Jonathan Allard tallies top-10 effort with World of Outlaws at Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway
By Gary Thomas
Tulare, CA – March 23, 2011…Returning to the seat of the Williams Motorsports No. 0 mount Chico’s Jonathan Allard kicked off his 2011 California campaign the past two weekends and highlighted it with a ninth place effort last Saturday with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in Tulare.
This season marks Allard’s seventh year with car owner’s Morrie and Katie Williams, making it one of the longest running winged sprint car driver and owner combinations on the West Coast.
The former two-time Golden State 410 Series champion was in competition two weeks ago at the annual Mini Gold Cup with the World of Outlaws in Chico and looked strong early on, having finished second in his heat race, before claiming a seventh place result in the dash. He then had a solid run going in the main event and was contending for a top-five finish, until a flat tire late in the 35-lapper relegated him to 12th at the conclusion.
Allard then headed for the Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway this past Friday in Hanford, but started off the night on an uncharacteristic note in qualifying and timed in 22nd quickest out of 26-cars. A seventh place result in the heat race then put him into the last chance showdown, where he would finish third to transfer into the feature. Just as cars pushed onto the speedway though, the skies opened up and rain forced postponement of the main event until Thursday March 31.
Early in the week the weather looked bleak for the following night’s event at the Groppetti Automotive Thunderbowl Raceway, but as luck would have it the forecast improved and allowed the entirety of the program to get in. What transpired was Allard’s finest night of the early season in California and it began with him qualifying ninth fastest overall aboard the K&N Filters, Red Line Oil, Sharp Insurance No. 0.
After battling wheel to wheel with three-time World of Outlaws champ Sammy Swindell for the lead in the heat race, he brought home a runner up finish in the eight-lapper and then scored eighth in the dash to earn a row four starting spot in the feature. With the surface slick to the wall it created some great racing as always at the Thunderbowl and Allard crossed the line in ninth following an exciting 35-laps of action.
“We’ve had a great car the first couple of weekends and I have to give a big thanks to Ashley Smith and my whole team,” said Allard. “To run as well as we have with the World of Outlaws it gives me a lot of confidence that we’re going to do some great things this season. It’s going to be a fun year in California and we’re excited.”
After returning to Hanford on Thursday March 31 to complete the main event from last week, Allard will head next for another weekend of racing with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series beginning Friday April 1 at the Merced Speedway, followed by an event at the Calistoga Speedway on Saturday April 2. The event at Merced will be the first ever World of Outlaws appearance at the track, whereas the Calistoga show will be the initial WOO race at the half-mile since 2007.
For 2011 Allard is set to contend for the Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series title and will kick off his bid at the championship on April 9 at the Antioch Speedway. Overall there will be 26-events for the new KWS Series and drivers will be fighting for part of the $125,000 cash point fund.
Tickets for the much anticipated Golden State King of the West Sprint Car Series season-opener at the Antioch Speedway on April 9 are also on sale, with a special VIP access pass also being offered for the very first time.
By purchasing the VIP pass, race fans have the opportunity to sit in a special reserved area of the grandstands known as the “Rio Vista Delta Section,” and will also have access to the pit area to mix and mingle with the drivers and teams throughout the evening.
The special VIP grandstand ticket/ pit pass costs $45 and can currently be purchased at the King of the West Sprints office, located at 303 Main Street in Rio Vista, CA 94571. The contact number to buy tickets is (707) 374-2222. Reserved section tickets are also available for pre-sale and cost $20, which also allows access to the “Rio Vista Delta Section.”
For online ordering, tickets are also available in the ‘Store’ section of the King of the West Series website located at http://www.kwssprints.com
More information on Jonathan Allard and Williams Motorsports can be found at http://www.allardmotorsports.com
- Gary Thomas on Mar 23, 2011
- Article Date: 3/23/2011