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Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
Jonathan Allard rebounds from early spin to charge for podium at Pombo/Sargent Classic in Tulare
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – June 28, 2009…In championship battles never giving up is always a key and on Saturday night Jonathan Allard certainly exemplified that after charging from the rear of the field to score a podium finish following an early race spin during the annual Pombo/Sargent Classic at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway.
The result was Allard's third consecutive third place finish at the Pombo/Sargent Classic and helped him maintain the point lead in the Golden State Challenge Series standings, over now second place Brent Kaeding. "To be able to come through the field like that really shows just how fast this car is right now and I have to thank my guys for doing a great job," Allard said. "I want to congratulate Brent on another Pombo/Sargent win and Tommy Tarlton for running second tonight and I just wish we could get him out here full-time with Golden State."
The Pombo/Sargent Classic marked the 16th round of action for the Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series and Allard kicked it off in strong fashion by earning his series high fifth fast-time award behind the wheel of the Williams Motorsports, Sharp Insurance, K&N Filters, Red Line Oil No. 0. A runner-up finish in the opening heat race and a fifth place effort in the dash then set the Chico native up to start from the inside of the third row in the main event. Day-time temps above 100 degrees had taken its toll on the surface by feature time and the track had become very slick and icy, but made for some great racing in the 30 lap contest.
Allard quickly moved forward right from the start and had gotten up to third by the time a lap had been completed. He then went to work on second place Tyler Walker and made the pass going into turn one on lap three, but got in a little too hot and the rear end came around resulting in the Butler Built Performance, Platinum Powder Coating, JP's Paint & Body sprinter looping to a stop and having to go to the rear of the field. After going back green however, fellow GSC title contender Tyler Walker suffered a flat tire after he and another car made contact in turn one, which forced the green No. 24 sprinter to the rear of the field right on Allard's bumper for the restart.
When flagman Willie Williams unveiled the green flag once again Allard wasted no time carving his way through the pack aboard his expertly tuned machine from crew chief Ashley Smith. The two-time & defending King of California was able to make his way back up to ninth by the time a caution appeared on lap nine. On the restart he blasted his way into eighth in turns one & two and then made the pass of Andy Gregg to take seventh on lap 12. Allard didn't stop there and one lap later charged around the Roth Motorsports No. 83jr. of Peter Murphy to move into the sixth spot.
With just a handful of laps remaining in the feature fifth place Danny Faria Jr. suffered a flat tire, which bumped Allard up to the top five and on the restart he would make the move by Brandon Carey to slice his way into fourth. Then with a few circuits left third running Jason Statler blew a tire in turn one and it moved the Williams Motorsports No. 0 up to third. The final three laps saw Allard give Tommy Tarlton a hard run for second, but couldn't get by and settled for a still strong third place finish at the checkered.
It continued Allard's very consistent season and marked his ninth podium finish in the past 10 Golden State Challenge Series races. "It's been a great season so far and this championship battle has been tremendous so I hope the fans are enjoying it," Allard said. "They don't come much better than Tyler Walker and Brent Kaeding so we don't need make any more mistakes like the one I made early in the feature, because those guys will certainly capitalize on them. We'll just move on to Chico next week and try to get a win at home."
When the Golden State Challenge Series last competed at the Silver Dollar Speedway in May it saw Allard make a last lap pass to claim his fourth career victory at the prestigious Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial. The 32 year-old driver will go into this Saturday's 4th of July event with an eight point lead in the GSC standings over Brent Kaeding and a 15 point advantage over third place Tyler Walker. Allard will also be in action on Friday night during a Feather Falls Casino point event at SDS and will bring a two point lead over Bobby McMahan in the track standings into the evening.
For more news on Chico, CA's Jonathan Allard log onto http://www.allardmotorsports.com
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After a strong charge from the back at the Pombo/Sargent Classic two-time King of California Jonathan Allard will bring both the Golden State Challenge Series & the Feather Falls Casino Silver Dollar Speedway 410 point lead into a special 4th of July double-header weekend at the quarter-mile bullring. Photo by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
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