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Stephen Allard is King on July 4th
By: Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 7-4-07)…Chico's Stephen Allard led the most important lap of the feature event, the last one. Allard shadowed race leader Trevor Green for 22 laps until the white flag waived. Green, the Australian driver residing in Chico for the summer and in search of his first win at Chico, had figured out the bottom of the track and was never challenged by Allard. Yet, on the last lap, Allard was able to get side by side with Green going into turn one. As the two raced down the back straight a slower car was running through the middle of the track. Up until this moment, the bottom was the place to be in turns three and four but if Allard was going to get the win he had to go where Green was not. This is exactly what he did. Allard used the help of a slower car that Green was stuck behind and was able to drive around both cars to get the exciting win. Allard crossed the line less than a car length ahead of Green. It had to be very disappointing for Green who when interviewed earlier was hoping to get a win real soon. Allard electrified his hometown crowd with the pass and collected the $2,000 payday. Over 4,000 fans enjoyed the exciting finish before the fireworks display started.
The 25-lap main event started with some unusual happenings. Pole sitter Johnny Gray had problems at the start and was well off the pace with mechanical issues. Gray fell to the last spot and ultimately stopped to bring out the yellow on lap one. During the first lap Sean Becker, who started eighth, slid off turn one. Becker fell back to the eighteenth spot but with perseverance Becker was able to move back through the field and ended up finishing in the fifth spot. Things continued to get weird when Tim Kaeding stopped on the backstretch under the caution. Kaeding then was pushed to the pit area and was done for the night. The race continued for one more lap until Brett Miller stopped to bring out another caution. Under the caution the black flag as waived for race leader Jonathan Allard. Allard had a muffler problem and had exceeded the 95-decibel sound reading and was disqualified.
After the auspicious start, Trevor Green inherited the lead. The race itself was now about to go 23 non-stop laps and end with the spectacular finish. Green rolled around the bottom of the track and was never challenged by second place driver Stephen Allard. Andy Gregg had settled into the third spot while rookie driver Mason Moore was running the fourth spot. Moore later in the race passed Gregg and earned his career best third place finish. After the race Moore pulled his car into victory lane next to Allard and he and the crew celebrated his top run. Moore is only sixteen years old and already making a name for himself in this competitive sport.
For most of the race Green was battling slower traffic. Passing was tough on tonight's track and for the most part Green was able to follow cars ahead of him and not give any ground to second place Allard. Yet with five laps to go Green was really bottled up and this is when Allard closed. It still seemed that Green was going to be safe until Allard sat up in the cockpit and started running the top of the racetrack. Green continued to run on the bottom of the track and why wouldn't he, so far Allard had not stuck a nose anywhere near him. Green took the white flag as the leader but unbeknown to him Allard had the run of a lifetime as the two headed into turn one. Allard was able to close and soon the two raced side by side down the backstretch. As the two entered turn three Green continued on the bottom while Allard went to unknown and tried the top of turns three and four. In between them was a slower car. The two leaders split the car and raced towards the checkered. Allard had the momentum and led the final 100 feet to get the win. Green finished second but had to be disappointed. Everyone is hoping for his to pick up his first win at Chico real soon. Allard thanked his crew and said he loved the fans in Chico during a post race celebration. He also dedicated the win to the troops fighting oversees and giving us the safety and freedom to race on July 4th.
Andy Gregg led all 12-laps to win the B main event. Becker crossed the line in second. Korey Lovell finished third. Robert Stice and Pat Harvey earned the final two transfer spots into the main event.
Jason Statler returned to Chico and won the first heat race. It was Statler's first race back since he and car owner Tom Rolfe had split up. Kevin Sharrah led all eight laps to win the second heat race. Johnny Gray dominated the third heat race but in doing so after the checkered he pulled to the infield and smoke poured out of his car.
Tim Kaeding started the night off by turning the quickest lap at 12.503.
A total of 26 sprint cars turned out for the July 4th special night of racing.
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