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Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
Victory in Chico highlights weekend for Jonathan Allard as Golden State Challenge Series gets set for double-header this Friday & Saturday at SDS
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – July 20, 2009…After winning Friday nights main event at the Silver Dollar Speedway it looked like Jonathan Allard might have a shot at making it back-to-back victories during the weekend, until a late race spin while navigating through traffic relegated the Chico driver to an eighth place finish at the Antioch Speedway Saturday.
The event on Friday evening marked the 14th race of the Feather Falls Casino Championship Season at the Silver Dollar Speedway and Allard was dominant right from the get-go as he blistered the track in qualifying for fast-time and then brought home a second place finish in the heat race. When the number zero pill was drawn for the inversion it gave the Williams Motorsports, Platinum Powder Coating sprinter the pole for the main event.
Starting on the front row Allard charged out into the lead and quickly extended to a sizable advantage over the rest of the field. After a handful of laps Auburn's Andy Forsberg moved into second and appeared to be quick after making a strong pass of Mark Hall up high off turn two, but even with a pair of restarts he couldn't mount a challenge on the two-time King of California as Allard charged away to easily pick up his fourth main event win of the season at the SDS bullring.
The victory was also Allard's 38th career triumph at Silver Dollar Speedway, which ranks him fifth overall on the all-time win list at the track. "These races are never easy to win no matter how many cars are here and it feels nice to get another win at this place," Allard said. "I have to thank my guys for giving me a rocket ship tonight and also thank all you great fans for coming out here even with this 100-plus degree weather."
On Saturday Allard made the drive to the Antioch Speedway for another night of Golden State Challenge competition and kicked-off the evening by scoring his series leading seventh fast-time award of the season, before driving to a second place finish in the opening heat race and a sixth place result in the dash. It set him up to start from the outside of the third row in the main event and it was apparent early on that crew chief Ashley Smith and the Williams Motorsports team had given him a great car as he charged into third within two laps on the extremely slick surface.
After battling with Brent Kaeding for a couple laps Allard closed in on second running Andy Gregg and would make a beautiful high-side pass off turn four on lap eight to take the position. The Chico native then moved in on leader Jason Statler and gave the '04 King of California everything he could handle, before shooting into the lead off turn two on lap 17. After taking the top spot a caution appeared on lap 19 and on the restart Kaeding slipped underneath Statler to claim the runner-up position.
With traffic coming into play Allard was slowed slightly at one point in turn one as he tried the middle of the track, allowing Kaeding the chance to close in. "JA" would get his elbows up though and charge by a few lapped cars to give himself a nice cushion, but disaster struck in turn one on lap 23 when he got into the corner a little hot while trying to put another car a lap down. As he entered the turn Allard's machine broke loose spinning around and as he tried to keep it going was hit by another car with nowhere to go, which tipped the No. 0 sprinter onto its side.
After going to the work area Allard returned and was able to get back up to eighth during the final seven laps of the feature. The main event was eventually captured by Kaeding who took over the Golden State Challenge Series point lead heading into a double-header weekend at the Silver Dollar Speedway this Friday & Saturday. Los Angeles, CA's Tyler Walker now sits five points back in second with Allard just seven digits behind "BK" for the top spot going into his home track, where he'll be looking to get back into victory lane with the series for the first time since May's Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial.
For more news and info on Chico, California's Jonathan Allard visit http://www.allardmotorsports.com
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Jonathan Allard will be looking for strong weekend behind the wheel of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 when the Golden State Challenge Series invades his home track of Silver Dollar Speedway this Friday & Saturday. The race on Saturday will mark the 26th annual Tribute to Gary Patterson, an event Allard captured in 2007, which was also the final time it was held at the Calistoga Speedway. Photo by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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With five races to go in the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series season Chico's Jonathan Allard finds himself sitting third in the standings, just seven points behind current leader Brent Kaeding and two behind second place Tyler Walker going into a two-night show at the Silver Dollar Speedway this weekend.
Gates will open at 5pm with qualifying scheduled for 6:30 and racing at 7 each night. All seating will be general admission with adult tickets costing $17, juniors $12 and children $5. More info on the events can be found at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com and http://www.silverdollarspeedway.com
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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