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Photo by http://www.JohnsRacingPhotos.com
Jonathan Allard charges to runner-up in 410 main on Friday & wins 360 feature on Saturday in Hanford
By Gary Thomas
Hanford, CA – September 29, 2008…Chico’s Jonathan Allard put together a consistent outing at the two-night Tachi Open Wheel Invitational this past weekend at the Kings Speedway and highlighted the effort by capturing victory during the 360 Winged Sprint Car portion of the night on Saturday.
The double-header show at the 3/8 mile clay oval marked Allard’s first visit to the track this season, as well as the first time 410 sprint cars have graced the Hanford based speedway this year. It was also his first outing since picking up a third place finish behind Jac Haudenschild and Craig Dollanksy at the 55th annual Gold Cup in early September at Silver Dollar Speedway.
This past weekends event at the Kings Speedway was kicked off with the annual Cotton Classic on Friday night and Allard went into it as the defending champion of the event. A 22 car field was on hand for the 410 sprint portion of the night and the two-time & current “King of California” began the evening by clocking the fastest lap in qualifying to give the Williams Motorsports, K & N Filters, Sharp Insurance No. 0, fast time.
Allard however, didn’t get the start he wanted in his heat race and crossed the line in fifth, which forced him to start way back in 14th for the 25 lap main event. The track surface was very choppy and rough during the night, but Allard was able to move forward quickly and carve his way through the field. By a caution on lap 10 Allard had already made it up to sixth and spent the later stages of the race charging forward, finding a nice line as he ripped around high-scary side in turns one and two.
The Ashley Smith tuned machine was a rocket ship as the laps wound down and Allard completed passes of Sammy Swindell, Bud Kaeding and Brent Kaeding to move into second with just a few laps left in the race. He then closed in quickly on older brother Stephen, but didn’t have enough time and settled for a second place finish at the stripe. “It was a good run for us and we’re happy with a second after starting in the seventh row,” Allard said. “I also want to apologize to Shane Stewart for getting into him midway through the race because I didn’t mean to do it and feel bad about it. The track was just so rough that I caught a rut and bounced up and couldn’t stay off of him,” he concluded.
In the 360 portion of opening night Allard timed-in fifth quickest and brought home a fifth place finish in the main event after having to go to the rear following a monster bicycle on the initial start of the feature. The finish was one spot shy from locking himself into the 360 field the next night and he came back on Saturday to set fast time, finish second in his heat and second in the dash, which gave the Red Line Oil, JP’s Paint & Body, Matt & Glass No. 0 a front row starting spot in the 360 main event.
A very dry track made it critical for drivers to hit their marks and Allard was able to jump out into the lead at the waving of the green flag. He soon had Tim Kaeding inching up on his back bumper however, and needed to run mistake free because any slip-up would allow Kaeding by. Allard didn’t give Kaeding the opportunity though and pulled away at the end of the 25 lap race to pick up his sixth main event victory of the season and first since Mid-July.
Allard capped the night by starting from the front row in the 410 feature and was committed to running the bottom early in the going, but the top side had gained some grip and “JA” lost a few spots in the first 10 circuits. He then spent the rest of the race trying to battle his way back into the top five, after slipping back to seventh at one point and was able to do so with a late race pass of Brent Kaeding to claim a fifth place finish at the checkered.
Looking for first Fall Nationals triumph this weekend:
Jonathan Allard and Williams Motorsports will now head to the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico for the final time this year looking to pick up the Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals for the very first time this weekend. Last season Allard brought home a fifth place finish in the 40 lap A-main on Saturday night, which tied his career best result at the event that he had previously tallied in 2002 and ’05.
Allard’s best shot at a Fall Nationals win came in ‘05 when he broke the all-time 360 track record at Silver Dollar and led every lap in the main event to capture victory during his prelim night and set him up with a front row starting spot on Saturday. He then jumped into the lead of the 40 lap feature on Saturday night and led 22 laps until getting off the edge of the track while putting cars a lap down, which caused him to drop back to fifth where he eventually finished.
The 17th annual Fall Nationals will pay $6,000 to win this year and Allard looks forward to trying to add the race to his resume this weekend. “This event had grown to be one the biggest sprint car races on the west coast and we’ve always been fast at it, but for one reason or another it just hasn’t come our way,” Allard said. “I have a great team behind me though and I’m confident we’ll be fast this weekend and have a shot to put this car in victory lane,” the Chico racer concluded.
For more news, pictures and info on 2006 & ’08 Golden State Challenge Series “King of California” Jonathan Allard please visit http://www.allardmotorsports.com
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After capturing a 360 main event win at Hanford last Saturday Chico's Jonathan Allard will be in search of his first career Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals title this weekend at Silver Dollar Speedway. Photo by http://www.GraphXDesigns.com
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Gary I see on Jonathan's website that the team is headed south for the oval nationals. Great news, hope nothing has changed for them, as I am looking forward to seeing the team at Perris.
"Ralphie, Senor, muchas gracias por una mas cerveza" -
Scott Daloisio @ the PAS
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