Photo by http://www.johnsracingphotos.com
Tyler Walker wins late race shootout in Antioch to claim 6th career Golden State Challenge Series victory
By Gary ThomasAntioch, CA – April 5, 2009…Los Angeles throttle-masher Tyler Walker is always guaranteed to put on a show and he thrilled the fans once again on Saturday night by charging to victory during an entertaining late race duel with Jonathan Allard in lapped traffic at the Antioch Speedway.Walker, who finished runner-up in the Golden State Challenge points last season, moved into tie for 10th on the all-time series win list joining Randy Tiner, Paul McMahan and Bobby McMahan with six career wins apiece. "Man I just can't say enough about this 24 team," Walker said. "Lee had this thing hooked up and it was a great race and a lot of fun in traffic those last handful of laps." The 30 lap Golden State Challenge Sprint Car Series main event started off with San Jose's Tim Kaeding jumping out into the lead from the pole position, but it didn't last long as the yellow lights came off for a spun car in turn two. On the ensuing restart two-time & defending King of California Jonathan Allard would find the traction he needed up high to blast into the lead from the outside of the front row.A caution on the fourth lap would slow the action, but following this a long green flag run was seen, which allowed competitors to dice it up in lapped traffic for an extended period of time. When the green flag waved again Allard maintained a decent advantage out front as he navigated lapped traffic to perfection aboard his Williams Motorsports No. 0. The battle to watch had become the fight for second as T.Kaeding had company in the form of Tyler Walker. As lap 10 clicked off Walker was able to get side by side with the Roth Motorsports No. 83jr, but couldn't complete the pass on the tricky slicked off surface. Walker didn't give up however, and on lap 12 would execute a slide job in turn three to move in front of Kaeding and into second. The pair would then proceed to exchange the position a few more times over the next couple of circuits until Walker got the advantage on lap 14. Once in second Walker then began to reel in Allard as lapped traffic continued to be a factor for the front runners. The driver of the SC Motorsports, NMI Industrial Contractors No. 24 had found the high side of turns three and four to his liking and just as he was getting ready to sweep around the outside of Allard on lap 19, the yellow lights would flash on. When the green flag came back out for the final time with 11 laps to go Walker continued to run the high line in turns three and four, trying everything to get by Allard. He would close in on the entry of the turn, but exiting the fourth corner Allard seemed to have the advantage in the open track. It all changed when traffic came into play however, as the lapped cars were running side by side making every move crucial in the final outcome. A blanket could be thrown over the top few cars and as the 25th lap was clicked off the action became extremely intense on the Antioch Speedway bullring. With just four laps remaining Allard tried to negotiate a lapped car down low, but would lose momentum for just a split second and that's all Walker needed to rocket off the second corner to take the top spot away. Allard then had to fight off T.Kaeding and now Brent Kaeding in the battle for second. The trio would have a tussle for the runner-up position on lap 28, until Allard made a great move in turns one and two up high to charge around a few lapped cars and get right back behind Walker to challenge for the lead once again. Allard would get up to the bumper of the green 24 sprinter, but Walker drove a perfect final lap to march on and take the checkered flag by a few car lengths to score his sixth career Golden State Challenge Series victory. It also marked Walker's second straight win in the April GSC event at the Antioch Speedway. After leading the first 26 laps of the main event Allard crossed the stripe in second to tie his best career Antioch Speedway finish. T.Kaeding ran most of the race with a sour sounding engine as he had reportedly lost a cylinder, but was able to beat out Brent Kaeding by about an inch at the line for the third spot. For "BK" it was another good run as he came on strong at the end from his fifth row starting spot in the Al's Roofing Supply No. 69. Crossing the line in fifth was sixth row starter Kyle Hirst in the GP Development No. 6, but unfortunately got upside down just past the start-finish line following the checkered after banging wheels with another competitor. He was ok, but it was a rough way to end a good run for the 21 year-old from Loomis. Campbell's Bud Kaeding came home in sixth aboard the Alviso Rock No. 29 as he gets set to head back to Eldora next week for a USAC non-wing event.GSC rookie contender Kyle Larson had a strong run from the rear of the field as he carved his way through the pack on the tricky race track. The 16 year-old, Elk Grove resident drove the Vertullo Motorsports No. 83v from the 16th starting position to finish seventh in the main event. Rounding out the top 10 it was the DF Rios Construction No. 00 of Jason Statler, the Murphy Motorsports No. 13 of Peter Murphy and the Bjork Construction No. 7b of Brent Bjork. The Golden State Challenge Series will return to action at the Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway next Saturday night April 11. More news and info can be found at http://www.goldenstatechallengeseries.comAntioch Speedway Results April 4- Fast time- Tim Kaeding 11.913Heat 1- Shawn Arriaga
Heat 2- Tyler Walker
Heat 3- Bud Kaeding
Dash- Tim Kaeding
B-main- Brent Kaeding
A-main- Tyler Walker, Jonathan Allard, Tim Kaeding, Brent Kaeding, Kyle Hirst, Bud Kaeding, Kyle Larson, Jason Statler, Peter Murphy, Brent Bjork, Mike Benson, Taylor Malsam, Evan Suggs, Shane Golobic, Brandon Carey, Willie Croft, Ricky Wright, Ken Fredenburg, Dan Simpson, Shawn Arriaga, Pat Harvey, Jim Richardson
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