Late pass lifts Roy to Leon Gonyo Memorial 40 victory

PLATTSBURGH | Leon Gonyo's racing career spanned more than 40 years across northeastern New York and Canada. Each year, Airborne Park Speedway opens its season with the Leon Gonyo Memorial, a signature event honoring the legendary driver. After Mother Nature forced two postponements, the 40-lap, $4,000-to-win 358-Modified feature finally hit the track and delivered a finish worth the wait. Gonyo would have appreciated the closing laps as Felix Roy swept around Billy Dunn on a restart and held on for a dramatic victory in the headline event. Louie Jackson Jr. and 2024 winner Tim Fuller led the field to green, with Fuller immediately taking command. Despite cautions on laps 9 and 12, Fuller pulled away, building a straightaway advantage by the halfway mark. Behind him, Jackson Jr., Carey Terrance, Mike Mahaney and Chris Raabe battled intensely for position. Fuller briefly escaped trouble on lap 25 after contact with a lapped car but maintained the lead. Mahaney moved into second on lap 27 and was running faster laps than Fuller before slipping high in turn three on lap 29, falling back to fourth. A caution on lap 34 reset the field. On the restart, Roy went to the outside of Fuller to take the lead and never relinquished it. Dunn finished second, followed by Mahaney, Fuller and Jordan McCreadie. The Sportsman Modifieds opened their 2026 season with a 30-lap, $1,000-to-win feature. Invader Shane Pecore capitalized on a strong run from six-time track champion Travis Bruno to earn the win at Airborne. Bruno led the first six laps from the pole before Pecore swept around the outside in turn two to take the lead. Once out front, Pecore never gave it up. Bruno stayed close for much of the race, while Nick Heywood passed Bruno on lap 27 but could not catch Pecore. Heywood finished second, Bruno third, Bucko Branham fourth and Evan Roberts fifth. David Johnson charged from the eighth starting position to win the Limited Sportsman feature in an emotional 20-lap main event. With his wife expecting to give birth at any moment, Johnson made a late-race push from Fairfax, Vermont, to secure the victory. Brogan Roberts led the first seven laps from the pole, while Gary English moved into second and challenged for the lead. Johnson steadily advanced through the field and was poised for a run when a caution flew on lap 18. On the restart, Johnson used the outside line in turns three and four to pass Roberts and pull away for the win. Roberts finished second, followed by English, Kobe Hernandez and Michael Danforth. The Renegade division opened its season with typical early-race chaos. A no-start situation heading into turn one caused an accordion effect that sent several cars, including Josh Terry, to the pits before a lap was completed. Once racing began in earnest, Billy Thwaits took control and dominated the feature. Despite multiple cautions that allowed challengers opportunities, Thwaits remained firmly in command. Tyler Terry, a multi-time winner last season, could not close the gap. Thwaits won ahead of Tyler Terry, Shawn Duquette, Nathaniel Guay and Codey Benoit. In the 15-lap Mini Stock feature, Tyler Bell led the first four laps before Kenny Tourville took over on lap five. Tourville held the lead until Jake Fountain passed him on a lap 9 restart. Late contact between Fountain and Randy Martin opened the door for Tourville, who capitalized to earn the win. Fountain finished second, followed by Martin, Kyle Botala and Glenn Engstrom. The Crown Vic feature opened with anticipation of another showdown between Richie Turner and Eric Friend, but contact early in the race sent Friend hard into the frontstretch wall, ending his night. Turner controlled the remainder of the race and held off Crown Vic debutant Trevor Jaques, who mounted a mid-race challenge before Turner pulled away. Jaques finished second, followed by Scott Richner, Benjamin Deyo and Nate Steady. Airborne returns to action May 7 with "Thursday Night Thunder" featuring A-Verdi Night, the 358-Modifieds and all weekly divisions. Grandstand gates open at 5:30 p.m., hot laps begin at 6:15 p.m., and racing starts at 7 p.m. — 358-Modifieds Leon Gonyo Memorial 40 (40 Laps): 1. 91-Felix Roy[3]; 2. 49-Billy Dunn[7]; 3. 35-Mike Mahaney[12]; 4. 19-Tim Fuller[2]; 5. 28-Jordan McCreadie[9]; 6. 18JR-Louie Jackson Jr[1]; 7. 66X-Carey Terrance[6]; 8. 01-Chris Raabe[8]; 9. 31W-Lance Willix[18]; 10. 21R-RJ Tresidder[4]; 11. 89-Dylan Madsen[11]; 12. 24F-Jordan Fornwalt[13]; 13. 24X-Thomas Cook[14]; 14. 90-Dany Gagne[19]; 15. 74-Lucas Fuller[5]; 16. 45R-Preston Forbes[17]; 17. 04-Dale Gonyo Jr[10]; 18. 26-Dave Camara[15]; 19. 34-George Foley[22]; 20. 55-Matt Woodruff[23]; 21. 15-Chase Zimmer[21]; 22. 1NY-Greg Atkins[20]; 23. 21C-Johnny Chesnut[24]; 24. 5-Tanner Siemons[16]; 25. (DNS) 215-Adam Pierson Sportsman Modifieds A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 0-Shane Pecore[3]; 2. 29H-Nick Heywood[6]; 3. 33R-Travis Bruno[1]; 4. 20-Bucko Branham[5]; 5. 50X-Evan Roberts[2]; 6. 9-Taylor Doxtater[4]; 7. 29D-Max Dolliver[8]; 8. 70-Jason McClatchie[17]; 9. 78Q-Vince Quenneville[7]; 10. 10X-Cory Castell[12]; 11. 17-Caleb Durgan[9]; 12. 19-Jamy Begor[15]; 13. 7-Codie Aubin[18]; 14. R7-Lonnie Rivers[11]; 15. 42-Keith Pelkey[10]; 16. 29-Tanner Forbes[13]; 17. 87C-Christopher Cordeau[20]; 18. 22-Dylan Rabtoy[16]; 19. 19RS-Ryan Shanahan[19]; 20. M70-Billy Cook[21]; 21. 78-Michael Wright[14] Renegades A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 69-Billy Thwaits[1]; 2. 44-Tylor Terry[2]; 3. 18-Shawn Duquette[5]; 4. 55-Nathaniel Guay[9]; 5. 69X-Codey Benoit[3]; 6. 54-Tyler Irwin[4]; 7. 52-Brad Bushey[7]; 8. 007-Shawn Fountain[6]; 9. 1-Rick Doner[10]; 10. 22-Tony Salerno[13]; 11. 12-Konnor Joyal[12]; 12. 11-Tim Wilcox[11]; 13. (DNS) 65-Josh Terry Limited Sportsman A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 14-David Johnson[8]; 2. 50-Brogan Roberts[1]; 3. 53-Gary English[3]; 4. 4-Kobe Hernandez[6]; 5. 44-Michael Danforth[7]; 6. 27X-Cody O'Brien[9]; 7. 12-Cody Gregoropoulos[12]; 8. 74-Justin Lazore[16]; 9. 52X-Adam Lafountain[5]; 10. 3-Stephen Bushey[14]; 11. 5MJ-Matthew Jordan[11]; 12. 28L-Lea Jeanne Lauziere[2]; 13. 74A-Dereck Allard[4]; 14. 48B-Emric Bourque[17]; 15. 5R-Lucas Duvall[18]; 16. 28-Sarah Ann Lauziere[10]; 17. 10-Parker Dermody[15]; 18. 61-Antony Boissonneault[19]; 19. (DNS) 20M-Joe Chartier Mini Stocks A Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 42X-Ken Tourville[2]; 2. 22-Jacob Fountain[4]; 3. 77-Randy Martin[5]; 4. 5-Kyle Botala[6]; 5. 17E-Glenn Engstrom[8]; 6. 03-Speedy Bresette[10]; 7. 08B-Brandon Osher[9]; 8. 75-Jeremiah King[14]; 9. 61-Jp Corrow[12]; 10. 45B-Josh Laporte[3]; 11. 125-Nick Harnden[7]; 12. 4JR-Jamie Whitney Jr[11]; 13. 76-Joshua Blake[15]; 14. 42-Caleb Tourville[17]; 15. 13W-Joe Warren[13]; 16. 2-Kyle Hart[16]; 17. 33-Cody Young[20]; 18. 26-Tyler Warren[18]; 19. 18G-Luke Fellows[19]; 20. 5D-Jailynn Doner[25]; 21. 98-Leonard Snide[22]; 22. 01-Ernest Parent[21]; 23. 9-Tyler Bell[1]; 24. (DNS) 23-Travis Reyell; 25. (DNS) 83-Ed Goddeau Crown Vics A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 59-Richie Turner[1]; 2. 57-trevor Jaques[7]; 3. 621-Scott Richner[3]; 4. 25-Benjamin Deyo[9]; 5. 38-Nate Steady[8]; 6. 15-Josh Turner[10]; 7. 45-Jaycee Turner[12]; 8. 06-Josh Muir[2]; 9. 4-Eric Friend[4]; 10. 22-James Norton[6]; 11. 61-Jp Corrow[5]; 12. 74-Andrew Lopes[11]

Signup for our newsletter

Late pass lifts Roy to Leon Gonyo Memorial 40 victory

COMPANY

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

SUBMISSION FORMS

BEYOND THE NEWS