Perrego wins, pockets $7,070 at Airborne

PLATTSBURGH | Anthony Perrego aced a lap-62 restart and pulled away from Michael Maresca to win the Adirondack Invasion 70 in the Short Track Super Series' inaugural trip to Airborne Park Speedway. Perrego, a former track champion at Albany-Saratoga Speedway and Orange County Fair Speedway, pocketed the $7,070 top prize that commemorated Airborne's 70th season. Perrego charged from his ninth place starting position in the 26-car field to the lead by lap 46. He chased down Maresca and Alex Payne, both early-raced leaders, and used the outside to maneuver around the pair. Perrego captured his 139th career victory at his 18th different race track. "Yeah, definitely got a good start on Mike there," Perrego said. "You know, the car really fired off great during the first lap. I think we snuck by like four guys on the first lap. Same restart there, I fired off really good, and I was good off the bottom of two. What a race track here tonight." Perrego had a front-row seat to Maresca and Payne's incredible battle for the top spot. Maresca, by virtue of starting on the pole, was at the point for the opening 14 circuits, and he traded the lead with Payne on laps 15, 18 and 25. The two worked through heavy lapped traffic during the green-flag run, and it allowed Perrego to get within striking distance with 30 laps to go. Perrego made the outside lane stick and converted the race-winning pass only four laps later. "You know what, I think they were getting so bottled up with the guy in front of them that the top just maintained," Perrego said. "I feel like we found some traction there, but we were definitely better around the tires. Like I said, I think the traffic just slowed those guys up enough where we could sneak around them." Most of Perrego's career wins have occurred at Orange County (50) and Accord Speedway (45), and his first laps around Airborne came on race night. "I guess it's got some similarities of Devil's Bowl in three and four," Perrego said. "But I would say up here, Mohawk's probably like the closest place that I've been to that it kind of compares to. There's nothing really back home like this. "This place was phenomenal as soon as we rolled out for hot laps, and it obviously put on a great place." Maresca, a Potsdam native, finished in second while Payne completed the podium in victory lane. "Second stinks when you start on the pole and lead some of the race," Maresca said in a series press release. "I felt pretty bad, though, after the heat race, so we'll take it after the changes we made." Mat Williamson was Canada's highest-finishing driver in fourth, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Stewart Friesen charged from 13th to finish fifth. Airborne's biggest race in nearly five years was not kind to its weekly competitors. Points leader Tim Fuller finished 15th while Chris Raabe (14th), Steve Bernier (16th) and Mike Mahaney (20th) also struggled. Felix Roy, who won the most recent weekly Modified event, drove from 14th to eighth with a small-block engine. Plattsburgh's Nick Heywood (Sportsman Modifieds), Morrisonville's Tylor Terry (Renegades) and Plattsburgh's Speedy Bresette and Dannemora's Jake Fountain (Mini Stocks) scored wins in their respective feature events. Weekly racing continues on Thursday, June 6. Post time is 7 p.m. – Thursday, May 30, 2024 Short Track Super Series (70 laps): 1. Anthony Perrego [9] 2. Michael Maresca [1] 3. Alex Payne [2] 4. Mat Williamson [7] 5. Stewart Friesen [13] 6. David Hebert [3] 7. Matt Sheppard [12] 8. Felix Roy [14] 9. Carey Terrance [5] 10. Michael Parent [15] 11. Alex Yankowski [10] 12. Jack Lehner [23] 13. Michael Trautschold [17] 14. Chris Raabe [19] 15. Tim Fuller [4] 16. Steve Bernier [11] 17. Jeremy Roy [16] 18. Marc Johnson [18] 19. Bobby Hackel IV [21] 20. Mike Mahaney [8] 21. Matt Woodruff [24] 22. Donovan Lussier [6] 23. Tanner Siemons [27] 24. Francois Bellemare [26] 25. Ajay Potrzebowski II [25] 26. Mario Clair [20]

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Perrego wins, pockets $7,070 at Airborne

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