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"JA", "BK" & "T-dub" headline Golden State Challenge 410 Series roster going into July 4 holiday spectacular at Silver Dollar Speedway Saturday with Fireworks show to cap night
By Gary Thomas
Chico, CA – June 30, 2009…Chico, California's own Jonathan Allard will bring an eight point lead in the Golden State Challenge Series standings over Campbell's Brent Kaeding into a special Independence Day event at the Silver Dollar Speedway this Saturday night July 4.
The extremely close fight for the King of California title continues to see the top three in points separated by just 15 slim digits going into the second visit of the season to the Silver Dollar Speedway, which will also mark the 17th round of action for the traveling 410 winged sprint car series. The night of exciting racing will be concluded with a fireworks show sponsored by 103.5 "The Blaze" FM and Silver Dollar Speedway.
The front grandstand gate will open at 4pm this Saturday night July 4 with qualifying scheduled to get underway around 5:30. Adult tickets will be just $15, juniors & seniors $11 and kids under 11 will be free. Tickets are on sale now at Napa Auto Parts in Orland, Kelly's Muffler in Paradise and in Chico at Ashley Furniture and Withrow's Motorsports. Make sure to get to the track early as the 4th of July event routinely attracts the biggest crowd of the season at Silver Dollar Speedway.
The last time the Golden State Challenge Series visited the Chico based quarter-mile, it was Allard who picked up his fourth career victory at the annual Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial in May with a thrilling last turn/last lap pass. Although that has been his lone victory of the GSC season up to this point, the 32 year-old driver has shown amazing strength and consistency this year and has tallied nine podium finishes in the past 10 races. In fact the only time he failed to score a top three finish in that span was at the Cottage Grove Speedway on June 15 when he suffered a flat tire with five laps remaining while sitting in the lead after dominating much of the event.
With eight races remaining in the Golden State Challenge season Allard is in search of becoming just the second driver to reach three King of California titles in the 24 year history of the series. "JA" is also looking to give owner Morrie Williams his fourth car owner title in the last five years and will be searching for a strong run at the Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday, a track he's won at on three occasions this season. Allard leads GSC with five fast-time efforts this year in his Platinum Powder Coating No. 0 sprinter and is also the point leader in the Feather Falls Casino Friday Night Series at SDS.
Right on Allard's heels however, is the hottest driver in California sprint car racing with that being 13-time King of California Brent Kaeding. The Campbell racer has won back-to-back races with the Golden State Challenge Series, including last weekends Pombo/Sargent Classic at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare. "BK" also put together a strong performance at the 38th annual Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup less than a couple weeks ago in Washington, where he was the hard-charger in Saturday's main event coming from 22nd to fourth.
Kaeding is also the all-time winningest driver at the Silver Dollar Speedway having claimed 86 career victories at the famous quarter-mile clay oval. He has won the Mini Gold Cup on four occasions, the Dave Bradway Jr. Memorial four-times and the Pacific Sprint Fall Nationals twice in addition to a number of other highlights in his career at the track. "BK" this season has driven his Al's Roofing Supply No. 69 to 11 top-five finishes with GSC, which is tied with Allard for most in the series and he also scored a fifth place finish at the Bradway Memorial in May.
Finding himself third in points and just 15 digits back of Allard for the lead is Los Angeles, CA's Tyler Walker, who will be looking for a good run this weekend following a couple of events that saw further back finishes than what he's used to. The 29 year-old competitor was on way to victory at the $25,000 to win Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup, until engine problems sidelined him with just five laps remaining in the feature. Walker then came back last week and was running in the fourth spot when he and another driver made contact in turn one, which resulted in his SC Motorsports No. 24 suffering a flat tire and being forced to the rear of the field, where he would eventually go on to finish ninth.
So far this season Walker has picked up five victories with the Golden State Challenge Series, which leads the tour in that category. In May he also had a strong run at the Silver Dollar Speedway in which he spun off turn three late in the race, but was able to put on an impressive charge from the back as he ripped around the high side of the bullring in typical "T-dub" fashion to get all the way back up to fourth. Last July Walker scored his first career victory in Chico and he'll look for his second win at the track this weekend to help close the point gap.
Coming into the 4th of July sitting fourth in the GSC standings is third year winged sprint car driver Evan Suggs of Scotts Valley. The wheel-man of the Suggs Racing No. 33e will be looking to regroup after the two-spin rule left him with a 21st place finish last Saturday in Tulare. Suggs brought home a ninth place finish during the first series visit to Silver Dollar Speedway in May. The 22 year-old's career highlight at the quarter-mile came in 2007 when he set fast-time during the second night of the World of Outlaw sanctioned Gold Race of Champions.
Rounding out the top five in points is Golden State Challenge Series Rookie of the Year contender Kyle Larson. The Elk Grove driver is coming off a scary crash in Tulare in which his Vertullo Racing No. 83v suffered major damage after making heavy contact with the top of the turn one catch fence. Thankfully he was ok though and will come into the Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday night searching for his second career GSC victory. Larson picked up his first career 410 sprint car win at the track in May and has been very strong all season long in what is his full season of 410 racing. Last year also saw the immensely talented 16 year-old score a pair of Civil War Series victories at the Silver Dollar Speedway.
Fellow GSC Rookie of the Year contender Brandon Carey of Ripon will go into this Saturday night fresh off his best career finish with the traveling 410 sprint car series last weekend in Tulare. The talented youngster sits just nine points behind Larson for the fifth spot in the standings and has been another great addition to the roster this year. Carey looked very impressive in driving to a fourth place finish in the feature last Saturday at the Thunderbowl Raceway aboard his Carey Racing No. 55 machine.
Campbell's Bud Kaeding will return to Golden State Challenge Series competition this Saturday after running ninth with the USAC Silver Crown Series in Richmond, Virginia last weekend. The 29 year-old has tallied five top-five finishes in a row with GSC aboard his BK Motorsports No. 29. Grass Valley's Jason Statler sits eighth in the standings coming into Chico and will look to rebound after a flat tire took away a possible podium finish last weekend in Tulare. "The Big Guy" has been very strong this season in the DF Rios Construction No. 00, but luck hasn't seemed to be on his side in 2009. Completing the top 10 in points are Fresno's Mike Stallings and Calistoga's Mike Benson.
Other drivers expected to do battle with the Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series on the 4th of July this Saturday will include Loomis, CA's Kyle Hirst, Elk Grove's Bobby McMahan, Chico's Brett Miller, Brad Bumgarner, Jason York and Robby Whitchurch, Oroville's Sean Becker, Auburn's Andy Forsberg, Grass Valley's Mark Hall, Roseville's Colby Copeland, Sydney, Australia’s Trevor Green, Sacramento's Willie Croft and more.
The Silver Dollar Speedway is located at 2357 Fair Street on the Silver Dollar Fairgrounds in Chico, California.
Up next- Following this weekend's race the Golden State Challenge Series will make a trip to the Santa Maria Speedway next Saturday night July 11, which will mark the first event for the 410 tour at the track since 2005. With extra money added the main event will be a solid $500 to start in Santa Maria. Also on tap will be a $1,000 wheelie contest with $500 going to the winner, $300 to second and $200 to third.
More info on this Saturday's event can be found at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com and http://www.silverdollarspeedway.com
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Defending King of California Jonathan Allard will lead the Golden State Challenge Series into his home track of Silver Dollar Speedway this Saturday night aboard his Ashley Smith prepared Williams Motorsports No. 0 sprinter. The evening of racing will be capped with a fireworks show sponsored by 103.5 "The Blaze" FM and Silver Dollar Speedway. Photo by http://www.graphxdesigns.com
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