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JA comes home 7th in 50 lap WSS finale
By Gary Thomas
January 14, 2006... Jonathan Allard came into the World Series Australian Sprintcar Open on the heels of a handful of top 10 finishes and had an eventful time keeping that record intact over the two days of action. The World Series Sprintcars invaded Brisbane on Wednesday night and Jonathan scored a sixth place finish to give him confidence heading into the big weekend of competition with the WSS at Brisbane International.
It all got underway on Friday night with 34 talented drivers signing into the pits. Qualifying was held on a much better track than it was on Wednesday and Jonathan clocked off a 12.020 in the Ausdeck Patios & Roofing, Roadway Logistics No. 0 to score 13th quick, just ahead of fellow Californian Brent Kaeding and WOO star Brooke Tatnell.
The overall format for the night was slightly altered for the World Series Australian Sprintcar Open. After qualifying each driver competed in three heat races apiece and then the top 16 in points from qualifying and heats were put into the 25 lap main event, therefore no dashes were needed.
Jonathan competed in the opening heat and started sixth. He did a nice job and made a couple passes to get the SEQ Fuels, Weld Racing No. 0 up to third by the checkered flag. Next up for Jonathan was heat five and a second row outside starting spot. Jonathan ran a solid heat and was sitting in third place when the white flag waved, but those pesky ol’ JA demons resurfaced again. The driver running in second, Bryan Mann, spun sideways in turn two and Jonathan had nowhere to go hitting him and suffering damage which made it so he couldn’t complete the last half a lap. The result was an eleventh place finish for JA and a dnf for the heat. The kicker to the story is that the contact from Jonathan knocked Mann straight again so he could continue on and he went on to finish second!
The final heat race of the evening for Jonathan was heat nine and it saw him starting on the inside of the third row. A little luck came JA’s way as the pole sitter spun out on the opening lap and the third place starter retired from the heat which bumped Jonathan up to the front row for the complete restart. JA settled into second on the start and went on to finish in the runner up spot to make up some needed points for the night after losing so many in his previous heat.
When points were tabulated from qualifying and the heat races, Jonathan saw himself sitting tenth overall. On the start of the main event, front row starter David Murcott got the jump on the field but spun out in turn two in front of the entire field. Every driver was able to get by okay except for Jonathan who contacted Murcott and came to a stop. JA was then forced to restart at the back of the field for the complete restart.
Unfortunately a couple laps after the restart Jonathan was involved in another accident, this time in turn four with Todd Wanless which put him out of the race with a dnf and a finish of 12th.
Saturday night’s event was set completely by points, and qualifying wasn’t held. Jonathan had accumulated 135 points on Friday night which put him 13th overall.
The format for the night saw each driver run one heat race and then those points were added to Friday’s total. After that the top 12 in points were put into a pair of dashes.
Jonathan started sixth in the first heat race and moved up to fourth by the finish giving him enough points to get into a dash. JA was placed into Dash A and it saw him start sixth.
For whatever reason, during the last half year it just seems that misfortune finds Jonathan wherever he is on the track. During the dash David Murcott spun in turn three and unfortunately Jonathan wasn’t able to avoid him. As JA tried to get by he clipped Murcott and it sent Jonathan for a frightening end over end flip which ended with him hitting the catch fence. Thankfully JA was okay and then the Ausdeck crew worked diligently to get the 0 machine back together in time for the 50 lap $20,000 to win feature.
Their work payed off and Jonathan was able to get out for the feature where he started from the ninth position. JA fought the wounded car for 50 laps and brought it home with a solid seventh place finish. This now puts an end to Jonathan’s venture at Brisbane and he now turns his attention to the Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway.
Next week will see Jonathan return to the wheel of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 as he takes to the Parramatta City Raceway for the gigantic three day Outlaws Down Under 4 event. Outlaws Down Under 4 is by far the biggest show Jonathan will compete in during his time Down Under. Right now there are 80 drivers entered for Outlaws Down Under 4 including WOO stars Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Tim Kaeding, Joey Saldana and Danny Lasoski.
With Jonathan getting back behind the wheel of the Williams 0 that means he will have expert tuner Ashley Smith back at his side. With the kind of competition Jonathan will face at ODU 4, JA will definitely need all the knowledge Ashley has in his arsenal.
Jonathan and the rest of the competitors will hit the TPCR clay on Thursday night January 18 to kick off the event with a preliminary night of action. They will then come back on Friday night for another prelim and then put an end to ODU 4 on Saturday evening.
To keep track of Jonathan Allard at Outlaws Down Under 4 log onto http://www.allardmotorsports.com
GT
www.allardmotorsports.com
www.stephenallard.com
www.brettmillerracing.net
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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The wreck did not look too back, but Jon was limping a bit later in the night. He told me he was really pissed with David Murcott because it was the second night in a row he got taken out by Murcott. Cost JA a start near the front of the feature.
Although it is debatable whether it was Murcott's fault on the second occasion as there appeared to be some equipment failure involved.
Some words between the two in the pits afterwards and the joint was a bit tense. Murcott wont be at Outlaws Downunder...
www.sprintcardaily.com
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