A pair of very promising nights ended with finishes that weren’t indicative of just how well Jonathan Allard and Williams Motorsports ran during the Golden State Challenge Series double header at Kings Speedway in Hanford this past weekend. Ashley Smith and the crew had the No. 0 machine going good both nights and both ended with top 10 finishes, but unfortunately for JA and the team, there was potential for more.
The weekend started on Friday with Jonathan qualifying sixth quickest overall with a lap of 13.613 aboard the Williams Motorsports, K & N Filters, Red Line Oil No. 0. JA then lined up fifth in the second heat race and ran in fifth for most of the it before making the move around Jim Skinner on lap eight to take the fourth and final transfer spot. Jonathan pulled away from Skinner the last couple laps and went on to finish fourth, which transferred him into the dash where he started fifth. The track had remained fast but had developed some rough spots, which made it a bit tricky. Jonathan improved one position in the dash to give himself an outside row two starting spot for the 30 lap feature.
Jonathan was on the move early in the feature and on lap three he executed a beautiful slider in turn three to take second from Kyle Hirst. The Weld Racing, Sharp Insurance, Butler Built, Bell Helmets, Kistler powered J & J was hooked up and Jonathan closed in on leader Brad Sweet. As traffic came into play Jonathan seized the opportunity and made the move under Sweet in turn one to take the lead.
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