Gharst wins number five at Bloomfield
By Jake Croxton

BLOOMFIELD, IA (Sept. 8) – Kaley Gharst worked lapped traffic to perfection and maneuvered his Hostiowa.net / Bell Helmets / Wesmar / Maxim into victory lane for the fifth time in Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders competition in 2007. The win marked Gharst’s second victory at the Bloomfield Speedway after his win during the Davis County Fair in July.

“It’s another win…hopefully we’ll get a few more before the year’s out,” said the Decatur, Ill. driver. “I look forward to lapped traffic. You can’t get there soon enough for me. I’ve always seemed to do good in lapped traffic.”

The 25-lapper got off to a wild start as outside front row starter Dustin Selvage went end over end in turn three. The starting field was able to avoid the Indianola, Iowa youngster, but Selvage was uninjured and done for the night.

On the second attempt at a start, pole starter Josh Schneiderman assumed command and led for the first ten laps. A lap four restart for Bart Andrews’ stalled car bunched the field up and brought Billy Alley and Gharst to Schneiderman’s tail tank.

As the leaders approached traffic, Gharst drove inside of Schneiderman and it was academic from there.

“We had the car working pretty good there early,” said the new points leader. “A lot of guys were getting in high and bouncing. I was going in below the stuff and
kind of cheating there and getting away with it. I got by the 65 [Goldesberry] and the 3G [Gullo] and then Alley on the restart. I tracked down the 49 [Schneiderman] in lapped traffic and got by him.”

As the field took the white flag, Alley dove Mark Burch’s powerful entry underneath Schneiderman and stole the runner-up spot.

“My race team ran first all night,” said the Lincoln, Nebraska driver. “They had a clean sweep and I just ran second in that feature. I made a couple mistakes and it cost me the win. But I’ll tell you what, it’s been a lot better than it’s been going all year. I guess you look at the positives at times like this. It hasn’t been the most fun racing year, but everything’s gravy. I’ve just got to keep my head up and going forward.”

Alley nearly was not around to see the finish after jumping way above the cushion near half way.

“Just a little brain fade I guess. I got to thinking too much. I tried to make things happen and it cost me a lot of time. At the end of that race, they were within striking distance. I just let them get too far out in front of me. You can’t count on a yellow all the time and it’s definitely a bummer deal. We definitely had a racecar that could win here tonight.”

Jordan Goldesberry earned his best career Invaders finish in fourth, while John Schulz rounded out the top five. Lance Gullo also earned a career-best in sixth, while Matt Sutton, Russ Hall, Rager Phillips, and Nick Eastin rounded out the top five.

Tonight, the series moves to Quad City Raceway. Hot Laps begin at 5:30 at the Rock Island County Fairgrounds quarter-mile.


Results

Car Count – 25
Cautions – 2 – L0 (RED - Selvage flip), 4
Leaders – Schneiderman 1-10, Gharst 11-25
Laps Led – Gharst 15, Schneiderman 10
Highest Finishing Rookie – Jordan Goldesberry (4th)

***Selvage flipped on the first lap of the feature – he was uninjured

Contingency:
KSE Racing Products Hard Charger – Russ Hall (Started
14th, Finished 8th)
Rod End Supply – Russ Hall
Rod End Supply – Rager Phillips
Saldana Racing Product – Matt Harms
Ultra Shield – Bart Andrews
Diversified Machine – Jordan Goldesberry
MPD – Jerrod Hull
The Brake Man – Manny Rockhold
M&W Aluminum Products – Josh Schneiderman
Hepfner Racing Products – Matt Rogerson

Staats Awards Heat Race #1 (Top 5 advance) -- 1. 7 Dustin Selvage, Indianola; 2. 49 Josh Schneiderman, W. Burlington; 2. 24 Jarod Smith, Altoona; 4. 53H Matt Harms, Chillicothe, IL; 5. 15 Bobby Mincer, Burlington; 6. 9X Bart Andrews, Muscatine; 7. 51J Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis; 8. 99W Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL; 9. 29 Matt Rogerson, Burlington

Budweiser Heat Race #2 (Top 5 advance) -- 1. 1M Billy Alley, Lincoln, NE; 2. 3* Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL; 3. 2 John Schulz, W. Burlington; 4. 14P Rager
Phillips, Pleasantville; 5. 29X Russ Hall, Des Moines; 6. 22X Nick Eastin, Burlington; 7. 4M Mark Tischer,Hannibal, MO; 8. 53 Joe Beaver, KnoxvilleStorm Steel / Abrasive Jet Technologies

Heat Race #3
(Top 5 advance) -- 1. 3G Lance Gullo, Springfield; 2.65 Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL; 3. 99 MannyRockhold, Pekin, IL; 4. 3 Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL; 5.
12 Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO; 6. 36 Justin Newberry, Burlington; 7. 70 Brian Stansberry, Moulton; 8. 18A Dan Avery, Burlington

Crop Service of Drakesville / Spillman Auto Parts /KDMU 106.9 / Prevo Auction Services
Shake-up Dash – 1.Alley; 2. Gullo; 3. Gharst; 4. Goldesberry; 5.Schneiderman; 6. Selvage

B-Main (Top 5 advance) -- 1. Eastin; 2. Jamison; 3.Beaver; 4. Andrews; 5. Rogerson; 6. Weyant; 7.Newberry; 8. Tischer; 9. Stansberry; 10. Avery

Kollision Korner / DC Diesel 25 -- 1. Gharst (5); 2.Alley (3); 3. Schneiderman (1); 4. Goldesberry (6); 5.Schulz (8); 6. Gullo (4); 7. Sutton (12); 8. Hall(14); 9. Phillips (9); 10. Eastin (16); 11. Harms(10); 12. Beaver (18); 13. Mincer (11); 14. Jamison(15); 15. Rogerson (20); 16. Weyant (19); 17. Rockhold(7); 18. Hull (13); 19. Andrews (17); 20. Selvage (2)

Note: Jarod Smith was scheduled to start 7th and scratched – Weyant was the first alternate