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Photo's by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
Wild Winged Wednesday ends abruptly for Stephen Allard following late race contact
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – June 3, 2009…Competing in the third round of action for the traveling California Sprint Car Civil War Series Chico's Stephen Allard had a likely top five finish taken away after late race contact while sitting in the third position on Wednesday evening at the Placerville Speedway.
So far in 2009 Allard has been very fast in the Double D Motorsports No. 4 sprinter, but luck has not been on his side during the four outings in the car this year. In fact three of the four events have seen top five finishes cut short, with two of those being podium results taken away late in the going. Ironically the lone Civil War 360 Series event this season Allard has been fortunate enough to finish at was the season opener in Petaluma where he brought home a third place result.
Wild Winged Wednesday at the Placerville Speedway saw a 37 car field sign in at the back-gate and it started off well for Allard with him timing-in eighth fastest aboard the Double D Motorsports, JP's Paint & Body, Medi-Pro Billing No. 4. The heat race saw disaster strike on the first corner however, as cars jammed up and Tyler Walker jumped down to the bottom lane directly in front of Allard, but unfortunately the 36 year-old had such a great run that he contacted the rear of the green 24 machine.
It resulted in Allard spinning sideways and the car digging in and tipping over. He was then towed to the work area and the Double D Motorsports team, along with help from various other crews, was able to get him back out for the complete restart. Starting from the rear of the field Allard was able to pick cars off and get close to the fourth and final transfer spot, but didn't have enough time and settled for fifth to put him into the b-main.
Lining-up fifth in the 12 lap semi main Allard moved forward to score a third place finish and give him his time back behind the inversion for the main event. With the number four pill being drawn it put the two-time Silver Dollar Speedway track champion in the fourth row and at the waving of the green flag he was on the move as he charged up into fifth after a few laps. Allard then applied heavy pressure to the rear of both Tyler Walker and Andy Forsberg as the quarter-mile clay oval was in perfect shape during the scheduled 30 lap feature.
In traffic Allard appeared to be faster than both Walker and Forsberg, but just as soon as he was getting ready to try and make something happen with the pair, the yellow lights flashed on for Kyle Hirst and Sean Becker, who were taken out by a pair of spun lapped cars while sitting first and second in the order. This bumped the Platinum Powder Coating, Lamalfa, Butler Built Performance No. 4 up to the third position and Allard would run there for a few laps until disaster struck for the second time during the night.
As Allard headed into turn three up high, the No. 11 of Roger Crockett attempted a slide job, which didn't work and resulted in him making hard contact with Allard's sprinter in turn four and putting the No. 4 out of the race. It was a tough ending to the night, as the feature was checkered flagged just a few more laps after going back green due to a steady rain that made the track surface unsafe to continue.
Despite the disappointing ending, Allard and Double D Motorsports were quick once again and have shown to be certain contenders for the Civil War Series title if that little bit of luck would just shine down upon the team. "It is getting frustrating with how things have gone for us this year, but we're trying to not let it get us down because we know we're fast and are capable of running up front," said Allard, who also had a podium finish taken away at the Silver Cup Race of Champions earlier this year due to a blown tire with just two laps left in the main event.
Allard is also very appreciative of everyone who is supporting the team this season and helping out on the No. 4 sprint car. "I have to thank Dorothy Lee, Randy V, Russell Moore, our whole crew and all our sponsors for helping to get us out here because I really appreciate everyone's support. We've been in position run in the top three or five every race this year and so far the results just haven't been coming, but sooner or later things are gonna change."
The next scheduled event for Stephen Allard and Double D Motorsports will be the Civil War Series event at the American Valley Speedway in Quincy on June 20. We are going to be updating our website soon with fresh contact so stay tuned to http://www.stephenallard.com for future updates.
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Chico's Stephen Allard was running in the third position on Wednesday night at the Placerville Speedway when contact took him out of the running order during the California Sprint Car Civil War Series sanctioned event
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