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Kaley Gharst – Dealing with the Devil's Bowl!

(Bill W) – October 17, 2007 – Decatur, Illinois sprint car driver, Kaley Gharst, made an impression on the Devil's Bowl Speedway, and the famous ½ mile also made an impression on him. When the dust had finally settled near Mesquite, Texas on the 34^th Winternationals, those in attendance were witness to a pair of charges by the 19 year old hot-shoe.

The Devil's Bowl can be an awesome sight for a first-timer. "When I first pulled up there, I couldn't believe how high the backstretch was compared to the frontstretch!" says Kaley. "It's definitely a 'one of a kind' track. Coming out of turn two, you're going uphill, and then you're going downhill into turn three. It's a nice track though! It was fun!"

Two different track surfaces over two nights greeted a star-studded cast from across the country. A tough draw started Kaley fifth in his heat race on Friday, but he would surge to third and lock himself in the main event, where he would post 14^th. "It was real slick on Friday night," says Kaley of the 20-lap feature track conditions. "There was a big cushion on the top and nothing to hold onto on the bottom. Everybody was pretty much following everyone else on top. The only time you'd go lower, is to get around lapped traffic."

Kaley was able to move up eight spots, with most of those earned early. "We were able to pass most of them on the start," he says. "Everybody was kind of bunched up, and we kind of just went through the middle of the track. We got a couple more with slidejobs, but most of them we got on the start. We were able to get up to fifth, and then we lost our brakes. Wayne Johnson was able to get by us, and that moved us back to sixth." The sixth place finish in the Tri-Star Racing #3* was well-earned and an impressive first time showing.

Though the bottom of the banked ½ didn't lend to much action on Friday, it was the fast way around Saturday. "Saturday was pretty locked down on the bottom all night long," says Kaley of the tacky surface. "It was slick in the middle and there was a cushion, but the bottom was the place to be. It was just too fast on the bottom to do anything up high."

After starting fifth in his heat and running fourth, and a second place finish in the B, Kaley assumed a spot outside row eleven for the 25-lap finale. "We started 22^nd and we were able to get up to 13^th," he says. "Unfortunately, we had a bleeder stick in the right rear, and it went flat. We had a yellow on lap 16 or 17, so we were able to change it, and we ended up coming back through to 16^th."

The tough luck prevented a charge up through the field, but there was nothing to be ashamed of at the end of the night with a 16^th place finish. "We got around the bottom a little better than the other guys," says Kaley. "They started washing up out of the corners a little bit, and that let us beat them to the bottom coming off the straightaways. When you get around cars that way, your car is working pretty good! Unfortunately, we had the flat earlier, but that's the way it goes sometimes."

Short Track Nationals Up Next!

Kaley will tackle the Short Track Nationals next. The $20,000 to win ($45,000 from the back), $2,000 to start event, will commence at the I-30 Speedway near Little Rock, Arkansas, October 25-27.

Kaley would like to thank the following sponsors: Maxim Racing, Phillips' Floors, Bell Racing, ProShocks, McKenna Truck Center, Charlie Fisher Racing Engines, Karl Chevrolet and HostIowa.net - Your Complete Internet Solution.

If you would like to receive Kaley's weekly releases, send an e-mail with the subject line "Kaley" to [email protected].

(Dave Hill Photo)

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