AIRBORNE RACEWAY PARK
(Plattsburgh, NY)
Airborne Speedway took its name from the strategic Air Command base located just a few miles away, in Plattsburgh, NY. Maurice Broderick was the founder of the track, and he first opened the doors in 1954. He expected to draw participants, and crowds from Vermont, New York State, Ontario, and Quebec. Airborne operated under the NASCAR banner for many of its early years.
As the years went by, the track was sanctioned, promoted, and ever re-named several different times. By the early 70's the track was in a rough shape, the asphalt was coming apart, and race teams had pick the asphalt out of their cars as part of the routine maintenance program. The track operated under sanctions from NASCAR, the American Canadian Tour (ACT), the Champlain Valley Racing Association (CVRA), and even as independent tracks.
Besides Broderick, the track also seen ownership over the years from CJ Richards of the CVRA, and Tom Curly and Ken Squire from the ACT tour. The track has been run on its own, or part of a circuit of tracks that include Catamount Stadium, Thunder Road Speedway, and Devils Bowl Speedway in Vermont, Sanair Speedway in St. Pie, Quebec, as well as Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, New York.
After the track almost fell apart completely, CJ Richards decided to tear up the asphalt and run the CVRA modifieds at the track in 1982. He also shortened the track from the original half mile to 4/10ths of a mile.
In 1984 the track was now run by Tom Curley and Ken Squire from the American-Canadian Tour. They completely rebuilt the track and repaved the track surface. Tom Curley found it very difficult to run the track because very few of the Vermont drivers could get along well with the tough locals from the Plattsburgh area. He kept adding more an more security, but eventually gave up in 2004.
In 2005, Steve Fuller took over ownership, and he hired racer Mike Perrotte as promoter of the track. Perrotte, a driver in the DIRT modified division brought in his DIRT 358 modified friends as the headline class, running them on the asphalt surface. Perrotte, being one of the Plattsburgh locals, is a very tough man, and hopefully he can make it work, and make the Airborne Raceway Park successful.
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