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Jonathan Allard Wins Fall Nationals at Chico
by: Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 10-4-08)...Chico's Jonathan Allard won his third race of the year at Silver Dollar Speedway and his 34th career main event win at his home track. With the win he pockets $6,000 for the K&N Filters Morrie and Katie Williams No. 0. The win also puts him into a tie with Jimmy Sills for fifth on the all-time wins list at Silver Dollar Speedway. “I am wore out,” said a completely exhausted Allard in victory lane. “I tried to take myself out a few times in that main event,” joked Allard. He was alluding to the rough tacky surface that originated after last nights rain storm. “It was a handful,” Allard later said. Joining him on the front straight was Brad Furr. It was a happy but subdued Furr with his second place finish. Furr had lead most of the main event until Allard passed him on lap 31 of 40. Roger Crockett also led a some laps tonight and wound up finishing third. Tyler Walker brought the NMI #24 into the fourth spot. Kyle Larson had his elbows up. Larson finished fourth in the B main and earned the final transfer. Starting dead last in the feature, 24th spot, Larson charged through the field, survived many wrecks and finished in fifth spot. Brent Kaeding also deserves credit. He transferred out of the B main and started in the 22nd spot. Kaeding finished in the sixth spot. The highest finishing rookie was John Michael Bunch who crossed the line in tenth.
Friday nights portion of the Fall Nationals was rained out. Even though Thursday night was complete, the points from that night were nullified. On Saturday it was a one night show with every driver showing up starting with no points. On Saturday, qualifying was scratched to save time and it was a pill draw show. With 75 drivers in the pit area the officials drew up a seven heat race program with finishing points and passing points. After the heat races were complete the main events would be lined up according to points accumulated for each driver. After the heat races were complete the top two in points were Kyle Hirst and Andy Forsberg. It was unusual to watch a heat race and not necessarily have the top finishers be automatically plugged into the feature event. It was all based on points and we did not know who made what main event until all seven races were complete. The top 20 in points after the hear races were locked into the main event.
The main event started with 24 cars going 40 laps. It was evident throughout the night that the track conditions were going to take a toll on the drivers and their cars. The main event was no different. The first lap saw Christian Stover bounce through turn two and ultimately blowing out his left rear tire and collapsing the front end. He was able to make repairs and return. On the next restart Andy Forsberg slipped off turn one. Forsberg was unable to restart and the race continued. However, lucky for Forsberg, before the next lap was complete, Colby Copeland was dumped over and Myles Bishop was involved. The first of three red flags came out and the race was halted. During the red flag Forsberg was able to make repairs and restart the event. Forsberg came back to finish in the seventh spot after 40 laps.
The leader was Roger Crockett. He had started from the pole position and holding his own. On lap five it was Brad Furr who moved along side Crockett and made the pass. On the next lap Kyle Hirst moved around Crockett. Lap seven another red was needed when Johnny Gray flipped in turn one. He collected Chad Compton and a late arriving Sean Becker. Becker actually ended up on his lid also. On the next attempt it was Hirst who needed a yellow. Hirst jumped the cushion and slid into the turn four wall. He gave up his second spot but did continue and to his credit came back to finish eighth.
During the early portion of the race two drivers were making dramatic strides. Kyle Larson had moved near the top ten on lap ten after starting in 24th. Jonathan Allard, who started 13th, was now into a top five spot after Hirst had stopped. The next few laps saw Allard jump to the top of the track and passed Tyler Walker and Crockett in consecutive laps. Allard moved into the second position on lap 15 and started to give Furr a fight for the lead.
After six yellows and three reds in the first 12 laps no one could have predicted what was to follow. The final 28 laps went non-stop. Drivers remaining on the track were blistering the racing surface. Furr and Allard fought hard with slower traffic and the tricky track. On lap 30 Allard closed on Furr who was dealing with a lapped car. Allard seized the opportunity and pounced on Furr. Coming out of turn four Allard was the new leader. With nine laps to go Allard never faltered and had a comfortable lead at the checkered flag. Furr finished almost three seconds behind Allard. Crockett came across the line in third.
Iowa masher Wayne Johnson started sixth in the B main but within the 20 lap race moved into first and won the race. It was nice to see Johnson travel from so far away and do so well. Brent Kaeding was second. The drive of the race belonged to Sean Becker who started 15th and finished third. Larson secured the final transfer and went on to put on a show in the main event.
Greg DeCaires led all 15 laps to win the C main event. The shocker of the race might have been Tim Kaeding. Last years Fall Nationals champion raced into the second spot late in the race but got forced off the speedway and did not return. He pulled to the pit area and did not transfer. Mark Hall then moved into the second spot and earned the transfer.
Jim Richardson won the D main event. Transferring with Richardson was Trent Canales, who came out of the E main event. Caneles won the the E main and Mark Tabor Sr. finished second to transfer to the D.
For full results please visit www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com
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