Seven-week gap between races will come to an end at historic New York facility
MALTA, New York (June 9, 2025) – Enough is enough. The McGee Automotive Family Sprint Cars of New England Tour is ready to race.
Unprecedented spring rain cancellations and postponements have created a record seven-week layoff for the SCoNE Tour’s 360 Sprint Cars, but that skid is slated to end on Friday, June 13, as the “winged, wild, and wicked fast” warriors invade Malta, NY’s Albany-Saratoga Speedway for the first time. SCoNE has completed only one event to date in 2025, back on April 19 at Airborne Park Speedway.
“The Great Race Place” – long considered one of the nation’s top weekly short tracks – will host a truly regional affair with no less than six states and Canada represented. The SCoNE Tour will be supported by its core group of New England-based veterans and young guns, several home-state New York drivers who are SCoNE regulars, and racers from the Empire Super Sprints (ESS), the CRSA Sprints, and beyond.
The race – which is sponsored in part by Blair Construction of West Sand Lake, NY, and Chartrand Trucking of Stephentown, NY – pays $1,000 to win, $350 for fifth place, and a minimum of $200 to take the green flag. The starting lineups will be determined by random draw for qualifying heats and a redraw of the top qualified drivers for the 25-lap A-Main feature race.
SCoNE regulars from New York State who call Albany-Saratoga Speedway home include Matt Tanner of Stephentown, the father-son tandem of Floyd and Travis Billington from South Glens Falls, and Rookie of the Year candidates Tyler Chartrand of Johnsonville and Mark Reynolds of Hudson Falls. Fellow New Yorkers Chase Moran, Danny Varin, and Jeff Trombley, who each run with a variety of touring series, are also expected on Friday.
Among that group, Tanner and Varin each have multiple Sprint Car wins at Albany-Saratoga, Trombley scored a podium finish with SCoNE at the Airborne opener, the Billington family has 40 years of experience at Albany-Saratoga, and Moran was a SCoNE winner at Bear Ridge Speedway in 2024.
Defending McGee SCoNE Tour champion Matt Hoyt represents the Granite State and will lead the New Hampshire contingent to Albany-Saratoga with his sights set on a victory. Joining him will be youngsters Kadyn Berry and Caiden Herbert, SCoNE veterans Jake Williams and Troy Comeau, former champions Tunk Berry and Shawn Lawler, and eight-time champion Chris Donnelly, who is also the SCoNE Tour’s all-time win leader with 44 victories.
Connecticut, Maine, New Jersey, Vermont, and – perhaps most notably – Québec will also be represented at the event. Canadian sensation Jordan Poirier will cross the border from his home in St-Mathieu-de-Beloiel, QC to race. Poirier is not competing full-time with SCoNE, but he won the Airborne opener and is the current SCoNE point leader; he also tops the current ESS standings as he tries to win his fourth consecutive championship.
Two-time SCoNE champion Will Hull of Plainfield, VT has had the Albany-Saratoga date circled on his calendar, as he has previously competed there in ESS events, and he owns four wins there with the Xtreme Dirt Midget Association. Sophomore driver Nick Kruger of Rupert, VT tested his car on the 4/10-mile Albany-Saratoga oval this spring with success.
Davie Franek, a champion of the former Patriot Sprint Tour, is expected to make the haul from Sussex, NJ, to make his SCoNE debut, and veteran Granby, CT campaigner Scott Holcomb – who has been winning Sprint Car races since the mid-1990s – will return to the Malta track for the first time in many years. Maine finds representation in car owner Dave Bowser, who provides the ride for home track racer Travis Billington.
“We are beyond ready to get this season back on track this Friday,” SCoNE Director of Competition Dan Douville said. “After all the rain, we haven’t raced in almost two months. Albany-Saratoga is such a historic track and we’re excited to have our first SCoNE race there and put on a great show for the fans. We anticipate a solid field of our regular SCoNE competitors and we welcome everyone else to come give us a try.”
SCoNE Tour rules require axle tethers, cockpit safety bars, and mufflers on all cars. Any tire and any fuel are permitted for competition, and wicker bills may be three inches (3”) maximum height. In-cockpit adjustments are not allowed, except wing sliders. Drivers are required to purchase either a full-season or temporary SCoNE license and file a $20 race entry fee.
The McGee SCoNE Tour is part of a six-division event at Albany-Saratoga Speedway in Malta, NY on Friday, June 13; racing begins at 7:00 p.m. and grandstand admission is $18. To learn more about the Sprint Cars of New England, visit www.nesprintcars.com or find the “SCoNE – Sprint Cars of New England” page on Facebook.
(Alan Ward photo)