A LOOK AT ONE PARTICULAR AIRBORNE ARTICLE IN THE
Plattsburgh Press - Republican

Cabana in Hectic Sportsman

Feature Win at Airborne

Popular Paul Cabana of Montreal slipped by the early leaders after a hectic start had thrown Saturdays Sportsman's Feature at Airborne Park into a state of confusion and held on to win the race just ahead of Mooers Forks' Bob Trombley.

    Bob Mackey Photo Courtesy of John Rock
      Jean-Paul Cabana, around 1961, at Airborne.

Norm Burl and Cliff Thomas battled it out in the Hobby Feature in a relatively uneventful race, with Burl finally emerging the winner.

Bob Mackey Photo Courtesy of John Rock
Norm Burl takes another win in his 7 UP Studebaker.

The Sportsman Feature got underway with Ellenburg's Mack Miller grabbing the lead after a few turns. On the fifth lap temperamental Charley Trombley, brother of Bob also from Mooers Forks, caused a mishap which sent fellow-driver Harry Provost to the hospital with a broken wrist.

Trombley, attempting to pass Miller along with Provost, swung off the track in an effort to get by and when he pulled back onto the asphalt he caught Provost's wheel and sent the car careening through the air and head-on into a tree which was bordering the backstretch.

Bob Mackey Photo Courtesy of John Rock
Charlie Trombley. He doesn't look all that temperamental here, does he?

On the restart, he was sent to one of the last positions, according to NASCAR rules. He protested loudly, as | the NASCAR limits for racing usual, but his grumblings were to little avail. He then jumped the starting flag on the restart, to cause even greater confusion and was flagged down on the backstretch. Trombley, as though he hadn't caused enough confusion, held things up again with his protesting, but Airborne officials finally got the race underway again.

Bob Mackey Photo Courtesy of John Rock
It took a lot to break anything on Harry "The Head" Provost. He was a huge man.

Bob Trombley , in Burt Ormsby's car No. 10, grabbed the front position shortly after the restart only to lose it to Paul Hamel and Paul Hamel, who was running second at the time, was passed by Cabana. Cabana and Trombley fought it out for the lead for several laps along with Wes Moody of Saranac Lake and Montreal's Andre Manny. Manny and Hamel eventually gave way and Cabana held his lead over Bob Trombley until the finish. Moody was third, Dick Nephew of Mooers Forks fourth, and Charley Trombley finished fifth. ^

Nephew finished ahead of Montreal's Ray Forte in the first Sportsman heat of the evening. Bob Trombley was third, Miller fourth and Provost fifth. Hamel won the second heat for Sportsmen, finishing ahead of Manny, Cabana. Desmarais and Moody, in that order.

Bob Mackey Photo Courtesy of John Rock
Mackie Miller

The Sportsman Consolation race was won by Charley Trombley. Ernie Reid of Malone was second and Charley Draper of Wilmington was third Montreal's Marcel Godard wound up in fourth place and Frank Provost was fifth.

            In the pileup during the fifth lap, Ken King, one of the-new-comers to the Sportsman's division. and Gaston Desmarais had their cars banged up considerably. King was forced to retire for the evening but Desmarais repaired a faulty carburetor and continued the race. The Tupper Lake Lumberjack wound up in eighth place

A tear-down of the top five cars was ordered following the conclusion of the race, according to NASCAR  rules, and engines were found to be within limitations for cars in the Sportsman Class. Plattsburgh’s Roland Brown won the first Hobby heat, with Bob Brunell of Peru second, George Hart of Plattsburgh third and Sonny Sousis of Cohoes fourth. Thomas won the second Hobby heat, with Burl second. Peru's Jim LaFountaine third, and Roland Dennis, also of Plattsburgh, fourth.

Bob Mackey Photo Courtesy of Mike Watts
The Sousis family pit area, in the foreground. That might be Sonny and Don with the cop.

One of the highlights of the evening was the introduction of the guest of honor, Finnish exchange student Birgitta Kaupinnen of Helsinki, to her first evening of stock car racing. She and her American "sister", Carol Davis of Peru, rode in the pace car and were introduced to the behind-the-scenes activity at the track. Birgitta is currently studying at Peru Central but will return to Finland at the conclusion of the school year.

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