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Golden State Challenge Series Awards Banquet Recap

By Gary Thomas

Oroville, CA - January 28, 2007... The Golden State Challenge Series awards banquet was presented by John Padjen Motorsports on Saturday night January 27 and for the second year in a row it was hosted by the Feather Falls Casino in Oroville. It was a terrific ceremony at Feather Falls with great food and a outstanding job done by Silver Dollar Speedway announcer Troy Hennig and Golden State Challenge Series announcer George Hague who shared the job of emceeing the event.

The man of the night was 30 year old Jonathan Allard of Chico who was crowned the 2006 Golden State Challenge Series King of California. Allard had a phenomenal season that saw him win the championship by 56 points and tally a list of stats that was ultra impressive when you take into account that only 19 races were held due to the early season inclement weather. He had seven main event wins, finished in the top five a remarkable 13 times and finished in the top ten 15 times. He also set new series records with an amazing 10 fast times and 10 heat race victories.

Allard gave a nice detailed speech and thanked his car owners Morrie and Katie Williams, all his sponsors, John Padjen Motorsports, his fellow competitors and his whole family for supporting him through every step of the way. His terrific 2006 season also pushed his career win total with the Golden State Challenge Series to 13, which bumps him all the way up to fourth on the all time GSC win list. This season he will try and join Brent Kaeding and Steve Kent as the only drivers to ever win multiple GSC titles.

Comprising the top 10 drivers in the 2006 GSC point standings were Allard, Salinas’s Ronnie Day, San Jose’s Jason Statler, Rocklin’s Robert Ballou, Grinnel, Iowa’s Dennis Moore Jr, Campbell’s Brent Kaeding, Chico’s Stephen Allard, Chico’s Johnny Gray, Elk Grove’s Kyle Hirst and Gilroy’s Jon Maiwald.

The top 10 owners were also honored and for the second year in a row Oakurst’s Morrie Williams took home the Golden State Challenge Series owners championship. Both Morrie and Katie Williams got up on stage and thanked the crew, sponsors and gave a funny story about their first date which was at, you guessed it, a racetrack!

The top 10 in the 2006 GSC owner standings was made up of the Morrie Williams No. 0 driven by Jonathan Allard, the Elite Landscaping No. 1 owned by Guy Stockbridge and Jason Meyers which was driven by Ronnie Day, the Statler Racing No. 00 driven by Jason Statler, the Kaeding Performance No 69 driven by Brent and Bud Kaeding, the Morrie Williams No. 0k driven by Dennis Moore Jr, the RPM Racing No. 10 driven by Stephen Allard and Robert Ballou, the Gray Motorsports 71 driven by Johnny Gray, the John Ballou No. 12 driven by Robert Ballou and the Maiwald Motorsports No. 6m driven by Jon Maiwald.

In addition to the top 10 drivers and owners being honored for their accomplishments at the banquet, there were also several special awards given out during the evening.

Rocklin’s Robert Ballou burst onto the 410 scene in Northern California this past season and excited fans with his on the edge driving style. For his spectacular year Ballou was named the 2006 Golden State Challenge Series Rookie of the Year. It’s hard to find a rookie in recent memory that was more impressive than Ballou in their first season campaigning with the GSC sprint car series. Ballou’s 2006 season showed two wins, both of which came right down to the wire in exciting fashion holding off GSC champ Jonathan Allard. The "Rocklin Rocket"also scored 8 top five finishes and 9 top 10's. He also ranked third in the series with five heat race victories. Ballou will now head back to the Mid West and try to further his career as he runs with the USAC National Sprint Car Series. All of us wish him the best.

Morrie Williams was given the Most Dedicated Car Owner Award for all his support of the Golden State Challenge Series in 2006. With the cost of owning and maintaining a single car so high nowadays, Williams showed just how dedicated he is by campaigning two cars for the entire GSC season, one for Jonathan Allard and one for Dennis Moore Jr. The crew members of the team should also be commended for their hard work all season and it payed off as both cars finished in the top five of the final point standings.

Gilroy’s Jon Maiwald was named Most Improved driver for 2006. Maiwald grew leaps and bounds in his first full season of competition with the Golden State Challenge Series and began to turn some good laps in the Summer. His season highlights show three heat race victories, two of which were ultra impressive in the fact that he won both of them by over a straightaway. Maiwald also brought well known NOS Energy Drink on board as a sponsor this past season. NOS made their presence known at Maiwald’s birthday bash during the GSC stop at Ocean Speedway in July by having a tent up in his pit and giving away free samples. Needless to say, it was a popular stop during and after the races. Maiwald said that he once again plans on running full time with the Golden State Challenge Series in 2007.

The Kaeding Performance Hard Charger Award went to San Jose’s Jason Statler. Statler struggled in qualifying this past season but when it came time to race, there was no driver that put the pedal down harder than the "Big Guy". Some of his impressive passing performances included A-main runs from: 12^th to 5^th on May 10 in Placerville, 17^th to 6^th on May 20 in Tulare, 18^th to 5^th on July 22 in Tulare and 21^st to 7^th on July 28 in Chico. Statler failed to win a race for the first time since 2002 but came oh so close at Ocean Speedway on July 15 when he had one of the most impressive performances any single driver had all season. During the A-main that night Statler made green flag passes of Kevin Pylant, Ronnie Day, Bud Kaeding and Jonathan Allard to take the lead within a 10 lap span. Statler ended up leading until the very last corner when lap traffic bottled him up and gave Bud Kaeding the opportunity to squeeze underneath and steal the win. If Statler can improve on his qualifying he’ll certainly be capable of breaking into victory lane in 2007 and winning the championship. Statler also made the official announcement that he will be driving the Mcmillen/Rolfe No. 10 machine this season. With help from his current team and the Mcmillen team this combination should prove potent. It also gives Statler the opportunity to race for the Silver Dollar Speedway track championship as well as the Golden State Challenge Series championship.

The Dave Bradway Jr. Inspirational Award was given to long time Kaeding Motorsports crew chief Billy Albini. Albini was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 and missed some time at the track the last couple years but in 2006 he came back strong as ever and guided the BK Racing No. 69 to three wins with the Golden State Challenge Series. Albini’s courage is an inspiration to us all.

The Walter T Ross Life Time Achievement Award was given to long time videographer of the Golden State Challenge Series, Grove Hill. Hill has been filming races on the west coast for over 20 years and is going on a kind of semi retirement in 2007. He is expected to get some stuff on his "honey do" list done as he slows down his race chasing mode that has been in such high gear for so many years.

Retiring car owner Don Pylant was given the Louie Vermeil Award. Pylant’s 14p machine driven by son Kevin has been a mainstay on the Northern California sprint car circuit for 20 years and it will be odd not having the 14p at the track in 2007. Big wins for Pylant Motorsports throughout the years include the Dirt Cup, the Trophy Cup, the Pombo/Sargent Classic and the Calistoga Speedway Season Opener which they won on two separate occasions. Son Kevin will be back racing in 2007 as he pilots the Wright Motorsports No. 99 machine.

Feather Falls Casino and John Padjen Motorsports have to be commended for putting on a great event. All the drivers and teams presented themself in a very professional manner and showed genuine appreciation for all of their fellow competitors as well as everyone that helps out with the Golden State Challenge Series.

The Golden State Challenge Series kicks off on March 9 and 10 with the running of the annual Mini Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico. For the official 2007 schedule visit http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com

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Thanks Gary!! what a good night... and good luck to them all in the 07 season

(LOSER)

Gary, sorry I didn't get a chance to see you , but we want to thank you for all of your hard work and great stories you do for us. You do a super job and look forward to see you in March.

Robbie and John

I was just getting ready to e-mail you and tell ya I was sorry I didn't get a chance to see you guys either.

Definitely look forward to seeing you guys in March for the Mini Gold Cup. Can't wait!!!

GT
www.allardmotorsports.com
www.stephenallard.com
www.brettmillerracing.net
www.thunderbowlraceway.com

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I had a great time last night and it was nice seeing everyone again! Less than a month away till the Tulare Woo show!

Winged sprintcars = the fastest and most exciting 
racecars on dirt! 

Great write up Gary. Almost feels as though I was there. From everything that I have read GSC is shaping up for a tremendous season.

Mission accomplished. Thanks to those who helped. And thanks to Jonathan, Robert, and Ronnie.

The top three drivers in the final 2006 GSC point standings. L to R: Jason Statler, Jonathan Allard and Ronnie Day. Photo courtesy Mike Doyle.

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Nice pictures everyone!

Winged sprintcars = the fastest and most exciting 
racecars on dirt! 

Good job GT. Looking forward to seeing you guys and partying with your rowdy mom again :-)....Just kidding Cindy - you know I love 'ya!

GT - Great write up! Great night, thanks to John and Robbie for offering us such a great place to have a banquet...

The King of California is going to be as tough as it ever has...

Although I was not in attendance, I was wondering why or how it is that the other track promoters of Golden State racers were never mentioned, nor were they in attendance to (I dont know), maybe hand out some of the awards. Just a thought, but must be way out of line........

That is what we were wondering. Found out today Faria and crew were ill, so that is why they didn't show. So to your answer no one else was there.

I haven't been since TK got his but I remember seeing Mike Kenney and Dave Swindle at that one. Bill Sessa was usually at the banquets and usually gave out the Scarborough trophy which, if I remember correctly, would have gone to Jason Statler this year. I'd find it hard to believe that every promoter in the series wasn't invited to the banquet. Very nice to see Grove get the Walt Ross Lifetime Achievement Award. Billy Albini is the perfect recipient of the Bradway award as his name is added to a long list of what are always VERY deserving recipients of that award.

Now Chris what do you mean invited??? Or chose not to go? To far? Nope not when we travel every damn weekend. Sorry if I sound a little bitter, but it is the same thing every year. Yep but they all want the shows huh? Oh well, this should be a great year and our best to all. Thanks to all of our drivers and owners, pit crews, fans and sponsors, you are the BEST.