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Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
Jonathan Allard heads North in search of 3rd Dirt Cup title following GSC events in Medford & Cottage Grove
By Gary Thomas
Alger, Wash – June 9, 2009…After a washout this past weekend in California current Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series point leader Jonathan Allard is geared up and ready to head to the Pacific Northwest for events in Medford & Cottage Grove on Saturday & Monday nights, followed by the huge $25,000 to win Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup on June 18-20.
With last Saturday's GSC event in Quincy being cancelled for weather there are now 11 events remaining on the season schedule, with the next two races taking place in Oregon beginning this Saturday night at the Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford. Allard has had success at the 1/3 mile clay oval, having finished runner-up at the track on three separate occasions the last four years, as well as winning an ASCS Northwest Series race last July behind the wheel of the Williams Motorsports, Butler Built Performance, JP’s Paint & Body Works No. 0.
Going into this Saturday's show in Medford Allard will hold an 11 point lead in the Golden State Challenge Series standings over Tyler Walker and will be searching for his second victory of the GSC season. "Medford has been a good track to us over the last handful of years," said Allard, who is on a streak of eight consecutive podium finishes with GSC. "We've had a real consistent season so far, but we no doubt want to get some wins and this will be a good week to try and get those."
On Monday night June 15 the traveling 410 sprint car series will then make its way to the Cottage Grove Speedway for the inaugural GSC appearance at the beautiful quarter-mile clay oval. Allard had a great run at the track a couple years ago with the World of Outlaws when he charged from 21st to fifth in the main event, before a blown tire with just three laps remaining put an end to the outstanding effort. “Cottage Grove is a great track and we’re very happy to be running there this year,” Allard stated. "We've been fast there before so hopefully that'll continue on Monday."
After Cottage Grove the Williams Motorsports hauler will continue north on I-5 and head for the Skagit Speedway in Alger, Washington for the prestigious 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Van's Equipment. The three-day show will go green for opening night on Thursday evening June 18 and continue with another preliminary night on Friday, followed by Saturday's finale that will award $25,000 to the winner of the 40 lap main event.
In his career Allard has captured the Dirt Cup twice before, with those victories coming in 2005 & '06. He also finished runner-up in '07, where he lead the first 34 laps of the feature on Saturday night until an incident in lapped traffic allowed Indiana's Brandon Wimmer the opportunity to get by and steal the win away. Last season Allard dominated the Friday night prelim feature for victory and was running third during Saturday's 40 lapper, but got upside down in turn four midway through and finished 13th in the rundown.
This seasons Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in years, as an extremely talented field is expected to battle it out for part of the $150,000 purse spread out over the three nights of racing. "The Dirt Cup is always one of the events I look forward to the most every season and it should be really fun this year," Allard said. "When you look at some of the guys coming out to run Dirt Cup it really shows just how important this race is and how much it means to everyone."
In the fall of last year Allard scored a top five finish with the World of Outlaws at the Skagit Speedway and he'll look to continue his success at the blazing fast 3/10 mile clay oval next week. "I've always loved running Skagit and it's definitely one of my favorite tracks to go to," he commented. "We have a lot of supporters up there and have met a lot of great people in Washington so that always makes it fun to head back up there."
Allard and his Williams Motorsports, K&N Filters, Red Line Oil No. 0 will also be on hand Wednesday night June 17 at the Haggen Food and Pharmacy in Burlington, Wash for the annual Haggen Dirt Cup Party. T-shirts will be on sale at the party and also at the rig during the day so please stop by the car to hang out and say hi. "Steve Beitler does a great job with the Dirt Cup and the party has been a really cool deal to get everyone excited about the race," Allard commented. "It's a pretty unique thing out here and wish we could see more of it because it's a great tool to market the event."
The front gate will open at 5:30 pm each night with racing getting underway at approximately 7. More info on the 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup presented by Van's Equipment can be found at http://www.skagitspeedway.com and http://www.nwracetalk.com
For more news on Chico, CA's Jonathan Allard log onto http://www.allardmotorsports.com
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Jonathan Allard and Williams Motorsports in victory lane during the Friday night portion of the Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup last year. Photo by http://www.freewebs.com/h2hpictures/
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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Two-time & defending King of California Jonathan Allard will bring an 11 point lead in the Golden State Challenge Series standings to the Southern Oregon Speedway this Saturday night, as he searches for his second victory of the season with the 410 tour.
On Monday GSC will head for another point paying event at the Cottage Grove Speedway, before the points are thrown out the window for the non-sanctioned 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup at the Skagit Speedway.
Allard won the Dirt Cup during his first two years driving the Williams Motorsports sprinter in 2005 & '06 and was the runner-up in '07. The three-night event is presented by Van's Equipment and packs a stout $150,000 purse, with $25,000 going to Saturday night's winner. Photo by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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Allard will also be in action on Friday night at the Silver Dollar Speedway as he tests out the new track surface for the initial time, in what will be the first Feather Falls Casino 410 Point Race since May 15. The Chico driver goes into the evening sitting second in the SDS standings, just six points behind leader Bobby McMahan. Photo by www.graphxdesigns.com
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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