NAPA Tiger Sportsman Tri-State Series Announced

        Waterbury, VT – The NAPA Tiger Sportsmen will be hitting the road this year with a touring series of their own. The Tiger Tri-State Series will consist of three 100-lap events in three different states. The opening event will be held at the recently redesigned Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY on July 11. Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, NH will host the second event on August 1^st. Canaan featured the Tiger Tour in 2005 with five appearances. Canaan Speedway quickly became one of the favorite racing venues for the Series, often reminding veterans of the old Catamount Stadium in Milton, VT. On August 13, Thunder Road Speedbowl will decide the Series Championship in a 100-lap event for the NAPA Tiger Sportsman challengers.

The Tiger Sportsmen have been touring off and on since 1990 with the most recent going back to 2006 when the Series visited Airborne, Sanair in St. Pie, Quebec, with a pair of stops at Thunder Road.

Jason Bonnett of St. Albans, VT finished third in the 2006 Series and is a two-time (2003 and 2007) Airborne Speedway track Champion in the Tiger Sportsman division. “I’m glad the Tour is back. It’s fun to go to different tracks and race different people instead of racing the same track every week. I also like the challenge of adjusting the car to different setups for the different tracks.” Bonnett and 30 other Tiger Sportsmen teams will have plenty of adjusting to do with the new, banked Airborne ½ mile, Canaan’s 1/3 semi-banked oval, and the high-banked ¼ mile at Barre’s Thunder Road. Bonnett went on to say, “Airborne is going to be a totally different track this year with all the work they are doing over there. It’s going to make it even more challenging and more fun.”

Jamy Begor of Mooers, NY finished 9^th on the 2006 tour. He said, “It’s a great idea to run a three race series because you can go to a couple different tracks and it fits the budget. I enjoy going to Thunder Road and Canaan. I even won a Street Stock race at Canaan back when we ran the “Street Stock tour’!” Begor agrees with Bonnett that Airborne will be challenging. “We are going to have to throw out all our notes on Airborne because it’s going to be a completely different track,” he said.

The NAPA Tiger Sportsmen will begin their regular Thunder Road season when the 50^th Anniversary season starts on Merchants Bank opening day, May 3^rd. Post time is 1 p.m. The first Tri-State Series race will be July 11^th at Airborne Speedway in Plattsburgh, NY.