PLATTSBURGH, NY – Airborne Speedway Promoter Mike Perrotte has announced plans for a major renovation of the historic Plattsburgh, NY stock car track, including a total reconfiguration of the racing surface and layout for the 2009 racing season.   As a result, the track has added a second American-Canadian Tour Late Model Championship event, the storied Fall Foliage 300, to its 2009 schedule.

      The addition of the race brings the ACT schedule to 13 championship events, and compliments the annual Spring Green 100 at Airborne on May 9.  The 38th Annual Fall Foliage 300 will be held on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009. The 300-lap distance will also be the first of its kind for the present-day ACT Late Model Tour.

       Airborne Speedway’s 4/10-mile, D-shaped layout will be partially razed to allow construction of new,
sweeping, progressively-banked corners, creating multiple racing grooves and closer competition.  The present layout has been in use since 1990.  Previously, Airborne Speedway had been a 5/8-mile track with both dirt and asphalt surfaces since 1954.

       The Fall Foliage event has a grand history, beginning in 1972 as a 200-lap race at the former Catamount Stadium in Milton, VT.  After Bobby Dragon won the inaugural event, the race distance was increased to 300 laps. Winners of the era included Canadians Don Beiderman and Jean-Paul Cabana, southern stars Butch Lindley, L.D. Ottinger, and Robbie Crouch, and New Englanders Stub Fadden and Dick McCabe.  When Catamount closed its doors after 1987, the race moved to Maine’s Beech Ridge Motor Speedway for three seasons, won by Crouch, Buzzie Bezanson, and Dave Dion.
 

      Crouch won the first two Fall Foliage 300s at Airborne Speedway in 1991-92, while the present-day Late Model division took over in 1996 with a 200-lap race.  That year produced one of the most memorable finishes in ACT history, as Dave Whitcomb beat Ron Weston and Jean-Paul Cyr in a three-wide photo finish for the victory.  For 2002 only, Vermont’s Thunder Road hosted the race, won by Maine rookie Ryan Moore.  Cyr won as the Fall Foliage returned to Airborne in 2003, while Brent Dragon and Patrick Laperle won the race in 2004 and 2005, respectively,
as a 150-lap event.

       Open-wheel Modifieds took control of the race in 2006-08, each year won by future hall-of-famer Kenny Tremont, Jr.  Tremont’s 2006 victory was in a 75-lap event, while 100-lap scores came in each of the last two years.

       “The Fall Foliage 300 has certainly had a quirky history, but it’s a glorious one with a past winners list that reads like a who’s-who of short track racing,” said ACT President Tom Curley.  “ACT’s Late Model division got its start at Airborne Speedway, and we know that the return of the Fall Foliage event there will be an important happening for many of our race teams and fans.”

       The ACT Late Model Tour is expected to bring race teams from across New England, New York, and Canada to the Fall Foliage 300.  The event now becomes the final qualifying race for the first-ever ACT Invitational at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH on Sept. 18-20.  For more information, call (802) 244-6963 or visit www.acttour.com.

Fall Foliage 300 Past Winners, 1972-2008
Year    Winner                  Hometown                        Track                                   Laps
1972    Bobby Dragon            Milton, Vt.                     Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         200
1973    Don Beiderman   Oakville, Ont.                  Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1974    Bobby Dragon            Milton, Vt.                     Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1975    L.D. Ottinger           Newport, Tenn.          Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1976    Claude Aubin            Laval, Que.                     Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1977    Butch Lindley           Greenville, S.C.                Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1978    Butch Lindley           Greenville, S.C.                Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1979    Robbie Crouch   Tampa, Fla.                     Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1980    Stub Fadden             North Haverhill, N.H.           Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1981    Hector Leclair          Fairfax, Vt.                    Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1982    Dick McCabe             Kennebunkport, Me.              Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1983    Robbie Crouch   Tampa, Fla.                     Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1984    Robbie Crouch   Tampa, Fla.                     Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1985    Robbie Crouch   Tampa, Fla.                     Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1986    Jamie Aube              North Ferrisburg, Vt.           Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1987    Jean-Paul Cabana        Sherrington, Que.               Catamount Stadium (Vt.)         300
1988    Robbie Crouch   Tampa, Fla.                     Beech Ridge Motor Speedway (Me.)        300
1989    Buzzie Bezanson Plaistow, N.H.                  Beech Ridge Motor Speedway (Me.)        300
1990    Dave Dion               Hudson, N.H.                    Beech Ridge Motor Speedway (Me.)        300
1991    Robbie Crouch   Tampa, Fla.                     Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                300
1992    Robbie Crouch   Tampa, Fla.                     Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                300
1993    Junior Hanley           Oakville, Ont.                  Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                300
1994    Ralph Nason             Unity, Me.                      Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                300
1995    Brad Leighton           Center Harbor, N.H.             Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                300
1996    Dave Whitcomb   Essex Jct., Vt.                 Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                200
1997    Brian Hoar              Williston, Vt.                  Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                200
1998    Phil Scott              Montpelier, Vt.                 Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                200
1999    Patrick Laperle St-Denis, Que.          Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                200
2000    Brian Hoar              Williston, Vt.                  Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                200
2001    Mark Lamberton  Mooers Forks, N.Y.              Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                200
2002    Ryan Moore              Scarborough, Me.                Thunder Road Int’l Speedbowl (Vt.)      200
2003    Jean-Paul Cyr           Milton, Vt.                     Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                200
2004    Brent Dragon            Milton, Vt.                     Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                150
2005    Patrick Laperle St-Denis, Que.          Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                150
2006    Kenny Tremont, Jr.      West Sand Lake, N.Y.    Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                  75
2007    Kenny Tremont, Jr.      West Sand Lake, N.Y.    Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                100
2008    Kenny Tremont, Jr.      West Sand Lake, N.Y.    Airborne Speedway (N.Y.)                100