This message was edited on
June 10, 2007 at
12:11:07 PM by Gary Thomas
Kaeding’s problem is Allard’s gain
By Gary Thomas
Petaluma, CA - June 9, 2007... Last month in Tulare, Chico’s Jonathan Allard suffered an engine problem taking him out of the race while battling for the lead with Campbell’s Brent Kaeding. Fast forward to June 9 in Petaluma and the story was reversed as the engine in Kaeding’s mount went sour just a few laps from the finish which helped Allard move to the lead and pick up his third victory of the season with the Golden State Challenge Series. The night as a whole was very exciting as we saw a new track record in qualifying, all three heat winners came from the third row and an outstanding track surface in the main event made for some excellent and intense racing on the 3/8 mile clay oval.
The 30 lap feature started out with Sacramento’s Willie Croft blasting into the lead aboard the Holey Smokes BBQ No. 29. Croft had world class tuner Rodney Tiner in his pit and won the evening’s dash to earn the pole for the feature. Allard made his presence known quickly, however, and as traffic came into play he moved forward. On lap seven Allard used traffic to slide under Oroville’s Sean Becker to move the K & N Filters No. 0 into second. The defending GSC champ then moved in on Croft and on lap nine used the exact same move off turn two to take over the top spot.
Kaeding, however, showed why he has won seven main events this season as he masterfully carved his way forward within lap traffic. BK made some fantastic moves in traffic on the sticky and hooked up surface and after passing Becker for third on lap eight he got under Croft for second on lap 10. As traffic was extremely thick he used a lap car as a pick in turn two and went around Allard for the lead on lap 13. Kaeding got a break just a lap later as a caution came out to give him a clear track ahead. His Al’s Roofing Supply, Kaeding Performance No. 69 was lighting fast and on the restart he and Allard pulled away from the rest of the field.
Over the last half of the race Kaeding and Allard were in a league of their own. Allard gave it a hard run to chase BK through traffic but the 12-time King of California didn’t falter and got through the lapped cars every time Allard would seemingly close in. Allard got his chance, however, with just a couple laps left when Kaeding’s engine began to pop and cackle. BK went into turn four on the 27th lap and suffered a big push which allowed Allard to sneak on by to take the lead aboard the Williams Motorsports, Red Line Oil No. 0. The 30 year-old driver led the last couple laps with ease to pick up his third career Petaluma Speedway 410 win. The victory was the 16th of Allard’s GSC career and moves him into sole possession of fourth on the all-time series win list.
Salinas driver Ronnie Day moved forward late in the race aboard the Ridgeline Framing, Elite Racing, Primerica Financial No. 1. The former King of California did a nice job to get around Kaeding as lapped traffic created a huge log jam when Kaeding began to drop off the pace. Day is expected to skip the Medford event on Monday but will be strong contender at the Dirt Cup next week.
Becker was able to get up to third by the finish and picked up a few points on Kaeding. The driver of the Fisher/Main Motorsports, Cherry St. Mini Storage, Rolling Hills Reality No. 35m started from the front row but fell back to sixth on lap 17 when San Jose’s Jason Statler got around him. "The Shark" regrouped and drove the 35m machine back around Statler and Croft on lap 23 to take over fourth with a beautiful outside move. When Kaeding slowed it bumped him up to third where he went on to finish.
Statler got around Croft late in the race and finished fourth aboard the Tom Rolfe Trucking, DF Rios Construction, Pheasant Run Shopping Center No. 10 and Croft held on to round out of the top five aboard the BR Motorsports, Amerikote No. 29.
Chico’s Brett Miller finished sixth in the Care Free Pools No. 1x and Kaeding slipped back to seventh in the Selco Heating & Air No. 69. Scotts Valleys Evan Suggs was running in seventh when he was involved in an accident in turn four with a couple other cars on lap 23. The youngster restarted at the back and drove forward with a nice charge to finish eighth in the Suggs Racing No. 33e. Glen Ellen, CA’s Bill Cornwell finished ninth in the Cornwell Racing No. 3, and in doing so earned a $500 bonus for being the highest finishing 360. Completing the top 10 was Brett Bjork in the Bjork Construction No. 7b.
Woodland’s Gary Paulsen won his first career B-main in the 12 lap contest held during the evening. Three heats were held and each was won by a third row starter. Brent Kaeding, Jonathan Allard and Ronnie Day all put together impressive performances to win their heats. Brent Kaeding’s 12.12 in qualifying was new Petaluma Speedway track record. Full results from Petaluma will be on http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com when they become available.
The Golden State Challenge Series will be back in action tomorrow night at the Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, OR. Following the Medford event on Monday many of the teams will head up the Skagit Speedway for the $25,000 to win Dirt Cup which begins on Thursday and runs through Saturday.
www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com
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