PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. -- Milton, Vt., may be where Brent Dragon lives, but he says Airborne Speedway across Lake Champlain in Plattsburgh, N.Y., is home. The three-time champion of the historic facility is looking forward to returning there for Saturday's American-Canadian Tour Spring Green 100, perhaps more than any other event on the schedule.
"I consider Airborne my home track," Dragon said. "I always seem to do well there, and it's always been good to us."
"Well" may be a bit of an understatement. In addition to his Airborne weekly track championships in 1995, 1996, and 2000, Dragon has 11 total wins there including his pair of ACT Late Model Tour victories in 2004, the year he won both the Spring Green and Fall Foliage races. His legendary father, Harmon "Beaver" Dragon, and uncle Bobby combined for four championships there in the 1970s and '80s, and cousin Scott was dominant there in the late 1990s. Airborne Speedway belongs to the Dragon family as much as anyone.
"I was talking to someone the other day about Airborne, all the good times we've had over there. I remember how excited we always were waiting at the ferry boat every Saturday afternoon, or coming back home that night, and there are some stories I probably shouldn't tell from those nights," Brent laughed. "We have a lot of good memories from there, and we always knew where we were going to be every Saturday night rather than traveling all over with the Tour. I certainly miss that part of it."
Dragon did a pre-season test at Airborne Speedway in late April to get geared up for the Spring Green. The event, like Airborne itself, is steeped in the family's winning tradition: Beaver won it a record three times including the first race in 1974, and Bobby won in 1975. Tying the Spring Green even closer to the Dragons is the race's presenting sponsor, Milton-based Furniture World of Vermont, which has also sponsored Brent's cars for several years.
"We tested really well a few weeks ago. I was very happy with how it went," said Dragon, who finished inside the top-five in both ACT races at Airborne last year and led 56 laps of the Fall Foliage 300 in September. "We had a tough start to the year with a crash at Thunder Road last week, and we could use a win to bounce back from it. I'd like to do it at Airborne. We have a lot of family and friends that will be there, and I'm looking forward to going back this weekend."
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