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(Bill W) – September 28, 2009 – “Showtime” Kaley Gharst became the all-time feature winner with the Sprint Invaders last Friday night at the Farley Speedway aboard the Plath Motorsports #14P. The Decatur, Illinois driver is only 21 years old, but now stands atop the all-time winners’ list with13 victories. His wins have come in only two years of competition (2007 and 2009). Tomorrow (Saturday), he’ll look to add another win to his resume on Season Championship for the series at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa.
The Sprint Invaders made their first ever appearance at the Farley, Iowa ½ mile on Friday as part of the Yankee Dirt Track Classic. Joey Moughan and Dave Hall started on the front row of Kaley’s heat, while he posted inside row three. He could not catch the leaders for a dash spot, but did move up to third.
That put him inside row four for the feature. Jon Agan and Bobby Mincer swapped the lead in the first 13 laps before the latter retired with a flat tire. A restart saw Kaley line up second behind Agan with Dave Hall behind him. The restart would be the setting for the winning pass. "I was going to go to the bottom, but Jon headed that way, so I kept it straight,” he says. “When I cleared him, I saw Dave down on the bottom. This track is real wide and racy, there was plenty of room. It was a long ways around the top, but we made it work."
Winning the three-wide battle for the lead, Kaley would never look back, recording his name in the Sprint Invaders record books. "It's a real honor to know you've done that,” he says. “There have been so many great drivers that have competed with the Sprint Invaders. Who knows? Maybe Jerrod will come back and tie me again this week."
On Saturday, it was on to the World of Outlaws event at the Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minnesota. Despite never seeing the facility, Kaley took an immediate liking to it driving Bruce Williams #7K. A 14th quick effort amongst the 28-car field signaled good things to come. Unfortunately, the transfer in the heat was not made. Kaley came back to win the B, passing Chad Kemenah on the high side at the halfway mark and pulling away. “We qualified decent, but we were tight all night,” he says. “We were tight again in the heat and went backwards. We finally got it pretty close for the B main.”
Kaley lined up outside of row seven and began to battle with the best. “We left the car alone, and it worked out,” he says. “Things were going alright and we were moving forward there. I was happy with where we were, and I definitely think we had a top ten car at least.”
After moving up to twelfth by lap eight, disaster struck for Kaley. “I’m not sure what happened there, but I guess we got in (turn two) a touch too hard,” he says. “We hooked the cushion and started bouncing. We got into the wall and got the front end of the car pretty good, and that was the end of our night.” 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 sprntcar@iowatelecom.net. Kaley and car owner Randy Plath would like to thank Sebastian Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Scott Performance, Holtkamp's truck and trailer repair, Rockstar Graphics and all of their sponsors. The 7K team would like to thank Phillips Floors, Info2go, Wagner Excavating, Parker Signs, Redtail Painting, Rod End Supply, LWBJ, Community State Bank and Carlson Systems.
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