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Jon Allard Handles Tulare Thunderbowl for Golden State Win - By Bobby Gerould, 05/31/03, Tulare, CA. …Jon Allard gained a world of confidence in his recent racing journey to the Midwest. The 2001 Golden State Challenge Rookie of the Year returned to his native California with not only sharper driving skills but also a stronger mental focus. Saturday night at Thunderbowl Raceway, Allard put the whole package together and emerged with a 30-lap triumph in the Chris Faria Memorial.
Steve Kent pulled a "six" pill to determine the feature inversion. Tommy Tarlton and Blake Robertson shared the front row of the 23-car grid. Tarlton rocketed into the lead at Jake Vickers' green flag but it was Chico's Allard who led lap one. Allard started inside row two and darted off at the original green taking second spot in turn one. By turn four of lap one, Allard went to the extreme high portion of the track and swept by Tarlton for the lead. Moments later, the caution appeared for a four-car tangle in turn two between Mike Quigley, Garrett Ishii, Steve Osborne, and Shain Matthews. Matthews rolled onto his side. None of the drivers were injured. Only Matthews was able to continue but he brought out the yellow two laps later with a stall.
After a restart, Matthews had another incident. This time the Marysville pilot had nowhere to go when he plowed into Danny Faria Jr. who was sideways in front of him. The third caution of the race flew. On the lap five restart Allard broke away with the lead. Ricci Faria who started fifth was the first driver to find the rubber laid down in turn four. Faria used that sticky groove in the middle of the track to muscle into contention on lap 8. Just as many eyes were on the Ricci Faria charge, Brian Coelho, who was running sixth, smacked the wall in turn one, collecting Kent and Mike Faria. Mike Faria ended up on his side. Craig Stidham also got a piece of the action, spinning to avoid contact. The red flag was displayed.
From lap 9 through 30 the green stayed on, as the track became a one-lane expressway with heavy rubber laid all the way around. Allard was in charge but Tarlton closed up as Allard approached traffic. On lap 28, Tarlton saw an opening as Allard slipped out of the rubber in turn two. However, just as soon as the door was open, it became apparent that Tarlton didn't have a good enough run off the corner to overtake Allard. Coming to the checkered, Tarlton nearly spun his Palace Gaming #21. He gathered it up but not before Blake Robertson scooted by for second. Tarlton finished third, with Andy Forsberg fourth, and Ricci Faria rounding out top five. Sixth through tenth fell to Tim Kaeding, Jason Statler, Dennis Moore Jr., Brent Kaeding, and Kevin Pylant.
A jubilant Allard told infield announcer Don Sharp, "We've got to thank Rick Wright for the car he puts beneath me. I couldn't ask for anything better. Tom Rolfe Trucking, and all our associate sponsors allow us to compete at a high level. My guys, Mike Thurman, Paul, and Bob work their tails off."
Jason York advanced eight positions from his original starting spot to earn the hard charger of the race nod. Moore Jr. entered the night ranked second in points but suffered through two flips; one in qualifying and the other in his heat race. In time trials, Moore rolled into turn one on his second lap only to have his rear axle fail. Moore's Williams MotorSports #0 flipped high and hard into the catch fence. In the second heat Moore was running sixth when Sean Becker's #23 had its front end taken out by another car. As Becker slid across the backchute without steering, Moore had nowhere to go and hit Becker resulting in a second upside down trip.
Kent paced BR MotorSports time trials. Kent wheeled the Henderson Machine and Tool Eagle #7n around the 1/3 mile dirt oval in 14.575 seconds. Peter Murphy captured the B&B oval Track Products heat. Kent and Brent Kaeding were the other heat winners. Mike Faria won the 12 lap Last Chance Race. Hoosier Tires, C.L. Bryant, BR MotorSports, and B&B Oval Track Products sponsor the Golden State Challenge.
May 31, 2003.
Tulare Thunderbowl Raceway
Golden State Challenge Round Twelve
BR MotorSports Qualifying: Driver Hometown Car Time
B&B Oval Track Products Heat One: 1. Murphy, 2. Kent, 3. Statler, 4. Forsberg, 5. Matthews, 6. Ishii, 7. B. Coelho, 8. Quigley
Heat Two: T. Kaeding, 2. Tarlton, 3. Allard, 4. York, 5. Lippincott, 6. Osborne, 7. Becker, 8. Moore Jr.
Heat Three: 1. B. Kaeding, 2. Pylant, 3. Stidham, 4. R. Faria, 5. Robertson, 6. M. Faria, 7. Shriver, 8. D. Faria.
Last Chance Race (12 laps.) 1. M. Faria, 2. Moore Jr., 3. Coelho, 4. Ishii, 5. Quigley, 6. Shriver, 7. Osborne, 8. D. Faria. …Sean Becker did not start.
Feature (25 laps) - 1. Allard, 2. Robertson, 3. Tarlton, 4. Forsberg, 5. R. Faria, 6. T. Kaeding, 7. Statler, 8. Moore Jr., 9. B. Kaeding, 10. Pylant, 11. York, 12. Stidham, 13. Lippincott, 14. Shriver, 15. Murphy, 16. Coelho, 17. Kent, 18. M. Faria, 19. Ishii, 20. D. Faria, 21. Matthews, 22. Quigley, 23. Osborne.
