Forum: Northern California Sprint Car (go)
Moderators: StuDeedooo

Photo by Johns Racing Photos

Jonathan Allard scores top 10 in Harvest Classic finale

By Gary Thomas

Calistoga, CA - September 2, 2007...After having a tire go down on Friday night in Calistoga with just two laps remaining in the main event, Chico’s Jonathan Allard came back strong on Sunday night to pick up a 10^th place finish during the 25 lap Harvest Classic finale. Getting a solid finish was something that the Williams Motorsports team needed heading into next week’s Gold Cup Race of Champions.

Opening night on Saturday in Calistoga saw Jonathan drive from 19^th to 11^th only to lose a tire with just two laps left in the feature. It was reminiscent of Wednesday night’s event in Cottage Grove where Jonathan had a tire go down with just three laps left in that feature event. JA came into Sunday evening looking for some luck on his side at the "World’s Most Beautiful Dirt Track."

The Calistoga Speedway surface didn’t lend itself well to very quick qualifying laps either night, however, and both main events saw rubber down conditions. Jonathan turned a 17.528 in qualifying on Sunday night to place the GT Trends, K & N Filters, Red Line Oil, Williams Motorsports 0 a very solid sixth fastest out of 31 cars. He then lined up on the inside of the second row in the second heat race. The Calistoga ½ mile is usually very difficult to pass on and it was even tougher with rubber already being laid down during the heats. With the top two finishers in each heat race making it into the dash, Jonathan gave it a hard run and very nearly got by Jason Solwold for second during the last few laps, but he couldn’t get an opening and settled for a third place finish aboard the Chris Jones Racing, JP’s Paint & Body, Spy Optic, Sharp Insurance No. 0.

Lining up 12^th in the 25 lap Harvest Classic finale, Jonathan ran smart but hard and was able to get by Jason Solwold around the midway point to move into ninth. JA then closed in on eighth running Jac Haudenschild and looked to the inside of Haud a couple times, but lost momentum during one instant and it allowed Steve Kinser to get a run on him and the 20-time WOO champ was able to slide under Jonathan for position. The rest of the race saw Jonathan run solidly in 10^th where he would go on and finish when the checkered was unveiled by starter Jake Vickers. "I was getting pumped up when I saw the white flag come out," Jonathan said after the races. "Then when the checkered flew it was a sigh of relief that we didn’t have anything go wrong tonight. We’ve been fast lately but just can’t seem to catch a break."

With a top 10 finish at Calistoga it hopefully put an end to the tough luck and everyone can move on to next week with a clear head and some confidence as we take to the biggest sprint car event of the year on the West Coast. The 54^th annual Gold Cup Race of Champions is an event that Jonathan has circled on his calender since the start of the year and he’ll head for the event next week. The World of Outlaws sanctioned event at Silver Dollar Speedway is the most competitive sprint car race in the state of California and will have over 90 cars on hand for the three night contest which begins next Thursday evening. Jonathan will look to have some fun and bring the Williams Motorsports ZERO machine home up front against some of the best in the business. Jonathan has won seven times at Silver Dollar Speedway this season and has run strong all year at the Chico track.

For more news and info on Jonathan Allard log onto http://www.allardmotorsports.com. For results and news from the Gold Cup visit http://www.johnpadjenmotorsports.com

www.sprintcarchallengetour.com
www.placervillespeedway.com
www.stocktondirttrack.com
www.thunderbowlraceway.com