Tanner takes Airborne with authority

PLATTSBURGH | Matt Tanner left no doubts about it at Airborne Park Speedway. The championship point leader for the Sprint Cars of New England Tour (SCoNE) laid down a flawless race on Saturday, Aug. 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 Lake Champlain Series weekend doubleheader, with the two-race mini-series title to be decided at Devil's Bowl Speedway on Sunday evening. 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 Raceway (Maine) 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. RACE NOTES - A field of 13 cars attended the Airborne Park Speedway event. - Matt Tanner's victory was his second of the 2025 SCoNE season and was the 13th of his SCoNE career, moving him into a tie for fifth place on the Tour's all-time win list with inaugural champion Mark Cole. - Tyler Chartrand's runner-up finish matched the best run of his career with SCoNE, equaling his run at New Hampshire Motor Speedway during a limited schedule in 2024. Kadyn Berry's fourth-place finish was best of the year, and Nick Kruger's fifth-place showing was his first top-five in any kind of racecar; he was previously a successful motocross racer before joining SCoNE in 2023. - Dale Gosselin of St-Pie, QC made his first SCoNE appearance of the season an eventful one. Gosselin broke the torque tube, driveshaft, and rear end of his car in pre-race practice and was in danger of not being able to compete, but the team of Matt Tanner gave Gosselin the parts he needed and nearly a dozen people from various teams – as well as Lake Champlain Series sponsors Lonnie Lacaillade of Lacaillade Masonry and Anthony Cain of LA Transportation Services – jumped in to get the car repaired. Gosselin drove forward in both his qualifying heat, finishing third, and the A-Main, finishing sixth. - The two qualifying heat races were won by Matt Tanner and Tyler Chartrand. - Chris Downs Motorsports presented the Hard Charger Award, with a $50 bonus going to Matt Tanner, who started fifth and finished first to gain four positions. - Tyler Chartrand won a $50 bonus from Dave Bowser Motorsports as the top-finishing rookie in second place; Mark Reynolds finished 10th. - Through the first seven events of the McGee Automotive Family SCoNE Tour schedule, Matt Tanner holds the championship lead with 310 points. Travis Billington is second at 285, Jake Williams is third at 257, Floyd Billington is fourth at 253, and Kadyn Berry is fifth at 246. - Tanner leads the Lacaillade Masonry/LA Transportation Services "Lake Champlain Series" standings entering the two-race finale at Devil's Bowl Speedway on Sunday. Tanner has 60 points ahead of Tyler Chartrand (55), Floyd Billington (47), Kadyn Berry (45), and Nick Kruger (45). To learn more about the Sprint Cars of New England, visit www.nesprintcars.com or find "SCoNE - Sprint Cars of New England" on Facebook.

Signup for our newsletter

Tanner takes Airborne with authority

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS