From Gary Thomas
Stockton, CA — (August 2, 2014) — There continued to be no shortage of excitement with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series on Saturday night, with Chico’s Jonathan Allard carving his way from 9th starting to score an ultra entertaining 30-lap main event victory at the Stockton Dirt Track.
It marked the second straight King of the West triumph for the three-time series champion and his third overall in 2014, tying Kyle Hirst & Rico Abreu for the most this year. It was also Allard’s first career win at the Stockton Dirt Track, which opened last season. Sacramento’s Willie Croft & Lemoore’s Carson Macedo rounded out the podium at the 3/8 mile clay oval on Saturday.
“What a great race again tonight and I can’t say enough about Randy V & this whole Tri-C Motorsports team,” commented a very happy Allard in victory circle. “Clyde & Marion Lamar have given me a great opportunity to drive this car and we’re really hitting our stride and clicking right now. I’m pretty pumped to get my first win at Stockton and I dedicate this one tonight to my brother Stephen. We’re getting hot at the right time and have a lot of big races coming up.”
The third ever appearance for the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series at the Stockton Dirt Track was full of action packed racing throughout the feature. The surface slicked off perfectly and allowed for some tremendous battles all through the field. Campbell’s Bud Kaeding captured the dash to earn $600 extra and he would jump out to the lead with a number of drivers hot on his heels.
Drivers were able to use every square inch of the track and Allard soon found the high-scary side to his liking, much like he did the previous week when he picked up the big Peter Murphy Classic victory. With positions changing regularly lap after lap the driver of the Tri-C Manufacturing No. 3c machine thrilled the crowd with some pinpoint moves, at times splitting cars. Bud Kaeding, Allard, Willie Croft & Macedo ran close together for the lead as the halfway mark approached.
After trying a couple different lines Allard finally got the run he needed to shoot into the lead, with Croft following along shortly after. The duo would then put on a thrilling show for the crowd, trading the lead back and forth, prior to a caution waving with six-laps to go. During it the top-five read as Allard, Croft, Macedo, Bud Kaeding and Grass Valley’s Jason Statler. A yellow on the double file restart made for an ensuing single file restart, which saw Croft keep pace with Allard.
Croft was able to take a couple peaks at the leader, but couldn’t make it stick and Allard would cross the checkered flag by 0.855 seconds for the victory. The win was also Allard’s 39th in his career with the Golden State/ King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series, making him one shy of becoming the third driver to reach the 40 win plateau. The other two are Brent and Tim Kaeding.
For Croft the runner up was a great rebound after some tough luck in recent events aboard the Holey Smokes BBQ/ Amerikote No. 29 Sprinter. “That was a really fun race tonight and I definitely have to thank the track prep crew for giving us an awesome track to run on. Congratulations to Jonathan and the Tri-C guys, because they’ve been really fast. I’m just glad July is over and we started off August on a great note, so hopefully it’s a sign of things to come. I want to thank everyone that helps me out.”
Macedo was able to bring home another impressive finish by scoring third at the helm of the WFO Apparel/ Tarlton & Son No. 21x mount. The 18-year-old also began the night by setting his first career fast time with the King of the West 410 Sprints. “We’ve had a great season and couldn’t be happier to end up on the podium for the second straight week. I always love running with KWS and I really have to thank my dad, WFO Apparel, Tarlton & Son and everyone that helps us out.
Statler capped a great night for the DF Rios Motorsports No. 00 team by crossing the stripe in fourth at the finish. The former series champion looked very racy all night long, en route to his second top-five result in the past three races with the King of the West 410 Sprint Car Series. Battling his way up to round out the top-five was Roseville’s Sean Becker in the Main Motorsports No. 35m machine. The fellow past champ also earned his second top-five in the last three weeks, after winning in Placerville on July 19.
Completing the top-10 in the 14th round of action for KWS was Hanford’s Mitchell Faccinto, who also looked very racy in the feature, 19th starter Brent Kaeding from Campbell, Chico’s Kyle Hirst, Fresno’s Dominic Scelzi and Elk Grove’s Bobby McMahan. Bud Kaeding’s strong run in the feature was cut short with issues late in the going, which relegated him to a 16th place finish.
As noted Bud Kaeding won the dash for cash and the extra $600 that went along with it. Also earning extra cash in the dash were Statler ($500), Macedo ($400), Croft ($300) and Becker ($200). The three 10-lap heat races were captured by Bud Kaeding, Mitchell Faccinto and Sean Becker. Carson Macedo opened the evening by pacing qualifying in the 22 car field with a lap of 13.375 to set a new KWS track record at the Stockton Dirt Track. Full results will be available at www.kwssprints.com
A-main finish: 1. 3c Jonathan Allard, 2. 29 Willie Croft, 3. 21x Carson Macedo, 4. 00 Jason Statler, 5. 35m Sean Becker, 6. 37 Mitchell Faccinto, 7. 69 Brent Kaeding, 8. 83jr Kyle Hirst, 9 41 Dominic Scelzi, 10. 25 Bobby McMahan, 11. 88n DJ Netto, 12. 55 Bud Walberg, 13. 22 Mason Moore, 14. 21j Richard Brace Jr, 15. 7 Steven Kent, 16. 0 Bud Kaeding, 17. 12x Jarrett Soares, 18. 27 Cory Eliason, 19. 15 Pat Harvey, 20. 09s Geoffrey Strole, 21. 12 Scott Parker, 22. 94 Gordon Rodgers