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Photo by http://www.graphxdesigns.com
Jonathan Allard ready for GSC finale following 15th place finish in Knoxville Nationals main event
By Gary Thomas
Placerville, CA – August 19, 2009…With 107 drivers in competition at the 49th annual Knoxville Nationals Chico, CA's Jonathan Allard accomplished a long-time goal by scoring enough points to make his first Nationals A-main start and brought home a 15th place finish in the 40 lap finale Sunday night, which was won by Tony Stewart Racing's Donny Schatz for the fourth straight season.
Going into Saturday's finale at the Knoxville Raceway Allard sat 13th in the overall points as he got set to make his first ever Nationals main event start, but had to wait an extra day as heavy rains pushed the action back to Sunday evening. Lining-up in the seventh row Allard hung right around his starting spot for much of the feature and after 40 laps of racing crossed the checkered flag in 15th at the helm of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 sprinter.
Although wanting to finish a little higher up in the rundown the experience was invaluable for the two-time King of California as he ran with some best sprint car drivers in the world during the 40-lap finale. "This event is so tough and grueling that making the A-main is a great accomplishment for this whole team," Allard said. "Going into the Nationals our goal was to get into the feature for the first time and we got that done so we couldn't be happier. It was a great experience and something that I can take into it next year."
With Knoxville done Allard will focus his attention back to California and finishing the 2009 Golden State Challenge 410 Sprint Car Series season this Saturday night at the Placerville Speedway. Going into the event the two-time King of California ranks second in the standings and is 21-points back of Tyler Walker for the lead. "We've given it a hard run this year and I can't thank my guys enough for everything they've done this season," Allard said. "We've been right in the thick of things pretty much night-in-night-out and that's really all you can ask for."
Out of the 20 Golden State Challenge races this year Allard in fact leads the series in fast-times with nine, top-five's with 16 and top-10's with a perfect 20 out of 20. The number that makes the difference though is Walker's eight victories compared to Allard's one, which has been enough to push the Los Angeles driver ahead by the current mark. "We've had a few races the last month where we didn't end up how we wanted to and when you're running against a guy like Tyler Walker you have to be on your game every single time you hit the track."
Despite scoring just that one win so far with GSC Allard has been on the podium in 12 of the 20 races, including six runner-up finishes, with five of those second place efforts coming to Walker. "It's been an exciting season on the track with Golden State and the competition up front has been as good as its been in years," the Chico driver said. "There have been a lot of times this season where myself and Tyler have been fighting for a win and he's been able to squeak it out at the finish, so this championship could be going either way when you look back at the races and I think that's made it pretty amazing to show just how important each and every night is."
Going into Placerville Allard will look to break a recent trend of fifth place finishes that he has amassed the last three events and try to get that second win of the year. "The last few races didn't end up how we've wanted and it's hurt in the points a little bit, but we're not focusing on that anymore and just want to try and finish this season off with a win," said Allard, who has finished second or better in seven of the past 10 GSC visits to the Placerville Speedway. "We've been really fast at Placerville this year and I feel that we should have won both the of the races so far this season at the place so hopefully we can get it done this time around and finally get this car back into victory lane with Golden State."
The front gate will open at 5pm on Saturday night with qualifying scheduled to get underway around 6 and racing at 6:30. All seating will be general admission during the night with adult tickets costing $16, juniors $11 and children $5. An early arrival to the track will be recommended as the crowd is routinely large for any special event at the Placerville Speedway. The high-banked quarter-mile clay oval is located at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds in Placerville.
For more info on this Saturday's Golden State Challenge King of California Sprint Car Series season finale visit http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.com and for more on Chico's Jonathan Allard log onto http://www.allardmotorsports.com
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Jonathan Allard pictured earlier this season at the Placerville Speedway where he finished a very close runner-up to Tyler Walker on May 30 after the two put on a crowd pleasing wheel-to-wheel battle over the closing laps. The 32 year-old Chico native will look to finish off the Golden State Challenge Series season in victory lane on Saturday. Photo by http://www.stevesracingphotos.com
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