fuller and Mike Perrotte for all they’ve done for racing at Airborne,” Roy said. When he spoke to the crowd in French, hundreds of Canadian fans cheered their approval.
“I want to congratulate Martin and his team,” Dupree said. “I didn’t go right after him when he passed me early because it was a long race, but now I wish I had. He never slowed down.”
Roy is a four-time Autodrome Granby champion who began competing full-time on the Airborne asphalt in 2007. He was the runner-up to George Foley that year and finished third overall last season. He is the fifth different Airborne Modified champion during the five years that the open-wheel 358 Modifieds have been Airborne’s lead division under the guidance of promoter Mike Perrotte.
Denis Giroux was the last Canadian to win an Airborne headline division championship. Giroux won in 1971. Jean-Guy Chartrand of Montreal was the 1968 Airborne Speedway champion. On both occasions, Airborne was a dirt track.
Before the 2009 campaign began, car owner J.P. Fortin stated that he, Roy and crew chief Steve Morin were focusing on “going after the title”. “We have always had winning the race as the goal every week, but we are going to have a different philosophy this year,” Fortin said. “Martin is a well-respected racer. He does not have a hot temper and he has many friends at the track. It’s not easy to get to the front at Airborne. We need to be fast, but he shouldn’t overdrive. If you want to win a championship, you have to have a lot of good finishes.”
ACT and DIRTCar Praise Airborne
Airborne Speedway owner Steve Fuller made major changes to the Plattsburgh, NY half-mile facility in 2009, which drew praise and attention from the motorsports industry. The biggest renovation was the repaving of the track and the creation of progressively banked turns. The effect was positive from the outset. Thunder Road owner Ken Squier and American Canadian Tour (ACT) officials hailed it as the most significant track improvement in the Northeast. DIRTcar Racing Northeast Director of Competition & Track Sanctioning Cory Reed agreed. Three-wide racing became the norm and the quality of racing increasingly improved as teams gained track time on the new surface.
NASCAR Veteran Ken Schrader Races at Airborne
Martin Roy adapted quickly to the new configuration. Roy won the first two events then struggled for a few weeks and surrendered the point lead to Dupree. He briefly reclaimed the top spot with three wins in four races in late July and early August. Heading into the August 22 event, Aird Dorrance Night when NASCAR Sprint Cup veteran Ken Schrader joined the fray, Roy and Dupree were in a first-place tie. Roy got the jump on fellow Canadian Richard Tisseur on a lap-16 restart and raced off to his sixth win and a point lead he never surrendered.
Roy finished in the top five 12 times in 15 starts. His seven wins increased his total during the Steve Fuller-Mike Perrotte era (2005-2009) to 12, tying him with Leon Gonyo for second place behind Dupree (14).
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