Tanner Scores at Home in SCoNE Run at Albany-Saratoga

COLUMN BY: Justin St. Louis /SPRINT CARS OF NEW ENGLAND – MALTA, NY – The Sprint Cars of New England brought a little bit of everything to New York’s Albany-Saratoga Speedway on Friday, June 12. Though the box score will show that Matt Tanner started first and won the race – the first round in SCoNE’s inaugural Chartrand Trucking New York State Championship Series – it was anything but a guarantee. In fact, Tanner spent most of the race chasing someone else.

A racy, multi-groove track surface gave drivers lots of options for trying different racing lines in the preliminary qualifying heats and the 25-lap A-Main feature race, and passing was constant throughout the event. Stephentown, NY’s Tanner, the defending SCoNE Tour champion, had some luck in drawing the pole position starting spot for the A-Main, but it was outside polesitter Bobby Hackel who jumped out to the early lead.

Before the first lap was completed, though, top-five starters Kyle Smith and Travis Billington made contact entering Turn 3 that sent Smith flipping wildly, cartwheeling four times. After a few tense moments with the SCoNE Safety Team and the track’s rescue crew on the scene, the grandstands erupted in cheers as Smith climbed out of his car; he was transported to a local hospital and treated for bruising but did not sustain any major injuries. Billington was able to continue in the race without his top and front wings after they sustained damage in the crash.

When the race restarted, it was again Rensselaer, NY veteran Hackel who jumped out front, and he set a blistering pace over a long stretch of green-flag racing. Tanner ran second as the two weaved through heavy lapped traffic for several laps, and he was able to reel Hackel in and swing past him with 10 circuits remaining. Behind them, Tyler Chartrand ran comfortably in third place, and behind Chartrand several drivers diced for position including Floyd Billington, Will Hull, Kadyn Berry, Caiden Herbert, and Chris Donnelly, all of them trading spots frequently.

Hackel’s bid came apart with just three laps remaining, as the rear end on his car failed and he coasted to a stop, bringing out the caution flag. That gave Chartrand a shot at Tanner’s lead, but he suffered a flat left-front tire as the race restarted and dropped back. As that happened, Tanner drove away to protect his lead while seemingly everyone else waged a battle royal.

Tanner crossed the line to win at his home track in his first SCoNE start of the season, and Berry made a nifty move off Turn 2 to earn the runner-up spot for the second consecutive race. Donnelly out-dragged Herbert off the final corner for third. Floyd Billington finished fifth, with Hull and Chartrand rounding out the lead-lap cars. Troy Comeau finished eighth with Canadian visitor Tomy Moreau ninth and Emily VanInwegen completing the top 10.

RACE NOTES:

A field of 20 cars attended the Albany-Saratoga Speedway event. Seven drivers – Tomy Moreau, Tyler Chartrand, Emily VanInwegen, Bobby Hackel, Kyle Smith, Chad Miller, and Matt Tanner – made their first SCoNE appearance of the season.
Matt Tanner’s victory was the 17^th of his SCoNE career, which breaks him out of a tie for sole possession of fifth place on the SCoNE Tour’s all-time win list. Tanner was the 2025 SCoNE Tour champion but is running a limited SCoNE schedule in 2026 and will not defend his title.
Eight-time SCoNE champion Chris Donnelly shook off a long stretch of bad luck and bad finishes on tracks larger than a quarter-mile, earning his first podium finish away from his home track of Bear Ridge Speedway since September 2023.
For the second time in as many events, Floyd Billington switched cars following hot laps and ended the night with a top-five finish in the A-Main.
Moreau and VanInwegen each brought CRSA-legal 305-cubic-inch engines to compete against SCoNE’s field of 360s, and each earned a top-10 finish.
Longtime off-track partners Tanner and VanInwegen had a memorable celebration after the race, posing for photos with their two children and their families in Victory Lane.
The two qualifying heat races were won by Will Hull and Tyler Chartrand, with each earning a $50 bonus from Friend Construction of Middlebury, VT.
Chris Downs Motorsports presented the Hard Charger Award, with a $50 bonus going to Matt Hoyt, who fought through engine problems to start 19^th and finish 11^th to gain a race-high eight positions.
Whitcomb Excavating & Landscaping of Francestown, NH posted two $50 awards for drivers having a tough outing: The “Doug Luck” bonus went to Bobby Hackel after his driveline quit while running in second place, and the “Gravity Is Not My Friend” award was given to Kyle Smith after his end-over-end crash.
SCoNE Contingency Program product certificates were awarded to Chris Donnelly (Swagger Factory Apparel), Caiden Herbert (Night Owl Creations), and Troy Comeau (DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends). The Slade Precision Shocks award for the May 30 event Bear Ridge Speedway was drawn at random at Albany-Saratoga with Tunk Berry receiving the award.
Following the first two events of the season, Kadyn Berry leads the SCoNE Tour championship standings for the first time in his young career, totaling 135 points. Floyd Billington and Caiden Herbert are tied for second place at 120, followed by Matt Hoyt at 119 and Chris Donnelly at 101.

The Sprint Cars of New England Tour’s next event is on Saturday, June 27, at Bear Ridge Speedway in Bradford, VT, and it will include the debut of the new SCoNE Wingless Series. To learn more about the Sprint Cars of New England organization, the SCoNE Tour for 360-cubic-inch winged Sprint Cars, and the SCoNE Wingless Series, visit www.nesprintcars.com or find the “SCoNE – Sprint Cars of New England” page on Facebook.

OFFICIAL RESULTS – Sprint Cars of New England Tour

Albany-Saratoga Speedway – Malta, NY

Friday, June 12, 2026

A-Main Feature (25 laps)

Pos.-(Start)-Driver-Hometown

# – denotes rookie

(1) Matt Tanner, Stephentown, NY
(8) Kadyn Berry, Goffstown, NH
(10) Chris Donnelly, Piermont, NH
(7) Caiden Herbert, New Hampton, NH
(3) Floyd Billington, South Glens Falls, NY
(9) Will Hull, Plainfield, VT
(6) Tyler Chartrand, Johnsonville, NY
(13) Troy Comeau, Wentworth, NH
(12) Tomy Moreau, Sherbrooke, QC
(11) Emily VanInwegen, Stephentown, NY
(19) Matt Hoyt, Campton, NH
(15) Nick Kruger, Rupert, VT
(17) Tunk Berry, North Conway, NH
(14) Mia Koponen, Ludlow, VT
(18) Mac MacDuffie, Salisbury, NH
(2) Bobby Hackel, Rensselaer, NY
(4) Travis Billington, South Glens Falls, NY
(16) Mark Reynolds, Hudson Falls, NY
(5) Kyle Smith, South Egremont, MA

Did Not Start: Chad Miller, Amsterdam, NY

Contingency Award Winners:

Friend Construction Heat Winners: Will Hull, Tyler Chartrand
Chris Downs Motorsports “Hard Charger” Award: Matt Hoyt (+8 positions)
Swagger Factory Apparel: Chris Donnelly
Night Owl Creations: Caiden Herbert
DMI/Bulldog Rear Ends: Troy Comeau
Slade Precision Shocks: Tunk Berry
Whitcomb Excavating & Landscaping “Doug Luck” Award: Bobby Hackel
Whitcomb Excavating & Landscaping “Gravity Is Not My Friend” Award: Kyle Smith

Upcoming Events:

Saturday, June 27 – Bear Ridge Speedway – Bradford, VT (plus SCoNE Wingless Series)
Friday, July 10 – Unity Raceway – Unity, ME
Saturday, July 11 – Unity Raceway – Unity, ME