From Troy Hennig
(Chico, CA 7-3-10)…Chico’s Jonathan Allard was perfect on Saturday night at Silver Dollar Speedway. Allard put the Morrie and Katie Williams #0 up front every time the car hit the track. Allard turned an 11.542 to earn the fastest lap in qualifying. From there he started sixth in the first heat and won the race with a last lap pass over Kenny Allen. The 25-lap main event started with Allard on the pole position. Yet, the main event was anything but easy for Allard. Bud Kaeding not only pressured Allard all race long but even took the lead on a nice pass during an early race restart. Allard then passed Kaeding on the ensuing restart and was untouchable from there on out. Allard led the final 17 laps to get the popular win in front of his hometown fans. “I want to thank the fans for coming out here tonight in this heat,” said Allard. “Anytime you can beat Bud and Brent it’s a good night. Alan Handy had a good track prepared tonight and I want to thank all my sponsors.”
Other winners during point race #11 presented by Chico Mobile AC and Auto Repair included an exciting finish to the wingless main that was won by Ryan Bernal, Jerry Bartlett won the 12-lap Dirt Solution Late Model main event and Rick Young was victorious in the ASCS Midgets. Over 50 cars attended the Feather Falls Casino / Riebes Auto Parts / Coors Light / Hoosier Tire Saturday night special edition of the championship series at Silver Dollar Speedway.
The 410 sprint car main event got off to a rough start. On the first attempt Kenny Allen came to a stop near the back stretch. On the next start, Kyle Larson tipped on his lid in turn one. Also stopping was Brad Bumgarner and Stuart Krum. On the third attempt Tyler Wolf flipped on his side and collected Mark Hall, Sean McMahan and Jeff Griffin. Once the track was cleared the officials decided to restart this race single file even though no laps were completed. Allard led the charge off turn four and took the green flag as the leader. Chico’s Ryan Kaplan started second but was quickly passed by Bud Kaeding. On a lap four restart Kaeding drove around Allard for the lead. Kaeding’s drive around Allard was impressive. For the next three laps Kaeding looked like the driver to beat. However, a yellow was brought out on lap seven. On the ensuing restart Allard drove around Kaeding for the lead. It was the last time Allard gave up the top spot. Brent Kaeding moved around Ryan Kaplan on lap 12 and tried to run down his kid for the second spot. Making a strong push towards the front was Jason Statler. Statler moved into the fourth spot on lap 19 and was all over Brent for a podium finish. In the end Brent held off Statler for third. Jason York would finish in the fifth spot. The final five laps he held off Kyle Larson. Larson had an impressive charge to the front after his first lap altercation. Heat race winners other than Allard were Brent Kaeding and Bobby McMahan.
The most exciting main event of the night had to be the wingless division. Jimmy Sills led the field down to the green flag. Sills, making his second start of the year at Chico, led the first seven laps of the race. Terry Schank Jr. challenged Sills for the lead and took it away from him on lap eight. Ryan Bernal moved into the second spot on lap eight. For the next 10 laps Bernal challenged Schank Jr. for the lead. Bernal applied the pressure but up until lap 17 Schank Jr. held onto the lead. However, with two laps to go Bernal made a move to the inside and passed Schank Jr. for the lead. To Schank’s credit, he never gave up and drove as hard as you could through turns three and four running on the high scary side. Bernal was able to withstand the pressure and get the win. It was a great way to finish the main event. Sills hung on to finish in the third spot. Jay Youngman finished in the fourth spot while DJ Johnson rounded out the top five. Mark Chaves Jr. won the first heat while Sills won the second heat race.
Jerry Bartlett and Ken Micheli were the only two drivers to make the start of the 12-lap Dirt Solution Late Model main event. Micheli led the first four laps. Bartlett made a run to the top of the track and passed Micheli coming to complete lap five. Bartlett then stretched his lead and went on to win the race. Bartlett won the eight lap heat race to earn a clean sweep.
JR Williams led the first lap of the ASCS Midget feature event. His lead was short lived as Travis Haugh passed him and was the new leader on lap two. Haugh led the next seven laps until he had car troubles and dropped out of the race. Rick Young was in the second spot and inherited the lead. Young led the final two laps to capture his first win of the year at Chico. Williams finished in the second spot followed by Ryan Shupe. Young also won the heat race for the division giving him the clean sweep.
Racing continues Sunday night, July 4th, with the King of California sprint cars and the street stocks. Following the races will be the annual fireworks show. Front gate opens at 5pm.
For full results please visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com