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Jonathan Allard Captures Third Win of Year at Chico

CHICO, CA (7-13-12) - Chico native and hometown sprint car hero Jonathan Allard led all 25-laps to win the $2,000 sprint car main event at Silver Dollar Speedway. The Friday night point race #10 was presented by Wells Fargo. A total of 19 winged sprint cars attended the event. Cherry St. Mini Storage and Dan's Roofing sponsored the night. Both companies' have been a big part of the races at Silver Dollar Speedway. The Alliance Kingdom Builders of Paradise, CA also participated in the night's event and should be given praise for their enthusiasm during the night.

Allard initially started the race in the second row but after pole sitter Stuart Krum flipped on the original start, he was moved into the front row on the restart. It's all Allard needed as he beat fellow front row starter Mason Moore into turn one and went on to lead wire-to-wire. It's not to say that Moore didn't give him a fight. Late in the race Allard had difficulty passing some slower cars. This enabled Moore to close in and at one point dive underneath Allard for the lead. However, Allard carried the momentum off the turn and was never seriously challenged from there on out. Moore finished second while Andy Forsberg was third.

Chico's Brad Bumgarner was fourth and enjoyed another top-five finish. This was the fourth point's race in a row that Bumgarner finished in the top five. Paradise driver John Michael Bunch debut a new paint and vinyl scheme that looked amazing. Bunch started eleventh and ran all the way up to a fifth place finish. Australian driver Josh Ruhs passed the most cars on this night. He officially started 19th and brought the High Race 24 Hour Towing #99au home in tenth. Bunch started the night off by turning a blistering lap in qualifying. He time was 12.007. Mason Moore won the first 10 lap heat race. Allard smoked the competition in heat two. His fastest lap was 11.359. That lap time in down near the all-time track record.

Hands down the street stock main event was the best finish of the night. Chico's Bill Patterson led the first 19 laps of the event. He had been shadowed by Orland's Jake Vantol the entire event. Going into turn one Patterson said later that he felt two of his front shocks break. He felt the car drift up. Going down the back straight he couldn't keep the car planted on the bottom of the track. Vantol shot to the inside going into turn three. Coming out of turn four Vantol surged ahead. As the two roared back to the finish line, Vantol had a half car length advantage that he carried through the checkered flag and won the race. It's that last 100 feet of real estate that is so important in any race. Vantol drove a great race to get the win. Richard Workman finished third. Patterson got the better of Vantol in the only street stock heat race of the night.

Dirt modified driver Ryan McDaniel clean swept the division once again tonight. He won the eight lap heat race and went on to win the 15-lap main event. However, even McDaniel admitted he wasn't the fastest car in the field. "Richard had us all covered tonight," said McDaniel in victory lane. McDaniel was referring to Richard Papenhausen who led the entire race until his motor let go on lap 13. "I was driving my car as hard as I could and I wasn't going to catch him." Papenhausen led the first 13 laps and looked poised to win. However, his motor started lying down with a few laps to go. The caution was needed on lap 13. It was under the caution that Papenhausen's car stopped. McDaniel inherited the lead and went on to win. It was McDaniel's fourth win in a row and fifth overall for 2012 at Silver Dollar Speedway.

Like his son, Randy McDaniel dominated the Limited Late Model races. McDaniel won the heat race and went on to win the main event. A light car count was disappointing again for this up start division. The Micheli's should be given praise for fielding three of the five cars in attendance. Ken Micheli was second followed by teammate Charlie Marrs.

Misty Castleberry continued her winning ways in the Mini Stock division. Castleberry won her third main event in five starts. Because of Jason Clayton's consistency he is the point leader by one. Clayton won his heat race and finished second in the main event. Castleberry was third in her heat race. James Foster finished a solid third place. The heat race involved a troublesome moment between Castleberry and Damian Merritt. The two made contact on the front stretch that carried on into turns one and two. Castleberry was sent back to the rear of the field. Cooler heads prevailed and they both finished the heat race without incident.

For full results please visit www.silverdollarspeedway.com or www.mylaps.com

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