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Photo's by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
Blown tire takes away top five Silver Cup finish from Stephen Allard
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – March 30, 2009…Competing for the first time this season former two-time Silver Dollar Speedway track champion Stephen Allard looked to be on way to a top five finish on Saturday night, until a blown tire with just two laps left in the main event took that opportunity away at the 28th annual Silver Cup Race of Champions.
Allard was in action this past weekend driving the Double-D Customs No. 4 sprinter in memory of car owner Dave Lee, who passed away in the off-season. The Chico driver began the weekend by doing a memorial lap in tribute to Lee and was happy to be able to come out and run the race this past weekend. "I want to thank the whole Lee family and friends for allowing us to come out and race this weekend in memory of Dave," Allard said.
After the weekend however, all of the equipment is expected to be for sale unless sponsorship funding can be found. "We'd love to find some sponsors to try and run some more races, but the equipment will be for sale after this weekend," said Allard, who won the Silver Dollar Speedway track title in 2007 and also was co-track champ with Shane Scott in 1996. "I just am really grateful for the opportunity Dave gave me last year and it's certainly something I'll never forget. He was a great man and will be dearly missed."
This past weekend's Silver Cup at the Silver Dollar Speedway kicked off on Friday evening and it saw Allard qualify eighth fastest in the field, before running fourth in his heat race to transfer the Double-D Customs, Platinum Powder Coating, Butler Built Performance No. 4 into the main event. He would line up seventh in the 25 lap contest and early on would fall back a bit as he searched for a line that worked to his liking.
With around 10 laps remaining in the race however, Allard put the car right up on the cushion of the Silver Dollar Speedway bullring and began marching forward as he very nearly got up to the top five until contact with another car dropped him back in the order with just a few laps left. He was able to straighten the car back out and regroup to motor on and cross the stripe in 10th place at the checkered.
Saturday brought drastically different conditions as a strong wind blew through the Chico area and dried the track out very quickly. Allard would get an early draw in qualifying and use it to his advantage to time-in fourth quickest out of 36 cars. A fourth place finish in his heat race then transferred "SA" into the 30 lap main event where he would start from the fourth position. The track had become "rubber down" by feature time and it would make for an interesting contest with tire-wear becoming a key part of the battle.
Early on Allard would get his elbows up and make a great move off turn four to claim second, but couldn't hold it and would drop to fourth by the midway point of the feature. He would stay persistent though and make the pass for third on lap 13 and hang onto the position until the 28th lap when the tire blew and forced him to stop, putting a tough end to the main event. "We had a good run going, but the tire just couldn't make it two more laps," Allard commented.
It was another race that saw good performance from Allard in the No. 4 sprinter though, keeping up the trend from the end of last season that saw the team run strong in limited outings. Last year Allard raced the Randy V tuned machine to a victory in the Cotton Classic at Kings Speedway and also scored a seventh place finish in the overall Trophy Cup standings at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway.
After the weekend Allard's plans are up in the air, which is unfortunate due to the fact that he would definitely be a driver in the championship hunt if a weekly ride could be found at the Silver Dollar Speedway.
Stay tuned to http://www.stephenallardracing.com for updates on future races for the Chico, California driver.
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Two-time Silver Dollar Speedway track champion Stephen Allard had a top five run cut short by a blown tire with just two laps left in the main event at the 28th annual Silver Cup Race of Champions. Allard is looking for sponsors in attempt to run some more races in the Double-D Customs No. 4 machine.
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