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Stephen Allard hangs on to earn season best finish on Saturday in Hanford

By Gary Thomas

Hanford, CA - March 19,2007... Chico’s Stephen Allard has had a rather rough go of it the first few races of the 2007 season but on Saturday night in Hanford he brought the 1m Racing, Superior Dairy, Finley Farms machine home with a tenth place finish. It wasn’t the most flashy run but getting a finish is a step in the right direction and more solid finishes look to be right around the corner as the team gets their new J & J Chassis dialed in.

Stephen and 1m Racing kicked off the double header at Kings Speedway on Friday night by qualifying seventh quick overall with a lap of 13.626. SA started fifth in the third heat and ran in that spot for the majority of the race, which put him in the B-main. During the heat Stephen closed in on the fourth and final transfer late in the going but a slight bobble cost him ground that he wasn’t able to make back up. In the B-main he started on the pole and fell into line second and ran there for the duration of the 12 laps to transfer him into the night’s 30 lap Golden State Challenge Series main event.

By finishing second in the B-main it gave Stephen his time back for the feature and he lined up on the inside of row five. SA ran near 10^th for much of the first 15 laps and around the midway point he began to get rolling in the Cross Creek Trucking, DMI Components, Butler Built No. 1m. Stephen was on the hammer but disaster struck on lap 20 as he biked and got upside down in turn four. Stephen was the third driver on the night to flip hard as the Kings Speedway clay was wicked in some areas of the track.

The good thing about a two day show is that you can come back the next day with a clean slate and give another go at it. After getting the car put back together Stephen and 1m Racing were ready for Saturday.

Warm temps during the day took their toll on the surface as it was considerably slicker early in the night on Saturday. Qualifying didn’t go as well on this night as Stephen’s best lap of 15.334 put him 26^th quickest out of 31 cars.

The sub par qualifying effort stuck the Don Ott powered J & J back in the seventh spot for the start of the second heat race. Stephen was on a mission and looked excellent as he methodically worked his way forward and took over the fourth and final transfer spot on lap eight. He ran a smooth last couple laps to cap off a great drive and put the 1m sprinter into the 30 lap main event.

Stephen started the main event in the 20^th spot and ran a solid, steady and conservative race. By lap 10 he was up to 13^th and by lap 20 was up to tenth where he would go on to finish. Finishing races is what you’ve gotta do and Stephen did a nice job on a tough and slick track.

Right now it looks like Stephen and 1m Racing will be taking this weekend off and getting ready for the Silver Dollar Speedway 410 points opener on March 30 and the Golden State Challenge Series event at Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on March 31. Until then stay tuned to http://www.stephenallard.com for more news on Stephen and 1m Racing.

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Stephen hard on it in turn three at Kings Speedway. Photo by H2H

The Silver Dollar Speedway 410 track points opener is coming up on March 30 and Stephen is captured here by www.johnsracingphotos.com at the GSC season opening Mini Gold Cup two weekends back.

www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com

A few pics from Hanford taken by Graph X Designs.

www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com