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Photo by L&J Photography
Tyler Walker charges to thrilling last lap GSC victory at Ocean Speedway
By Gary Thomas
Watsonville, CA – April 25, 2009…Whenever Los Angeles racer Tyler Walker signs in at the back-gate things are sure to be exciting and that was apparent once again on Saturday night at the Ocean Speedway with the current Golden State Challenge Series point leader making a thrilling last lap pass of Chico's Jonathan Allard for his second straight victory and third overall of the season.
The win for Walker was his eighth career with the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series, putting him into a tie for eighth with Sean Becker and Jason Statler as he continues to move up on the all-time win list. Walker has now won three of the first five events and all have come in exciting fashion, but none more exhilarating than on Saturday night at the Ocean Speedway.
The 30 lap feature began with two-time & defending King of California Jonathan Allard shooting out into the lead. It was the third time this season that the Chico driver started out leading the main event as he searched for his first win of the season with the series. Early on Allard looked extremely strong as he worked traffic expertly with two-time Ocean Speedway champ Brent Kaeding and Walker breathing down his neck.
As Allard set a fast pace out front Walker began to step up his challenge, but just as soon as he was getting ready to take on Kaeding for second, the red lights flashed on for Zach Zimmerly who had gotten upside down in turn two. After going back green a few more laps would be clicked off before the red lights came on once again, this time for Fremont's Shane Golobic.
As the halfway point was reached Kaeding started to find new life and on the restart hounded Allard for the lead. "BK" was all over the rear of the Williams Motorsports No. 0, but the defending King of California was able to keep the 13-time champ at bay every step of the way. The final caution of the race then occurred on lap 19 as fifth running Jason Statler of Grass Valley slowed with a flat tire.
The final 11 laps of the main event then saw the intensity level heat up a notch as Kaeding continued to pursue Allard, yet at the same time had Walker all over him as well. After a couple of laps however, Allard was able to find a nice groove and put some distance between he and the second and third place cars. At the same time though, Walker was all over Kaeding and on lap 25 he would use a lapped car as a pick to slice underneath the Al's Roofing Supply No. 69 to steal the runner-up spot.
Walker then closed in quickly on Allard and made it a battle for the lead over the final four circuits of the main event. The two talented racers proceeded to put on a show for the grandstand as they used two distinct grooves on the well prepared Ocean Speedway surface.
Entering turn three on lap 28 Allard looked to the low side to get by the lapped car of Ken Fredenburg, but it appeared to be the wrong choice as his momentum was slowed just a tad bit and Walker charged to the top at that same instance. As they rounded turn four coming to the white flag however, the lapped car slid out to the middle and Allard was able to get underneath with Walker taking the outside as the pair put a high speed straddle on Fredenburg heading down the front stretch three wide.
The breathtaking exchange then saw Walker charge to the high side in typical T-dub fashion and use the momentum to rocket around Allard into the lead. Once in front the driver of the SC Motorsports No. 24 raced smoothly around turns three and four to drive off and pick up the exciting victory over Allard, who crossed the stripe in second for the third time this season.
It marked the second straight week and the third time overall that Walker and Allard have fought for the win coming down to the final laps as the duo continues to fight for the Golden State Challenge Series point lead, which now sees Walker unofficially up by six points following his third victory of the year. So far this season it has been some of the most exciting and competitive action we've seen in a number of years and should no doubt continue in the weeks to come.
Kaeding raced across the line in third place to score his third podium finish of the season and continue to lurk just behind Walker and Allard in the standings. Crossing the checkered in fourth and scoring his third straight top five finish was Elk Grove's Kyle Larson in the Vertullo Racing No. 83v. The 16 year-old spent much of the event dicing it up with Campbell's Bud Kaeding before making the pass with about 10 laps remaining in the feature. Kaeding motored on and finished fifth to score his first top five of the season aboard the Alviso Rock No. 29.
Rounding out the top 10 in the main event were Scotts Valley's Evan Suggs, who earlier in the night set his third fast time of the season, Easton's Tommy Tarlton, Calistoga's Mike Benson, Ripon's Brandon Carey and Gilroy's Jon Maiwald.
The Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series will return to action next Saturday night at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif.
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Results Ocean Speedway April 25-
Fast time- Evan Suggs 11.758
Heat 1- Craig Smith
Heat 2- Bud Kaeding
Heat 3- Jonathan Allard
Dash- Jonathan Allard
A-main- Tyler Walker, Jonathan Allard, Brent Kaeding, Kyle Larson, Bud Kaeding, Evan Suggs, Tommy Tarlton, Mike Benson, Brandon Carey, Jon Maiwald, Anthony Simone, Jason Statler, Ken Fredenburg, Brad Furr, Paul Zimmerly, Jerry Bonema, Mike Stallings, Craig Smith, Ricky Wright, Shane Golobic, Zach Zimmerly
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