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Jonathan Allard back in victory lane at Silver Dollar Speedway
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA - April 28, 2007... Jonathan Allard and Williams Motorsports unveiled a brand new car last night at Silver Dollar Speedway Point Race #5 and it worked to perfection as the Chico veteran drove to an impressive victory to score win number three on the season for Williams Motorsports. A week long thrash didn’t even allow the team to decal and paint the car, but it didn’t matter as the Ashley Smith, Lee Watson, Bob Scovel, Chris Jones led crew had JA and the No. 0 machine on a rail all night.
The past two years have seen Jonathan be one of the top qualifiers on the West Coast, but so far early in 2007 it hadn’t been that way. Coming into Silver Dollar Speedway Point Race #5 Jonathan hadn’t scored a fast time this season in California, but the new Maxim was stable and the Chico native was able to wheel it around the track just like in the past. Jonathan was the 17th driver to hit the track in qualifying and on his second lap he turned a beautiful 12.347 to give the Williams Motorsports, GT Trends, K & N Filters No. 0 fast time out of the 26 car field.
Jonathan lined up outside row three in the night’s first eight lap heat race. As the green flag dropped you could see the confidence Jonathan had behind the wheel and on lap three he utilized a slick slide job in turn one to take third from Johnny Gray. JA began to close in on the top two but ran out of time and brought the Red Line Oil, Platinum Powder Coating, JP’s Paint & Body, Chris Jones Racing Maxim home in third.
The number four pill was pulled for the inversion which put the Graph X Designs, Weld Racing, BR Motorsports No. 0 outside row number two for the 25 lap feature. Jonathan blasted into second as the green flag came out and ran patiently in second behind leader Andy Gregg early on. JA was biding his time when disaster struck for the leader as Gregg and a lap car got together which resulted in Gregg getting upside down. Jonathan inherited the lead and there really wasn’t any worries the rest of the distance. He did have to survive a pair of late race restarts however, that saw Sean Becker, the winner the past two Fridays, running in second.
The Williams Motorsports No. 0 was as fast as it’s been all year though and Jonathan easily pulled away from the field each time and drove away to pick up a big victory aboard the Spy Optic, Sharp Insurance, Matt & Glass, Butler Built Maxim. Jonathan got out the car on the front stretch to a huge crowd filled with family, friends and team members. The whole Williams Motorsports team had faces filled with smiles and a win like this has been a long time coming. It was the best performance all season for Jonathan and it came at the right time of the season as he’s currently in a dog fight for the Golden State Challenge Series championship with Becker and Brent Kaeding.
Speaking of the Golden State Challenge Series we’ll be in Tulare tonight for GSC Round #9. The night will honor Al Pombo and Marshall Sargent, a pair of California racing legends from the hard top days. This event has a great tradition behind it and would be huge if Jonathan could add his name to super-star filled all-time win list of the Pombo/Sargent Classic.
Jonathan comes into the night third in GSC points, 12 behind leader Becker and eight behind second place Brent Kaeding.
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
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www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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Jonathan Allard Gets Win Three at Chico
By: Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 4-27-07)…Chico’s Jonathan Allard led the final 18 laps of the sprint car main event at Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night to secure his third win of the year at his hometown track. Allard spent the previous five days building a new car that featured a ’07 Maxim chassis at their shop in Oakhurst and obviously the hard work paid off. Allard’s win came aboard the Morrie and Katie Williams owned GT Trends / Tom Rolfe Trucking Ashley Smith prepared #0. Allard won the $2,000 payday courtesy of John Padjen Motorsports and the night’s sponsors including Withrow’s Motorsports and JP’s Paint and Body Works. “I need to thank the Morrie and Katie and the crew I have, it’s the best in the business,” said Allard.
The 25-lap main event started off with Andy Gregg leading the charge. Gregg has been one of the most improved sprint car drivers in the 410 division this season and should have won a Golden State main event at Placerville early this year. Gregg was holding off Allard for the lead and in the beginning looked solid. Things would change for Gregg as he encountered the back of the field. On lap seven Gregg aggressively tried to pass Mike Stallings going into turn three. Gregg went to the inside and rode up into and over Stallings car sending Gregg upside down and bringing out the red. On the restart Allard inherited the lead followed by Jason Statler and Sean Becker.
On lap 14 Becker passed Statler and moved into the second spot. On the ensuing lap a red was needed when Kevin Sharrah and Zack West tangled in turn four. West went upside down and Sharrah was able to continue on. This now set-up a show down between the two top sprint car drivers in Northern California, Allard and Becker, who had won three of the four previous Chico main events. On the restart Allard pulled away and showed everyone he was the class of the field tonight. On lap 20 the yellow waived for the final time. This allowed Becker one final shot, however, it was not to be and he could not get by Allard to win his third consecutive main event. Allard stretched his lead and drove the final five laps to perfection. Allard crossed the finish line 2.2345 seconds ahead of Becker. Statler finished in the third spot. Stephen Allard finished in the fourth spot and Brandon Wimmer rounded out the top five. Wimmer proved to be the most exciting driver of the night. He started in the 16th spot and raced his way into a top five spot. Andy Forsberg fell into the sixth spot. Chuck Gurney Jr. won an extra $100 from the website www.theskipperpartys.net by finishing in the seventh position. Mason Moore was the highest finishing rookie in the eighth spot. Brett Miller came home ninth. Korey Lovell rounded out the top ten.
Zack West won the 12-lap B main event. It was the youngster’s first win in any race at Chico. Robert Stice drove hard to finish in the second spot.
Korey Lovell won the first heat race. Mike Stallings looked sharp in winning the second heat. Wimmer dominated heat race three.
Jonathan Allard opened up the night by turning the quickest lap in qualifying. The time was a 12. 347. Allard earned his first quick time award of the year. Last year Allard scored eight fast time awards.
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Results
Fast Time: Jonathan Allard – 12.347
Heat 1: Korey Lovell, Zack Mason, Allard, Johnny Gray, Chuck Gurney Jr.,
Heat 2: Mike Stallings, Kevin Sharrah, Andy Forsberg, Stephen Allard, Jason Statler
Heat 3: Brandon Wimmer, Mason Moore, Sean Becker, Andy Gregg, Bret Miller
B Main: Zack west, Robert Stice, Jim Richardson, Willie Croft, David Tarter, Dan Ochs, Alissa Geving, Mark Cooper, Eddy Lewis, Jeff Flure, Brad Sweet
A Main: Allard, Becker, Statler, S. Allard, Wimmer, Forsberg, Gurney Jr., Moore, Miller, Lovell, Croft, Sharrah, Stice, Mason, Tarter
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Repeat Winners Highlight the Wingless and Pure Stock Division
By: Troy Hennig
April 27, 2007
(Chico, CA 4-27-07)…Grass Valley driver Billy Wallace won his third wingless spec main event Friday night at Silver Dollar Speedway. Joining him in victory lane was Heather Bartlett who won for the second week in a row driving in the pure stock division. Wallace led all 20-laps in the wingless main event, while Bartlett thrilled the crowd with a mid race pass for the lead coming down to a yellow flag. All of this action took place during point race number five during the Feather Falls Casino championship series.
Wallace started on the front row and grabbed the early lead. Fellow front row starter Taylor Simas fell into the second spot. Wallace soon gathered momentum and started to dominate the main event. He left the rest of the field behind to battle for the second spot. Tony Richards of Orland was one of the drivers moving through the field. He passed Jay Youngman for third and then set his sights on Simas for second. Late in the race Richards dove to the bottom of Simas and moved into second. Richards was not able to contend with Wallace, but Richards was one of the most exciting drivers of the night. Yet, the driver of the night was Sparky Howard. The Santa Rosa veteran started in the 16th spot and raced his way into a fifth place finish. Howard is one of the drivers, as is Wallace, who raced for most of their career with a wing over their head. Simas finished in the third spot while Youngman was fourth.
The pure stock main event started with Jay Galvin as the race leader. It was apparent early that Galvin's machine was spewing smoke out of the rear. The black flag waived on lap seven when the officials had seen enough smoke. The next two laps Galvin stayed on the track while Robert Mull and Heather Bartlett battled for the lead. As a yellow was waived for a stopped car, Bartlett engineered the move of the night to pass everyone for the lead. The crowd erupted and Bartlett was the leader. Jeff Olschowka was now in the second spot but three laps later he was passed by Mull for second. Bartlett continued to strengthen her lead and went on for the easy 15-lap main event win. Mull was second. Olschowka was third. Mike Slightom was fourth and Guy Bean fifth.
Mull and Olschowka won their two individual heat races.
Matt Streeter won heat race one. Charlie Marrs drove strong to win heat two. Chuck Gurney Jr. dominated heat three wining the race by over five seconds.
Full results are on www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com
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