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Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
Allard scores third at Tulare and takes 9 point deficit in GSC standings into Calistoga Speedway double-header
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – May 19, 2009…Following a third place finish at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway on Saturday night Chico's Jonathan Allard will go into this weekend's Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series events at the Calistoga Speedway sitting second in the standings, just nine points behind leader Tyler Walker.
Allard opened up this past weekend by charging for a sixth place finish at the Silver Dollar Speedway on Friday night, after having to go to the rear of the field following contact with another car halfway through the feature. On Saturday Allard then headed for the Tulare Thunderbowl and began the evening by setting fast-time, before running third in the feature in which he came up just short of second after a last lap battle with Tommy Tarlton.
With the third place finish in Tulare Allard finds himself nine digits behind current Golden State Challenge Series point leader Tyler Walker heading into a Memorial Day weekend double-header at the Calistoga Speedway. Allard's six top five finishes is tied for the most in the series with Brent Kaeding, but Walker's four wins give him the advantage in the standings going into Calistoga.
The last time the traveling 410 sprint car series competed at the Calistoga half-mile was in May of 2007 and it saw Allard have a very strong weekend, which included his first career victory at the track. The two-time King of California came very close to making it a weekend sweep, but his chances at that were dashed when he, like many other cars late in the going, ran out of fuel on the final lap while holding a commanding lead in the feature on Saturday's opening night.
Allard was heading down the back-stretch and into turn three with his first Calistoga checkered flag in sight, but the yellow lights flashed on for a car that had spun into the infield. On the ensuing green-white-checkered restart Allard led the field until the car sputtered after taking the white flag, which resulted in him limping across the finish line in fourth.
Despite the disappointment the Chico native came back the next night to lead every circuit in the 25 lap feature to score his very first Calistoga Speedway win. "It meant a lot to win in Calistoga that night after the way Saturday ended," Allard said. "I don't know if I've ever been more disappointed than I was after that Saturday night race, because winning at Calistoga is something every driver from our neck of the woods wants to do."
Allard last competed at the Calistoga Speedway in August of '07 during the World of Outlaws sanctioned Harvest Classic, where he qualified sixth fastest out of 31 cars and brought home a 10th place finish during the Sunday finale. "We've been real fast at Calistoga the last handful of times we raced there so I'm definitely looking forward to going back," said Allard, who has set fast-time in three of the past four GSC events at the track. "Ashley Smith has given me some great cars at the place and that has certainly brought up my confidence at Calistoga more than it ever was prior to driving the 0 car."
Going into this weekend Allard will look to put the Williams Motorsports, K&N Filters, Red Line Oil No. 0 into victory lane to try and pick up as many points as possible in the GSC standings. "It'll be tough this weekend because Tyler Walker is always fast on the big high-speed tracks and so is a guy like Tim Kaeding so we'll have our work cut out for us, " Allard commented. "It'll be a fun challenge though and I have a lot of confidence in this team. I just hope everyone comes out to support the weekend because Calistoga's a great place to spend a couple nights at and it should be a good show."
All seating will be general admission during the weekend with tickets going on sale at 4 pm on race day. Adult tickets cost $20 and kids 4-10 will be $10. Children under four will be free. For more info on the event contact 707-942-5111 or log onto http://www.napacountyfairgrounds.com/about_us.htm and http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com
The Calistoga Speedway is located on the beautiful Napa County Fairgrounds in Calistoga, California and is located at 1435 North Oak Street. Don't forget to stop by the trailer during the day and after the races to say hi and check out our merchandise. For more news on Chico's Jonathan Allard visit http://www.allardmotorsports.com
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Two-time King of California Jonathan Allard will go into this weekend's GSC return to the Calistoga Speedway sitting just nine points back of Tyler Walker for the series lead. Photo by http://www.graphxdesigns.com
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