Silver Dollar Speedway
September 27, 2014
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Jonathan Allard Opens Up 22nd Fall Nationals with Wire to Wire Win
Troy Morris Jr. Thrills Crowd in the Dirt Modifieds

by Elijah Jones
CHICO, CA (September 26) - Jonathan Allard pulled to within one win of tying Tim Kaeding for second on the All Time Win List at Silver Dollar Speedway last night. Allard, who is fresh off his first Gold Cup Title has been fast all year at Chico behind the wheel of the Clyde Lamar owned Tri-C Machine #3C. This being his sixth win of 2014 at the speedway. It was great to see Jonathan celebrating in Victory Lane with his family, as this race has been dedicated as a tribute to Jonathan's older brother Stephen Allard. "It feels great to win again, Willie really gave me a run for it there. I just really want to win tomorrow night." Stated an exhausted Allard in Victory Lane.

The evening started out lightning fast as 1996 and 1997 Fall Nationals Champion, Bud Kaeding paced the field in Qualifying with a blistering lap of 11.688. That lap being just .067 seconds off of the 360 Track Record at Silver Dollar. 47 cars timed in for Night Number one of the 2014 Fall Nationals.

Heat Race action saw five exciting Heat races with each race taking the top four finishers directly to the Main Event. Heat Race number one would be claimed by Roseville, CA driver Bobby Butler. Butler was able to hold off a hard charge by Bud Kaeding to win the heat securing himself a spot in the dash. Fresno driver, Kyler Shaw had an evening ending flip in turn two as the leaders crossed under the Checkered Flag but was uninjured. Sean Becker dominated a non-stop heat race number two, also securing his spot in the dash. Jonathan Allard picked up heat race number three but not before turning a lap of 11.378 during the race, well under the 360 track record. Heat four saw DJ Netto pick up the win in the Netto Ag Services #88n. Rico Abreu won heat race number five by nearly half a lap over Andy Forsberg.

The C-Main Event was claimed by Dean Freitas who led all ten laps. Also transferring out of the C-Main was Jason Statler. In the B-Main Event Colby Weisz would dominate. However the battle for the fourth and final transfer spot was an intense one. Justyn Cox held the position for most of the race but Matt Peterson hounded him lap after lap. Finally with three to go Peterson was able to mount a charge on Cox who had been doing an astounding job of holding Peterson back. As they went into turns one and two with two to go. Peterson tried a crossover move coming off of two and made heavy contact with Cox. The contact caused both cars to come to a stop thus ending both drivers shot at making it to the main event. Their misfortune however came to the delight of none other than Jason Statler. Statler who had already come through the C-Main Event, had started the B-Main in the 16th position. Now on the restart with two to go he had the final transfer spot. As they crossed under the finish line it was Weisz, followed by Justin Sanders, Brad Bumgarner, and Statler.

The five heat race winners and the next five fastest qualifiers to transfer from their heats made the Dash. The finishing order of the Dash would determine the lineup for the first five rows of cars in the 30 lap Main Event. When the Green Flag waved on the Dash disaster struck for Placerville, CA driver Andy Gregg. Gregg's car bicycled really bad going into turn one, sending him flipping between turns one and two. His car would make very hard impact on the final landing causing one of the down tubes on the frame to bend. That meant the end of a very promising night for the 2014 Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year. Jonathan Allard would go on to win the Dash followed by Sean Becker.

Although Jonathan Allard did lead all 30 laps of the A-Main Event it was not as easy as it seems. Allard held off multiple charges by Sean Becker and Willie Croft en route to his 55th Career Victory at Silver Dollar Speedway. Sacramento, CA driver Willie Croft showed a lot of speed tonight finishing second. Croft's car really worked the top side of the speedway well and was nearly able to get around Allard in the closing stages of the race. Sean Becker would finish third after nearly flipping in turn four on lap eight. Fast Time Qualifier Bud Kaeding was able to retain a fourth place finish while Scott Parker had a great run to round of the top five. It should be noted that Jason Statler completed his run of the Alphabet soup with an eighth place finish in the Main Event.

The last time Troy Morris Jr. was competing at the Silver Dollar Speedway he ended up upside down in turn one. This time was far and away a better night. Morris was very excited to pick up the win here in Chico. After the race completed he came into the Main Grandstand to celebrate with his family. The win was Morris' first career win at the Silver Dollar Speedway.

At the start of the Main Event it was Duane Cleveland who would jump out to the lead. Cleveland looked to be the car to beat, but on lap 15 the car seemed to go away just a bit. That allowed the #07x of Morris Jr. to close in. Morris took the lead from Cleveland on lap 16 and didn't look back as he was able to hold off an impressive charge from Oreste Gonella. Gonella would have to settle for a second place finish. Duane Cleveland would hang on to bring the #2C home in the third position. While Monte Bischoff and Tom Berry Jr. rounded out the top five. The Main Event was Red Flagged on lap six after the #18H of Willie McMillen flipped in turns one and two. It was an interesting flip however, because the car landed back on all fours and he was able to continue along in the race.

Dirt Modifieds

A-Main
1 07x Troy Morris Jr.
2 23 Oreste Gonella
3 2c Duane Cleveland
4 F1 Monte Bischoff
5 11x Tom Berry Jr.
6 10 Ryan McDaniel
7 1jr Jerry Roy
8 27 Mark Abouzeid
9 25dd Dan Dozier
10 1m Mark Wauge
11 73m Dave Dusty Jr.
12 35 Mike Haemmig
13 18h Willie McMillen
14 1 Randy McDaniel

Heat #1
1 2c Duane Cleveland
2 23 Oreste Gonella
3 1jr Jerry Roy
4 11x Tom Berry Jr.
5 25dd Dan Dozier
6 27 Mark Abouzeid
7 18h Willie McMillen
8 1 Randy McDaniel

Heat #2
1 07x Troy Morris Jr.
2 F1 Monte Bischoff
3 10 Ryan McDaniel
4 1m Mark Wauge Best
5 73m Dave Dusty Jr.
6 35 Mike Haemmig
7 77 Leif Berglund

360 Sprints

A-Main
1 3c Jonathan Allard
2 29 Willie Croft
3 75 Sean Becker
4 0 Bud Kaeding
5 12 Scott Parker
6 88n D.J. Netto  
7 22k Shane Golobic
8 00 Jason Statler
9 77 Kyle Hirst
10 21x Carson Macedo
11 24 Rico Abreu
12 18 Justin Sanders
13 5h Colby Wiesz
14 9s Landon Hurst
15 57 Billy Butler
16 88 Koen Shawn
17 49 Mike Monahan
18 x1 Andy Forsberg
19 57b Bobby Buttler
20 14h Heath Hall
21 88x Brad Bumgarner
22 22 Mason Moore
23 11vs John Michael
24 2b Jeremy Burt

B-Main
1 5h Colby Wiesz
2 18 Justin Sanders
3 88x Brad Bumgarner
4 00 Jason Statler
5 49 Mike Monahan
6 74 Michael Cunningham
7 94 Steven Tiner
8 58 Matt Barber
9 9x Dean Freitas
10 24r Ryena Krueger
11 5n Seth Nunes
12 P37 Matt Peterson
13 31c Justyn Cox
14 5v Colby Copeland
15 9L Cody Lamar
16 88v Jace Vaneder Weerd