|
Gharst is First Repeat Winner with Sprint Invaders!
(Bill Wright) June 28, 2009 – Kaley Gharst became the first repeat winner
with the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders at the Quad City Raceway in East
Moline, Illinois on Sunday. The Decatur, Illinois driver was paid $1,200 for
his win, and moved into second on the all-time series’ win list with nine.
Russ Hall and Jack Dover followed him to the finish line.
Gharst shot out to an early lead, running on the high side of the banked ¼
mile oval. Russ Hall followed him into second in the early going of the
25-lapper, followed by Jack Dover. The lead trio ran nose to tail, banging
the cushion, and at times the wall, even as they began working lapped
traffic on lap five.
Hall made two slide-job attempts to take the lead from Gharst before a lap
12 red flag for Dennis Bordeau who got upside down. He was uninjured. "He (Gharst)
hit the fence a couple of times in lapped traffic, so we took a shot at
him," said Hall. "I thought we could get him there, but we just couldn’t
clear him. Running second really helps with the morale of our team."
"I didn’t know who it was, but I saw a black nose wing down there twice,"
said Gharst of Hall’s advances. "There were a few times I got stuck in
lapped traffic there, with a car up top and a car down low. I tried the
middle, and he about got me a couple times."
Gharst led Hall, Dover, Donnie Steward and Ryan Jamison back to green flag
racing on the restart. With clear track in front of him, the 2007 series’
champion was never seriously challenged again. The battle was on for second,
however.
"I slid by him a couple times," said Dover of his attempts to pass Hall.
"But he would come back down and drive by on the front straight. I like
tracks like this that are tight and racy. We found some problems with our
tires when we came in, but we’ll take third."
The only other caution came on lap 15, when CJ Houseman spun. Ben Wagoner,
who came into the night as a leading Rookie of the Year contender running
second in points suffered mechanical problems and retired early.
Gharst led the last ten laps, many of them with a clear track ahead of him.
He won at the facility late in his championship season. "The track was
pretty much identical to the one in 2007, other than that one took rubber
towards the end," he says. "The cushion pretty much became the wall tonight.
You can get around here pretty good for as small as it is. It’s a lot of
fun."
Steward finished fourth, ahead of Jamison. Matt Sutton, Bobby Mincer, Matt
Rogerson, Jimmy Davies and Lance Gullo rounded out the top ten. Dover, Hall
and Jamison won heats, while Gharst took the Kevin Doty Memorial Shake-Up
Dash.
Rogerson, who entered the night as the point leader, got upside down in his
heat race, but finished it with a mangled wing. He salvaged the night with
his eighth place run.
Results
Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders 25-lap A main Finish (started): 1. 14P,
Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (2) 2. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (4) 3. 53,
Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (1) 4. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA
(3) 5. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (6) 6. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL
(7) 7. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (13) 8. 29, Matt Rogerson, West
Burlington, IA (12) 9. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (15) 10. 3G, Lance
Gullo, Springfield, IL (5) 11. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (10)
12. 14, Tony Daniels, Galesburg, IL (14) 13. 80x, CJ Houseman, Norwalk, IA
(8) 14. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (20) 15. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL
(21) 16. 1PC, Pete Crall, DeSoto, KS (22) 17. Y2, Mike Houseman Jr., Des
Moines, IA (17) 18. 31P, Travis Porter, Rock Island, IL (9) 19. 93, Jamie
Needham, Moline, IL (16) 20. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (11) 21. 2B, Dennis
Bordeau, Davenport, IA (18) 22. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (19). Lap
Leader: Gharst 1-25. Hard Charger: Mincer.
Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #1 (started, Top Two to the
Shake-Up Dash): 1. Jack Dover (4) 2. Kaley Gharst (1) 3. Matt Sutton (4) 4.
Jordan Goldesberry (7) 5. Bobby Mincer (5) 6. Jamie Needham (6) 7. Justin
Parrish (3) DNS – Pete Crall
Cole Implement Heat Race #2 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. Russ
Hall (1) 2. Donnie Steward (6) 3. CJ Houseman (5) 4. Ben Wagoner (3) 5. Tony
Daniels (4) 6. Mike Houseman Jr. (2) 7. Andy Huston (7)
HustonLand Improvement Heat Race #3 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1.
Ryan Jamison (1) 2. Lance Gullo (4) 3. Travis Porter (2) 4. Matt Rogerson
(5) 5. Jimmy Davies (3) 6. Dennis Bordeau (6) DNS – Matt Harms
Kevin Doty Memorial Shake-Up Dash presented by Cen-Pe-Co Lubricants: 1. Ryan
Jamison (2) 2. Jack Dover (6) 3. Kaley Gharst (1) 4. Donnie Steward (4) 5.
Russ Hall (5) 6. Lance Gullo (3)
Contingency Awards
Rod End Supply - Matt Harms
Rod End Supply - Travis Porter
Saldana Racing Products - Ben Wagoner
Hepfner Racing Prodcuts - CJ Houseman
Brake Man - Mike Houseman Jr.
Eastern Iowa Landscaping LLC UMP Modifieds– 23 cars
Heat 1–
1. 77 Ray Bollinger
2. 15 Brandon Durbin
3. 15b Brad Pershy
4. 85 Leland Bushong
Heat 2–
1. 96L Dale Lueth
2. 71 Casey Lappin
3. 66 Joe Adam
4. Z Mike Zemo Jr.
Heat 3–
1. 96 Jason Bahrs
2. 29 Craig Crawford
3. 83 Nathan Balensiefen
4. 89 TJ Patz
Feature–
1. 96 Jason Bahrs
2. 83 Nathan Balensiefen
3. 43 Milo Veloz Jr.
4. 70 Jeff Morris
5. 71 Casey Lappin
6. 40 Doug Crampton
7. 66 Joe Adam
8. 6J Jim Sandusky
9. 88J Jerry Bailey Jr.
10. 15b Brad Pershy
11. 96L Dale Lueth
12. 6 Mark Vervynk
13. 44p Chad Patch
14. 85 Leland Bushong
15. 88 Rob Nylin
16. 89 TJ Patz
17. Z Mike Zemo Jr.
18. 19 Jason Parrish
19. 17 Jason Pershy
20. 77 Ray Bollinger
21. 29 Craig Crawford
22. 52 Nick Hillyer
DNS– 15 Brandon Durbin
Extreme Auto Glass UMP Street Stocks– 11 cars
Heat 1–
1. 8L Chris Lawrence
2. 28 Greg Gill
3. 15 Clint Moorehouse
4. 39g RJ Gonzalez
Feature–
1. 15 Clint Moorehouse
2. 28 Greg Gill
3. 88 Jimmy Simpson
4. 3g Jeremy Mowery
5. 93 Matt Werner
6. 8L Chris Lawrence
7. 39g RJ Gonzalez
8. 68 Jason Church
9. 02b Mike Anderson
10. 09 Joe Wagner
11. 76 Chuck Fox
Avenue Rental IMCA Late Models– 19 cars
Heat 1–
1. 14 Mike Murphy Jr.
2. 70 Shawn Mulvaney
3. 46 Nate Buesling
4. 99 Doug Curless
Heat 2–
1. 54 Kevin Blum
2. 58 Hershel Roberts
3. 53 LeRoy Brenner
Heat 3–
1. G1 Mike Garland
2. 12 Ray Guss Jr.
3. 165 Dave Englekens
Feature–
1. 14 Mike Murphy Jr.
2. G1 Mike Garland
3. 46 Nate Buesling
4. 53 Leroy Brenner
5. 58 Hershel Roberts
6. 21g Cory Goldbeck
7. 70 Shawn Mulvaney
8. 75m Todd Malmstrom
9. 95 Eric Sanders
10. 23 Joe Lowder
11. J28 Steve Gustaf Jr.
12. 21b Jason Bert
13. 54 Kevin Blum
14. 42 Kevin Dickey
15. 12 Ray Guss Jr.
16. 165 David Englekens
17. 99 Doug Curless
DQ– 29 Adam Opendike
DNS– 7 Stephan Kammerer
 |
