Davis County Fair Invader action to Gharst
By Jake Croxton

BLOOMFIELD, IA (July 12) – A brief rain shower could not do in round 9 of the 2007 Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders series at Bloomfield Speedway. Kaley Gharst thrilled the Davis County Fair crowd and earned his third win of the season in his Hostiowa.net / Bell Helmets / Wesmar / Maxim.

“We’ve been up front and then broke something,” Gharst said of his recent luck. “Finally, tonight, we got to stay up front and get a win. [Crew chief] Bob Brooks had the car hooked up. We had a little problem with the throttle. Any time we backed all the way out, it tried shutting off. It was kind of hard getting through three and four because it got so slick. We managed to get through there.”

Cautions slowed the pace three times, with the first occurring on lap 5. 34 Raceway winner John Schulz looped his machine in turn four.

On the restart, Gharst moved from his fourth starting spot to pressure early race leader Rager Phillips. He dispatched of Phillips on lap 10 and set sail on the field. During the green flag run from lap 5 to lap 23, the Decatur, Ill. driver diced through traffic and lapped up to the sixth place car.

“I like getting into traffic,” Gharst admitted. “I think running Knoxville every week helps a lot. Running with the Outlaws last year helped us a little bit more than Knoxville. But I think I have and advantage when we get to lapped traffic and I think it showed tonight.”

With Gharst looking at the white flag, Brian Hetrick and Korey Weyant tangled in turn one as they were battling for position and to stay on the lead lap. Weyant was uninjured in the slow rollover, but both competitors were forced to retire.

The final caution flew on the restart for lead lap car Ryan Jamison as the left front suspension assembly dismounted from his Whitey’s Bar & Billiard / Eagle.

From there, Gharst cruised to the checkers ahead of Josh Schneiderman.

“We had a little trouble getting through traffic, but once we got through them, we were pretty darn good,” said Schneiderman, who equaled his best career Invaders finish.

“Little brother bought me a brand new car this week and it was really working. I messed up in traffic early in the race and we didn’t need that first caution. Traffic was coming into our hands…but we’ll take second tonight.”

After barely avoiding the Hetrick/Weyant mishap, Jeff Mitrisin scored his best run of 2007 on the podium in third.

“I had a lot of traffic to go through,” said the driver of the Wares-Harrison Motorsports / Mitrisin Motors / Pro Line Buildings / Weseman / Eagle. “The car was nice; I just wish we had a shot a little closer to Kaley. He was fast, but I’d have liked to start behind him once and race with him a little bit.”

Mitrisin stood on the brakes as the red flew for Weyant’s upside-down racer. He was not judged as part of the accident and restarted on the lead lap in third.

“I saw them and that guy jumped on the brakes early. Then, I hit him and there were guys upside down and flipping. So I stopped for the red. That happens in this deal.”

Phillips and Matt Sutton rounded out the top five. KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Nick Eastin finished sixth, while Bobby Mincer, Jordan Goldesberry, Matt Rogerson, and Lance Gullo completed the top ten.

Next up for the Invaders is Cedar County Fair action at the Tipton Speedway on Friday the 13th.


Results

Car Count – 23
Cautions – 3 – L5, 23 (RED – Weyant flip), 23
Leaders – Phillips 1-9, Gharst 10-25
Laps Led – Gharst 16, Phillips 9
Highest Finishing Rookie – Jordan Goldesberry (8th)

Contingency:
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Nick Eastin
(Started 17th, Finished 6th)
Rod End Supply – Korey Weyant
Rod End Supply – Ryan Jamison
Saldana Racing Product – Bobby Mincer
Ultra Shield – Jordan Goldesberry
Diversified Machine – Matt Rogerson
MPD – Josh Schneiderman
The Brake Man – Jeff Mitrisin
M&W Aluminum Products – John Schulz

Staats Awards Heat Race #1 (Top 8 advance) -- 1. 3*Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL; 2. 51J Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis; 3. 12 Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO; 4. 99W
Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL; 5. 3 Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL; 6. 15 Bobby Mincer, Burlington; 7. 10T Tim Moore, Moline, IL; 8. 70 Brian Stansberry, Moulton

Budweiser Heat Race #2 (Top 8 advance) -- 1. 99 Manny Rockhold, Pekin, IL; 2. 35 Brian Hetrick, Stronghurst, IL; 3. 10 Jeff Mitrisin, Oskaloosa; 4. 2 John Schulz, W. Burlington; 5. 29 Matt Rogerson, Burlington; 6. 22X Nick Eastin, Burlington; 7. 3G Lance Gullo, Springfield, IL; 8. 53H Matt Harms, Chillicothe, IL

Storm Steel / Abrasive Jet Technologies Heat Race #3 (Top 7 advance) -- 1. 49 Josh Schneiderman, W. Burlington; 2. 14P Rager Phillips, Pleasantville; 3.
65 Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL; 4. 9X Bart Andrews, Muscatine; 5. 4M Mark Tischer, Hannibal, MO; 6. 00 Larry Pinegar, II, Pleasant Hill; 7. 53 Joe
Beaver, Knoxville

Bloomfield Tire Service / Piper Auto Salvage Shake-up
Dash – 1. Phillips; 2. Schneiderman; 3. Jamison; 4. Gharst; 5. Hetrick; 6. Rockhold

Northtown Car Wash of Bloomfield 25 -- 1. Gharst (4); 2. Schneiderman (2); 3. Mitrisin (8); 4. Phillips (1); 5. Sutton (13); 6. Eastin (17); 7. Mincer (16); 8. Goldesberry (9); 9. Rogerson (14); 10. Gullo (19); 11. Rockhold (6); 12. Andrews (12); 13. Harms (21); 14. Jamison (3); 15. Weyant (10); 16. Hetrick (5); 17.
Schulz (11); 18. Moore (18); 19. Tischer (15); 20. Stansberry (20); 21. Hull (7); DNS – Pinegar, Beaver