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Kaley Gharst – Donnellson Dominator! by: Bill Wright DONNELLSON, IA (June 19) – When Kaley Gharst towed into the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa on Wednesday night, the likes of Terry McCarl, Danny Lasoski, Jason Johnson, Brian Brown and Randy Martin were waiting. When he left, they were all wondering. Driving the #41 for the first time with car owner Dale Oaks and mechanic for a night, Scott Bonar, Kaley roared to his fourth career victory at the 3/8 mile oval in just six appearances! The nineteen year old from Decatur, Illinois first raced at the facility four months ago, and tallied three 2007 wins there. Things started out a little sluggish on Wednesday though. “In practice we had the wrong gear in, and it was only turning about 7900 rpm,” says Kaley. “We didn’t have time to change it for the heat race, so we had to run with it. The car was on the loose side, but we held on for second there, and that’s what we needed for the redraw, and that gave us the pole.” Holding Aces and Nines in a Poker game to set the 20-lap feature lineup was good enough for the pole. Kaley beat fellow front row starter Lasoski to turn one when the green flew, but surrendered the spot to the Missouri veteran on the second go-around. “We were able to make the gear change for the feature, and that made a heck of a difference,” he says. “It was still a little loose. I thought the track would be a little heavier than what it was.” Kaley stayed in pursuit of the leader as the pair put some distance between themselves and the third place car of Josh Higday. “When Lasoski got back by me, I pulled the wing back, and stuck with him until we got to lapped traffic,” Kaley remembers. “Then when we caught him, I showed my nose on the bottom and he bit down there. So I just went around the top of him there in one and two (lap 11)…he got caught a little bit by a lapped car, and they say I drove away after that.” Yesterday around noon, the youngster had no idea he would be racing. “Scott called me yesterday to drive the car at the last minute,” he relates. “It was thrown together, but we worked well together. We didn’t change a whole lot, but what we did change made it better and it worked out great. In a tough year like we’ve been having, it’s what we’ve needed. The equipment was on par with everyone else, and we were finally able to take advantage of that.” Kaley also had a nice run at the Knoxville Raceway last Saturday after a rough start. After qualifying 23rd and being mired in the back of his heat, things opened up with an incident in front of him, involving Jeff Mitrisin who spun, and Brandon Wimmer, who was trying to avoid him. “We were close to getting together with Brandon Wimmer there after he had gotten into the wall and came back across the track,” says Kaley. “That deal helped us a lot, because it gave us a transfer out of the heat to the feature, and we weren’t exactly going forward at the time.” Posting outside row nine in the feature event, he took advantage of a dry-slick track to move forward seven spots to an eleventh place finish. “The new Maxim we pulled out a couple weeks ago, seems to be helping, but we’re still low on horsepower,” says Kaley, who expects a fresh Fisher Engine either this week or next. “It was one of the better tracks we’ve raced on there this year. It had a top and a bottom and you could run where you wanted. We had some steering gear problems so I didn’t venture up top too much. We would pick off some cars, but then the motor was sluggish coming off the bottom. We’ll give it another shot on Saturday.” Keep an eye on Kaley’s progress this week and beyond at www.KaleyGharst.com ! Kaley would like to thank the following sponsors: Maxim Racing, Phillips’ Floors, Bell Racing, info2go, Parker Signs and Graphics, LWBJ Accounting, Community State Bank, Pro Shocks, QA1, VRP Shocks, Charlie Fisher Racing Engines, Karl Chevrolet, WillCo Services 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 sprntcar@iowatelecom.net . |