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Duquette Hangs On For Sportsman 100 Victory
Bruno Repeats As Modified Winner
Saturday, July 5 Airborne Recap
Plattsburgh - Shawn Duquette of Morrisonville held off Richie Turner and Bucko Branham to narrowly win the Sample Lumber Sportsman 100 at Airborne Speedway Saturday. The race gained suspense as the final laps wound down as two late restarts nearly cost Duquette, who had led from lap seven in the B&K Construction No. 18.
Turner passed Jamy Begor for third in heavy traffic on lap 58 and got underneath Toby Ebersole for second on lap 86. Two laps later, the third caution of the night put Turner alongside Duquette on the restart and he nosed ahead exiting the first turn only to have Larry Underwood’s car hit the front stretch wall and bring the yellow flag back out. Duquette managed to hold onto the lead the next time around and held on for his first win of the season while Turner and Branham swapped second place twice a few feet behind him. Ebersole, in contention throughout, finished fourth. Brian Criss, who started 14th and pitted once under caution, raced back to fifth. Positions 6-8 went to Jamy Begor, Tylor Terry and Ben Hough.
“It feels really good to get one,” Duquette said. “We just put a new motor in and the car was loose early, but it worked out really good.” Turner shrugged off the yellow that may have cost him the lead. “That was fun,” he said. “I had to try and get him (Duquette) and not worry about Branham.”
Mike Bruno led Patrick Dupree to the finish line by a car-length to register his second straight Ernie’s Tools Modified win and his fourth of the season. Bruno took the lead on lap 7 and drew out to a long early lead, but Dupree closed in by the halfway mark and the pair staged their own close-quarters race through lapped traffic well ahead of Andy Heywood, George Foley, Mark Lamberton and Leon Gonyo.
“I try to race the cars as we come up on them as if I was racing them for the lead,” Bruno said. “They’re working hard and racing for position themselves, but I still had to protect the bottom from Patrick.’
Heywood started on the pole and led the first six laps then held off a persistent challenge from Foley and Lamberton to finish third. Foley and Alain Boisvert brushed together racing for fourth on lap 20 and Lamberton and Gonyo gained ground while Boisvert got back in shape. Aaron Bartemy followed Boisvert home for seventh.
Keith O’Neil of Mooers drove to his first Versatile Trailer Sales Renegades win by a six car-length margin over Joe Daniels. Lonnie Rivers, Mike Criss and Chris Frennier completed the top five. Bill Thwaits of Clintonville won the NAPA Warrior feature in a photo finish, besting defending champion Rick Doner. Randy Martin and Brock Begore finished 1-2 in the Bomber feature.
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