ALGER, Wahington -- Tim Kaeding gave everything he could, but he simply couldn’t catch Jonathan Allard, who became the sixth driver in the 35 year history of Skagit Speedway’s Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup to win it back-to-back.
Allard, out of Chico, California, started the 40-lap Dirt Cup Race of Champions outside the front row after finishing second in the A-Scramble. Allard had started that six-lap race outside the third row, and made moving up to second place look easy.
Allard maintained a steady lead throughout the main event, and used a number of timely red flags to have his crew make changes, including critical repairs involving the Jacobs ladder in the rear of the car during a lap 16 stop. As the laps counted down near the end, Allard crept closer to heavy traffic in front of him, reaching it with two laps to go, allowing Kaeding to close in.
Kaeding, however, ran out of time, making a bonsai move low through turns three and four. Kaeding just missed the slide job on Allard in the final turn, and then narrowly nipped Sedro-Woolley’s Chad Hillier at the line to finish second.
Jason Solwold, returning home to Washington to his former ride with Marc Huson, finished fourth, followed by California’s Jason Meyers. Former Dirt Cup champion Shane Stewart of Oklahoma, Texas visitor Travis Rilat, B-Main transfer Sean Becker, Deming’s Brock Lemley, and former two-time Dirt Cup champion Steve Kent rounded out the top ten.
Tough luck struck 17-year-old California visitor Robert Ballou, who spun out on lap 19 while running in the fifth position.
Sean Becker won a 25-lap B-Main event that transferred eight cars to the A-Main event. Brock Lemley made a late race charge to transfer after cutting down a tire earlier. Jason York won the 20-lap C-Main race, then moved his way up to transfer out of the B-Main as well. Kyle Hirst won the 15-lap D-Main race, then missed transferring to the B-Main by only one position.
Rick Fauver won the A-Scramble, while Dennis Moore Jr. won the B-Scramble and Jason York the C-Scramble.
Sixty-six different teams competed in the 35th edition of Skagit Speedway’s crown jewel event.
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35th Jim Raper Memorial Dirt Cup – Final Night Skagit Speedway – Alger, WA June 17, 2006
Unofficial results
D-Main (15 laps): 1. 99 Kyle Hirst, 2. 59 Andy Jacobson, 3. 7o Roger Oudman, 4. 17v Danny Faria Jr., 5. 99e Alex Hantell, 6. 7s Rick Ziehl, 7. 13r Glenn Reinstra, 8. 25a Adriana, 9. 31 Danny Bullock, 10. 14J Kelleigh Johnson, 11. 9B Paul Burdick, 12. 79k Kelsey Carpenter, 13. 15D Dan Dunlap, 14. 3 Dan Pierson.
C-Scramble (6 laps): 1. 5sp Jason York, 2. 41B Brad Pritchard, 3. 23b Seth Bergman, 4. 71 Johnny Gray, 5. 28 Rick Smith, 6. V8 Jeff Hodgson.
B-Scramble (6 laps): 1. 0K Dennis Moore Jr., 2. 35a Sean Becker, 3. 1D Ronnie Day, 4. 7J Travis Jacobson, 5. 2 Brad Furr, 6. 10 Stephan Allard.
A-Scramble (6 laps): 1. 26 Rick Fauver, 2. 0 Jonathan Allard, 3. 5 Chad Hillier, 4. 83 Tim Kaeding, 5. 7N Steve Kent, 6. 73 Jason Solwold.
C-Main (20 laps): 1. 5sp Jason York, 2. 41B Brad Pritchard, 3. 23B Seth Bergman, 4. V8 Jeff Hodgson, 5. 99 Kyle Hirst, 6. 28 Rick Smith, 7. 12 Jared Ridge, 8. 17v Danny Faria Jr., 9. 38 Jason Bloodgood, 10. 59 Andy Jacobson, 11. 14B Brandon Johnson, 12. 1 Jimmy Dietz, 13. 25m Taylor Malsam, 14. 44j Abe Sherwood, 15. 8B Blake Brigge, 16. 7s Rick Ziehl, 17. 71 Johnny Gray, 18. 7o Roger Oudman, 19. 17 Kelly Barnett, 20. 99e Alex Hantell.
B-Main (25 laps): 1. 35a Sean Becker, 2. 0K Dennis Moore Jr., 3. 2 Brad Furr, 4. 7J Travis Jacobson, 5. 69t John Tharp, 6. 88 Jesse Whitney, 7. 40 Brock Lemley, 8. 5sp Jason York, 9. 4x Toni Lutar, 10. V8 Jeff Hodgson, 11. 57c Chris Schmelze, 12. 41B Brad Pritchard, 13. 23B Seth Bergman, 14. 77 Kirk Fellers, 15. 29 Brandon Harkness, 16. 23 Steve Parker, 17. 33v Henry Van Dam, 18. 8e Evan Funk, 19. 10 Stephan Allard, 20. 1D Ronnie Day.
A-Main (40 laps): 1. 0 Jonathan Allard, 2. 83 Tim Kaeding, 3. 5 Chad Hillier, 4. 73 Jason Solwold, 5. 14 Jason Meyers, 6. 26s Shane Stewart, 7. 29r Travis Rilat, 8. 35a Sean Becker, 9. 40 Brock Lemley, 10. 7N Steve Kent, 11. 0K Dennis Moore Jr., 12. 88 Jesse Whitney, 13. 8r Travis Rutz, 14. 12B Robert Ballou, 15. 69 Brent Kaeding, 16. 75 Roy Blumenhagen, 17. 26 Rick Fauver, 18. 5sp Jason York, 19. 66 Barry Martinez, 20. 18 Steve Kilcup, 21. 9 Jayme Barnes, 22. 2 Brad Furr, 23. 69t John Tharp, 24. 7j Travis Jacobson.
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Dirt Cup Champions, 1972 to 2006: 1972 – Ross Fontes, 1973 – Gary Patterson,
1974 – Jimmy Sills, 1975 – Jan Opperman, 1976 – Jimmy Boyd, 1977 – Jimmy
Boyd, 1978 – Doug Wolfgang, 1979 – Doug Wolfgang, 1980 – Jimmy Sills, 1981 –
Lealand McSpadden, 1982 – Jimmy Boyd, 1983 – Tim Green, 1984 – Lealand
McSpadden, 1985 – Jimmy Sills, 1986 – Tim Green, 1987 – Jimmy Sills, 1988 –
Jeff Swindell, 1989 – Jimmy Sills, 1990 – Jimmy Sills, 1991 – Brent Kaeding,
1992 – Bobby Burrow, 1993 – Tim Green, 1994 – Steve Kent, 1995 – Kevin
Pylant, 1996 – Brent Kaeding, 1997 – Randy Hannegan, 1998 – Randy Hannegan,
1999 – Brent Kaeding, 2000 – Ronnie Day, 2001 – Steve Kent, 2002 – Kasey
Kahne, 2003 – Kasey Kahne, 2004 – Shane Stewart, 2005 – Jonathan Allard,
2006 – Jonathan Allard
