'05 Nationals Rookie of the Year Gharst Takes Knoxville pre-Nationals Feature
By Bob Wilson

KNOXVILLE, IA (Aug. 5, 2006) - Kaley Gharst, the 2005 Nationals Rookie of the Year, was awarded the 20-lap feature event at Knoxville Raceway Saturday night after the initial winner, Jeff Mitrisin was declared to have an illegal top wing and was penalized to last place in the race. The racing was held in conjunction with the 16th annual 360 Knoxville Nationals.

The start of the feature race saw an incident that eliminated two cars right off the bat. As the green flag waved and the field of 24 cars roared down the front stretch, fifth row starter Lynton Jeffrey was crowded into the front stretch fence and he began a series of gyrating flips catching several cars but especially Brent Antill. Neither of those two men were able to restart.

Once the race went green again it was a ten-mile sprint that would only be stopped by one additional yellow flag. Pole sitter Chad Meyer grabbed the lead spot but was closely followed by Mitrisin. Lap four saw that yellow show as Skip Jackson began slowing noticeably in turn three and ended up coasting slowly around the track till he was able to stop just above the infield berm in turn one. It was said that his car's rear end had broken.

When the race resumed, Meyer drove to the cushion of the big half-mile oval and set sail utilizing that upper line. By lap five he had establish a fifteen car-length advantage. Like a string of beads Mitrisin, Billy Alley, Dusty Zomer and Ricky Logan followed him.

Mitrisin began to eat into the Meyer lead soon after that and by lap eight he had come within five car lengths of Mitrisin's machine. Lap ten saw Mitrisin attempt a failed slide job in turns one and two and on the next go around both drivers interred into lap traffic.

Still, the top running cars stayed on the cushion as most of the backmarders were running on the bottom. It was lap 13 that Mitrisin again slid Meyer and made it stick in that same turn one and two. Once in front he began to check out on the field.

In the remaining laps, it was Alley and Meyer who began to put on the show as they fought bitterly for the runner-up spot. The question was not whether Mitrisin would win this one but rather, who would get second.

On the final lap, Bronson Maeschen, a lap car, slammed into the turn three fence. The impact must have been enough to compromise both the steering and the brakes as the rookie driver continued erratically on the racing surface. He was missed by most of the onrushing traffic but Meyer and Alley slowed dramatically in order to miss him. This allowed fourth running Gharst to pass them both and come across the stripe in second place. Maeschen's hapless sprinter finally came to a halt about fifty yards from the start finish line.

With the race now complete, the top finishing cars continued through inspection by the tech officials. That is when Mitrisin's top wing was found to be illegal.

Gharst was declared the winner and Meyer and Alley were awarded second and third. Fourth went to Tyler Walker and Dusty Zomer took fifth. Gharst, who started fourteenth was also given the Hard Charger Award. Rounding out the top ten finishers were Clint Garner, Logan, Jesse Giannetto, Trevor Creen and Matt Moro, a ninth row starter.

Forty-three sprinters competed on the night's racing.