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Kaley Gharst – Burlington Top Five Knocks Rust Off!
(Bill W) April 2, 2013 – Kaley Gharst raced well in his first outing of the 2014 campaign, as he scored a top five finish with the Sprint Invaders at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa last Sunday night. The finish came despite the loss of a left front shock on the first lap. The Decatur, Illinois driver was competing in the Dale Oaks Farms #41, and the two will pair up again this Saturday at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa.
Kaley and Dale put their deal together over the weekend. “Dale called me on Saturday to see if I wanted to run Sunday,” says Kaley. “We put the car together Saturday and finished it off. We were ready to go. I think the roller and motor came from Matt Harms.”
The all-time leader in Sprint Invaders victories drew the pole for his heat and won it in dramatic fashion. “You couldn’t beat our draw when the format takes the top two to the Dash,” says Kaley. “I got a bad start. I went low and spun the tires, and let Wayne (Johnson) get ahead there. I was able to figure out where I needed to be, and we were able to sneak by him on the last lap there for the win.”
He followed his heat up by leading much of the Dash before settling for second. “We got a good start and the car was working well,” says Kaley. “I just messed up there towards the end. I hit the hole in three and four two times in a row, and that allowed (Tony) Shilling to get by us. With the way the redraw is, it wasn’t too big of an issue. I learned not to hit that hole again!”
The draw saw Kaley line up fourth in the main event. Some competitors were worried about tire wear in a feature that was shortened to twenty laps. Kaley had bigger issues right away. “We actually had a lot of tire left,” he says. “We broke the left front shock. On the start, I got into turn one and slammed the car down a little hard. That broke the bolt that holds the shock. It was kind of a handful after that. I really didn’t want to run the top without a left front shock.”
Working the car on the low side, he would checker fifth. “I was kind of holding onto it around the bottom,” says Kaley. “It wasn’t the best first outing, but we still managed a top five out of it, so it wasn’t too bad I guess. It felt good to get out there and knock the rust off of the elbows a little bit. It helped that we were at a track that I’ve been to many times.”
Kaley hopes to stay busy the next few weeks. “Oaks told me he’d like to run Donnellson, so we’ll do that,” he says. “The following week, we’ll be in (Mike) Sandvig’s car up at Park Jefferson Speedway (north of Sioux City, Iowa). We’d like to pair that with something else, but there’s really nothing else going on up around there that weekend.”
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 [email protected].
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