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Allard is Unstoppable at Chico

By: Troy Hennig

(Chico, CA 7-8-06)…Chico’s Jonathan Allard is in another league when it comes to sprint car racing on the West Coast. Last night he captured his sixth Golden State Series King of California main event this season. That is a record for one season. He clean swept all the nights’ point-racing events. He turned quick time with a 12.339. Started sixth in heat one and won the race. He started inside row two of the 30 lap, $4000 to win main event and by lap seven was the leader. He went on to lead the final 23 laps to get the convincing win. “It’s been a great season,” said Allard. “I just need to thank Morrie Williams and all the sponsors for allowing me to get the job done. I have the best crew in the business and they make all the right decisions.” A total of 31 drivers competed during round #22 at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico.

It was Allard’s teammate Dennis Moore Jr. who set the pace of the 22-car starting field. Settling into second was Sean Becker and third was Robert Ballou. Allard quickly moved through the field and on lap six was in second. On the next lap he drove around Moore Jr. for the lead. On lap 10 three cars were involved as Shain Matthews, Brad Furr and Danny Ochs all were sidelined with broken parts. Jason York, who had spent roughly 16 hours in the last 24 hours to get his sprint car to the races tonight, also stopped on the back straight.

Once the race resumed it was Robert Ballou’s turn to challenge Allard for the lead. Allard and Ballou danced along the cushion to provide exciting racing. As the pair headed into slower cars the yellow came out for Garrett Ishii on lap 19. At this point the biggest mover was Ronnie Day. Earlier in the night Day’s qualifying lap was disqualified for being too loud. When they tried to come back out the car was out of fuel and did not respond. He missed the heat races and would start last in the B Main. In just 12 laps he went from 14^th to first. In the feature he started 20^th and by lap 19 was seventh. He went on to pick off one more spot to finish sixth. Not a bad night of racing considering all the problems earlier in the night. Day passed 28 cars in 40 laps of racing.

Racing resumed with Allard leading. On lap 25 Ballou banged off the cushion and fell off the track losing spots. Moore Jr. moved back into second while Peter Murphy now was third. Murphy’s weekend was a great one. He won on Friday night and was now third in the main. On lap 26 Ballou charged back to race with Kaeding for fourth. Ballou gave Kaeding a love tap and sent Kaeding off the backstretch. Ballou worked his way back to a fourth place finish. Allard led the final few laps to get the win. Moore Jr. was second. It was a top two finish for the Morrie Williams team. Murphy drove a solid race to finish third.

Day won the twelve-lap B main event. Destiney Hays, Mike Henry and Brian Azevedo followed him. All four got their qualifying times back behind the inversion. The final two transfers started dead last in the main and were Danny Ochs and Garrett Ishii.

Allard won heat race one. Brad Furr took the checkered in heat two. Kyle Hirst enjoyed a solid win in heat three. Craig Stidham impressed everyone with his dominating win in heat four.

Results

Fast Time: Jonathan Allard – 12.339

Heat One: Allard, Robbie Whitchurch, Peter Murphy, Jim Skinner, Danny Ochs

Heat Two: Brad Furr, Brent Kaeding, Johnny Gray, Dennis Moore Jr., Rick Fowzer

Heat Three: Kyle Hirst, Sean Becker, Jason York, Kevin Sharrah, Destiney Hays

Heat Four: Craig Stidham, Jason Statler, Robert Ballou, Shain Matthews, Garrett Ishii

Dash: Moore Jr., Becker, Allard, Ballou, Gray, Murphy, Matthews, Furr

B Main: Ronnie Day, Hays, Mike Henry, Brian Azevedo, Ochs, Ishii, Jason Botsford, Carl Enns, Jon Maiwold, Rick Fowzer, Chris Masters, Gary Hurley, Mike Stallings, Mark Workentine

A Main: Allard, Moore Jr., Murphy, Ballou, Kaeding, Day, Gray, Statler, Stidham, Becker, Hays, Hirst, Azevedo, Skinner, Ishii, Whitchurch

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