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Kaley Gharst – Another Fair Win!
(Bill W) July 25, 2011 – If it were up to Kaley Gharst and the Plath
Motorsports #14P team, the Sprint Invaders would keep on going Fair
racing. He won his second feature in a row with the series last Friday
night at the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield, Iowa. It followed up a win
a the Cedar County Fair in Tipton, Iowa the previous week. With action
in Peoria, Illinois rained out Sunday night, the Decatur, Illinois
driver will look forward to a busy week.
Kaley had won on two previous trips to the 4/10-mile Bloomfield
Speedway, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t change his strategy. He did
just that to win his heat race from row two. “We had kind of planned on
running the top,” he says. “I saw Tony Stewart get going on the bottom
in the first heat, and then Larry Ball Jr. in the second heat down
there. That made me change my mind about where I was going to run.”
The strategy paid off. “I was able to run the bottom there and just kept
working at it,” says Kaley. “We were able to get the lead, and I felt
good down there.”
The bottom was good in the heat, so why not continue in the Shake-up
Dash? When Russ Hall was able to make a late pass on him for the win,
plans had to change one more time for the main event. “We aimed for the
bottom again in the dash,” says Kaley. “I was slipping a little more in
turn two than I was in the heat. That’s where Russ caught us and got by.
That made us change our game plan for the feature.”
The 20-lap main event saw Kaley start on the pole after Hall rolled the
dice after the Dash. “We set it up to the run the top,” he says of the
strategy going in. “The key was getting a good start and getting out in
front of Larry. The other key was the dash draw. We got really lucky
when Russ rolled the six.”
Kaley made it look easy with few hiccups. “We were able to get out there
and set sail,” he says. “We did have trouble with a lap car there. I
lost my momentum big time and missed the slide job.”
The two-time series champion got through that, and recorded his series’
high 20th career win. “I was lucky enough to hold on for the win,” says
Kaley. “It started to lay a little rubber up in two about a car length
off the cushion. We started finding that coming off the top and getting
a good run into three.”
As usual, Kaley was complimentary of the Plath Motorsports team. “Randy
(Plath), John (Plath) and Lucas (Glasgow) did a great job with the car
again, and it feels good to win two of these in a row. The track was
pretty good all night long. I look forward to coming back.”
Plans this week include a pair of Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series
Illinois Sprint Week dates at Spoon River Speedway south of Canton on
Wednesday, and at the Tri-City Speedway near Granite City on Thursday.
Peoria’s Sprint Invaders event will be made up this Sunday.
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 owners Randy and Lori Plath would like to thank Sebastian
Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Holtkamp Truck and Trailer Repair,
Nelson’s Catering, Pieper Inc., Lange Chiropractic, Rockstar Graphics,
Scott Performance, Midland Performance, Winters Performance Products and
GPC Race Products.
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