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Track Schedules

Kaley Gharst – Win #6!

(Bill W) – August 25, 2009 – “Showtime” Kaley Gharst picked up his sixth win of the year on Saturday night in Twin Features action with the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa as part of the 2^nd Annual Brian Hetrick Tribute.  A run from 15^th to 5^th in the second feature was great too, but none of it would have happened without the aid of Bruce Williams.  This weekend, the Decatur, Illinois driver will compete in ASCS-Midwest/WOW action at the US36 Raceway near Osborn, Missouri on Friday before running Saturday at Knoxville Raceway in the 410 class. 

On Friday night, at the Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois, Kaley drove the Plath Motorsports #14P to a strong second in the dash before the motor let go, ending his night.  “Tearing up the motor was definitely unfortunate,” he says.  “I felt like we had a pretty good shot at Jacksonville, but that’s something you can’t control.” 

Something had to be lined up for Saturday night at the 34 Raceway.  “Randy went up to Colfax (Iowa) to Bruce Williams’ (#7K owner) shop and picked up our 360 car with the motor in it,” says Kaley.  “There was still some work to do on it.  Originally, we had planned to go to Sedalia on Sunday with that, but we decided against it after running at Burlington.  We’ll go to Cameron (US36 Raceway) on Friday instead.” 

The #14P was strapped on top, and Kaley drove from third to win his heat.  The feature was marred by several cautions, but Gharst was unaffected and undeterred in winning his fourth feature with the series in 2009, and his second this season at 34 Raceway. "The car felt decent," he says of leading the distance. "About halfway through, it started rolling up really hard. I thought I broke something, because I got into the corner hard, and the right rear bounced. The car didn't really feel that good the last half of the race. I had no idea how big our lead was. I knew there were some lapped cars in there though, so I thought we had a pretty good shot at holding them off." 

All cars on the lead lap were inverted for the second main event of the night.  Kaley picked his way forward, but his rhythm was disturbed several times.  “We found a couple of things on the car, and freed it up for the second feature,” he says.  “I never could get any momentum going around the top.  I tried the bottom a couple of times, but it wouldn’t stick.  We were decent up top, but every time we’d get a run, someone would slide up.” 

Still, he managed to gain ten spots and finish with a solid top five.  “I never could get the cars timed in front of me, but I guess 15^th to 5^th isn’t awful bad,” he says.  “I just wish we could have been better.  The Maxim chassis and Fisher motor worked really well.  I have to thank Bruce (Williams) for letting us use the motor.”

Keep an eye on Kaley's progress this week and beyond at www.KaleyGharst.com!

If you would like to receive Kaley's weekly releases, send an e-mail with the subject line "Kaley" to sprntcar@iowatelecom.net.

Kaley and car owner Randy Plath would like to thank Sebastian Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Scott Performance, Holtkamp's truck and trailer repair, Rockstar Graphics and all of their sponsors.  The 7K team would like to thank Phillips Floors, Info2go, Wagner Excavating, Parker Signs, Redtail Painting, Rod End Supply, LWBJ, Community State Bank and Carlson Systems.