This message was edited on
January 06, 2008 at
05:02:58 PM by Gary Thomas
Photo courtesy Alan Thompsonhttp://www.sprintcar1.net
Jonathan Allard finishes 5th at $50,000 to win International at PCR
By Gary Thomas
Sydney, Australia – January 6, 2008…Chico, California’s Jonathan Allard kicked off his 2008 racing season in strong fashion this past weekend as he scored a top five finish in the Bevelite Glass $50,000 International at the Parramatta City Raceway in Sydney, Aus. The two-night show is one of the premier races at PCR each year and this season’s edition was the eighth time the event has been held.
The action got underway on Friday night with 63 winged 410 sprint cars taking to the track and Jonathan clocked off the 30th quickest time in qualifying. It put him outside the inversion for the heat races, but he and the team re-grouped and were able to get the Williams Motorsports No. 0 dialed in for the heat.
Starting eighth in the second heat race Jonathan put the GT Trends, Tom Rolfe Trucking, Sharp Insurance & Bonding machine on the top of the race track and drove around multiple cars, including 20-time WOO champ Steve Kinser to finish third and earn a direct transfer into the main event. Despite the strong run in the heat however, Jonathan was forced to start way back in 23rd for the 30 lap preliminary night feature. The former Golden State Challenge Series champion was on his game though and charged through the field to score an eighth place finish aboard the K & N Filters, Red Line Oil, JP’s Paint & Body, Chris Jones Racing No. 0.
The weather then played havoc with the action on Saturday and the decision was made to postpone the finale until Sunday evening. A total of 56 cars came back to finish off the event on Sunday and with heat line-ups being set by the Friday portion of the festivities, Jonathan had earned himself a front row starting spot in his heat race. After winning the fourth heat the 31 year-old then brought home a third place finish in the second dash to give himself a third row starting spot in the $50,000 to win main event.
Jonathan battled in and around the top five for virtually the whole race and spent much of it slicing and dicing with four-time Australian champ Garry Brazier. JA was able to get by Brazier momentarily at one point for fourth, but lost it back to Brazier shortly after and at the checkered flag he crossed the line in fifth place. The main event was won by two-time and defending World of Outlaw champion Donny Schatz.
It was a very good start to Jonathan’s Australian trip and he’ll look to keep up the momentum over the next couple weeks. He and the Williams Motorsports team are scheduled to return to action this coming Saturday January 12 for a track point race at PCR. The week after that it will be the big three-night Outlaw Down Under V. For the latest news from Jonathan’s action in Australia keep tuned to http://www.allardmotorsports.com
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