From Bill Sullivan
Placerville, CA — (July 21, 2012) — Cameron Park’s Stephen Allard has been turning heads and putting fans on the edge of their seats at Placerville Speedway all season long after teaming with local car owners Scott Russell and Kami Arnold of Placerville. Saturday night, the former Silver Dollar Speedway Champion made his biggest impression yet on in the Red Hawk Casino – Hoosier Racing Tires Championship racing season, charging his way from deep in the field to score his third win of the season.
“I just have to thank all the great sponsors and everyone on this team for all their support and hard work, we’ve have some really great finishes these last several weeks and this team is strong,” said Allard. “After tonight we’re ready for this Wednesday to see if we can take on the national ASCS guys. We’re hoping we can be the local team up front.”
Allard started 15th in Saturday’s 25-lap feature event and used caution through an early series of both red and yellow flags to work his way forward in the line up before igniting the crowd in what has become “Allard Mania” with an electrifying charge to the front of the field to conclude an evening that was both good in winnings and strong in the form of earning championship points to continue closing in on the point lead in these closing weeks of the season.
The opening lap of the event saw the red flag fly as fast as the green with 2011 Rookie of the Year Jake Morgan lead the field into the first turn and ended up in a melee that sent him upside down off the track and collecting point leader Andy Forsberg. Morgan retired from the event with damage while Forsberg made repairs and returned to the rear of the line up which already pushed Allard up two positions without a lap in the books.
After a series of false starts and spins, Jeremy Phillips of Olivehirst took the early lead from the pole position and was challenged quickly by second place starter Sean Becker of Roseville. Becker charged past Phillips on the back stretch to take the lead on the ninth lap. Meanwhile, Allard was busy slicing and dicing his way through the field to work his way into the top three on lap 13 and just one lap later made a bonsai move that overtook Lemoore’s Carson Mecedeo for second and Becker for the lead on the 14th lap. Becker answered back and redeemed the position one lap later until Allard finished the dogfight on the 16th lap to take the lead for good before a grandstand that rose to their feet in excitement of the success of El Dorado County’s newest racing hero.
At the checkered flag Allard picked up his third championship win of the year while Becker finished second followed by Mecedeo and Fresno’s Tommy Tarlton. James Sweeney of Placerville finished in fifth after starting ninth in the field.
“The yellow flags were pretty nervewracking early on,” said Allard. “It felt like it took us an hour just to get one lap in tonight. I really want to thank Tommy Tarlton for bringing their team up and running here tonight, it’s always a pleasure and Carson did a great job, he was tough to get around. We’re ready for Wednesday’s big race now and hope everyone will come out and show their support for the local guys.”
In the Pure Stock division, Orangevale’s Matt Tilford returned to victory lane for his ninth win of the season. Prior to last weekend Tilford had a win streak of eight races and entrered Saturday’s event with a 29-point advantage over Placerville’s Chris Curtiss.
Tilford started Satrurday’s 20-lap affair on the outside of the front row and found his way around pole sitter Chris Van Roakel of Grass Valley to take charge of the lead he would never relinquish. The event fielded 15-cars on Saturday night and had its share of caution flags.
The lengthiest incident fell on lap 13 when Kyle Grunert of Woodland and Danielle Clauson of Placerville got together in the third and fourth turns. Both drivers received damage in the collision which resulted in Clauson being disqualified for rough driving and Grunert being further penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Once the green flag flew again, Tilford continued to lead the field. He was trailed in the final laps of the race by Folsom’s Dominic Stone. At the finish line it was Tilford, Stone, Dennis Armstrong of El Dorado, Scott Grunert and Rick Grunert of Woodland.
Tilford will be unable to drive in the next point race do to his commitment in a wedding which will tighten the point standings between himself and Curtiss. However, Saturday night Curtiss suffered engine woes and was unable to start his heat race. He took the green in the feature event and cruised at a slow pace where he still picked up ninth. The distance between the two drivers in the finish will benefit Tilford who will lose valuable points in the upcoming absence.
“We gained some points tonight which helped us a little bit since I have to miss the next race,” said Tilford. “We’ve done the math and its going to tighten things up a bit but we’ll be ok and having a closer point race is always good for the fans. I really have to thank all my sponsors and crew and family for all they do for me to get us out here, I couldn’t do it without them.”
In the Limited Late Model division, a new face drove his way to victory lane in a wild shootout that was one of the most exciting races of the year for this division. James Edens of Santa Rosa started in the fifth position and found his way to the front of the field using the combination of patience and pony power when the time came.
Matt Davis of Auburn took charge of the lead from Citrus Heights’ Tom Sullivan on the third lap. Davis distanced himself from the field early in the race but Edens slowly worked his way to the leaders rear bumper. With 16 laps complete Davis made an error in the second turn when he slid high and started to spin. Edens then dove to the low side of the track and took the lead.
At the finish line, Edens was followed across the line by Davis, Jay Norton of Cameron Park drove from fifth to third place. Yuba City’s Charlie Mars finished in fourth followed by Tom Tilford of Citrus Heights.
“This was a lot of fun tonight up here,” said Edens. “We’re planning to run the rest of the season with these guys and its nice to get a win already.”
This Wednesday night is a big night of racing at Placerville Speedway as the best 360 drivers in the nation make their trek from the Midwest to compete at the bullring. It’s the ASCS Nationals Tour and is just one of three California events on the tour. Tickets are available through the track office in advance or at the event Wednesday night. All tickets are for general seating.
Adult tickets are $20, Seniors are $18, Juniors are $12 and Children are $6. For further information visit www.placervillespeedway.com. The Red Hawk Casino Championship point race will return next Saturday night as well.