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Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
Runner-up finish in Placerville marks 8th straight GSC podium for Jonathan Allard
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – May 31, 2009…In the world of auto racing consistency is always one of the biggest things drivers and teams strive for and Chico, CA's Jonathan Allard continued his strong pace this past weekend by scoring his seventh and eighth consecutive podium finishes in Golden State Challenge Series competition.
Allard hasn't finished off the GSC podium since April 11 and in the eleven events held so far this year he's finished among the top three in all but two. "It was another good weekend for us, but we definitely want to get a win real bad," said the current Golden State Challenge Series point leader. "I have to thank Morrie & Katie Williams, all our sponsors, my crew chief Ashley Smith and this whole team because we're really running well right now."
The double-header weekend for the Golden State Challenge Series opened up on Friday night at the Ocean Speedway and Allard went into it holding a 12 point advantage over Los Angeles, CA's Tyler Walker. Allard began the night by timing-in ninth fastest in the field and claimed victory in his heat race, but with no cars failing to transfer out of the heats it left him out of the dash and put him in the fifth row for the feature.
The early parts of the main event saw a number of yellows slow the pace, but the 32 year-old took advantage of the restarts and made a number of strong passes using the high groove. Allard was charging hard on the hooked-up surface, as he bounced around the rough spots and many times had the front wheels off the ground wrestling his 850 hp sprinter around the bullring. "JA" charged by Kyle Hirst to take fourth on lap 18 and then rocketed around Bud Kaeding for third on lap 23.
The pass of Kaeding didn't last long though, as a red flag occurred shortly after and Allard was forced to go back behind the Campbell driver. The final seven laps saw Allard put pressure on Kaeding and sit solidly in fourth until second running Jason Statler got upside down while battling for the lead on the last lap. It bumped the Williams Motorsports, K&N Filters, Red Line Oil No. 0 up to third where Allard would go on to finish. "I have to thank all the fans for coming out tonight and want to congratulate Kyle Larson on getting his first GSC win," he said after the race.
On Saturday Allard and the rest of the GSC teams traveled to the Placerville Speedway for a night of racing at the red-clay quarter-mile located on the El Dorado County Fairgrounds. The two-time & defending King of California kicked off the event by setting his series leading fourth fast time of the season, before running third in his heat and sixth in the dash. Lining-up from the third row Allard played it safe over the first half of the race, but began to turn up the heat during the later stages and came forward to challenge for the win as the laps ticked down.
The driver of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 made passes of Bud Kaeding and Andy Gregg late in the race and was coming after leader Tyler Walker when the yellow lights came on with just a few laps remaining. In the open track things would be tough, but Allard gave it a strong run after Walker and going into the final set of corners charged to the low side of the speedway to nose ahead of the No. 24 sprint car, but Walker was able to use the momentum up high and Allard was forced to settle for second at the stripe.
The result marked Allard's seventh finish of second or better in his last 10 appearances with the Golden State Challenge Series in Placerville. "I gave it everything I had and wish the thing would have stayed green because I think I had a better shot at Tyler in traffic," Allard said. "I'm glad we put on another good show for the fans and I have to congratulate Tyler and his team on doing a great job as always. The racing this season has been amazing with the Golden State Challenge Series and I think the fans are definitely getting their monies worth each and every night."
Up next for the traveling 410 sprint car series will be the lone season event at the American Valley Speedway in Quincy on Saturday. Last season's event at the beautiful Plumas-Sierra County Fairgrounds facility saw Allard pass San Jose's Tim Kaeding on lap 21 and drive off to pick up his first career victory at the long 3/8 mile clay oval. The Chico native will bring an 11 point lead over Tyler Walker into Saturday night as he searches for his second GSC win of the season.
For more news and info on current Golden State Challenge Series point leader Jonathan Allard log onto http://www.allardmotorsports.com
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Chico's Jonathan Allard scored a close runner-up finish on Saturday night in Placerville, which marked his eighth straight podium with the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series. Allard will bring the Williams Motorsports, Butler Built Performance, Platinum Powder Coating No. 0 into Quincy this weekend holding an 11 point lead in the GSC standings over Tyler Walker. Photo by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
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