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Kaley Gharst – Slick Start!
(Bill W) – April 21, 2010 – Kaley Gharst went into the "360 Sprint Challenge" at the 34 Raceway near West Burlington, Iowa thinking he may take the opportunity to go to the back and make some extra cash. During the course of the night, he decided against it, then thought he should have, and finally settled for fourth in the main event even after being covered in power steering fluid.
The Decatur, Illinois driver had an uncharacteristic draw. "Actually, I drew for myself, and that was a little change from the usual," says Kaley. "I actually drew decent. We had a little bit of a concern in hot laps, because there was a vibration. I think we narrowed it down to a bent wheel."
After solving the vibration issues, Kaley rolled to victory from the front row in his heat race. "The car felt good in the heat, and the vibration was gone," he says. "We got the win, but the motor was a little bit rich on the top end. That hurt us a bit, but we were in the dash."
The dash draw put him back in row four, and the 3/8 mile oval was tacky through the middle, yielding little passing opportunities. Though offered the challenge to go to the back, he refused, citing track conditions. "We didn't go anywhere, but we got a feel for the track," he says. "At the time, it didn't look like it would widen up, so we refused the challenge. The track got better, and I kind of wished we would have taken it."
Starting sixth in the special 34-lap main event, Kaley held his own in the top five. "I knew we'd be tight to start the feature, but it was a little more than I thought," he remembers. "I was doing everything I could to maintain track position. By the time the car came around, it may have been a little too late."
Once he got going, he started reeling in the second place car, while leader Jerrod Hull was out of sight. With power steering fluid making things slick with the pedals, he was lucky to finish where he did. "We started moving forward, and got up to third behind (Ryan) Jamison," he says. "That's when the red came out and we lost power steering. The last ten or eleven laps, we were without it, so finishing fourth wasn't too bad. I got a nice shower of power steering fluid too."
Plans for the Randy and Lori Plath Motorsports #14P team are still a bit undecided for this weekend with the forecasts. "We're really looking at the weather," says Kaley. "We're kicking around going down to the Lake of the Ozarks on Saturday instead of Wisconsin (IRA). We're leaning towards Missouri, and hitting Shepp's on Friday. We'll see how the weather pans out, and we'll try to make it a two-race 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].
Kaley and car owner Randy Plath would like to thank Sebastian Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Holtkamp Truck and Trailer Repair, Nelson Catering, Pieper Inc., Lange Chiropractic, Rockstar Graphics, Scott Performance, Midland Performance and GPC Race Products.
Kaley, his dad (right) and some dumb writer (Dennis Krieger Imagery)
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