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| Kaley Gharst – Highs and Lowe’s! (Bill W) – November 8, 2007 – Kaley Gharst has had a fabulous season that has included twelve wins and a series championship. He brought that season to a close last weekend in the World of Outlaws finale at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte, North Carolina. Kaley qualified for the Saturday night finale, capping off what has been a great season. The weekend was full of “Highs and Lowe’s”. The three-night process started with time trials only on Thursday night. Two sets of qualifications set the heat lineups for Friday and Saturday. “We chased the car too much in qualifying,” says Kaley. “We couldn’t get it tight enough. We got it a little better the second time through. That didn’t get us too good of a starting spot on Friday though.” The result was a 30th quick time in the first session and a more manageable 20th quick the second time through. Despite starting outside row four in Friday night’s heat race, Kaley quickly challenged for a transfer. “We put it in a transfer spot going into turn one, but we over-tuned the car a bit from Thursday night,” he says. “We bicycled going into turn one there. I thought I let off the throttle or something, so I did it again into three and it bicycled again, so that was the end of that one.” An eighth place finish landed him in the B, starting 11th. “There were a lot of fast guys to catch in the B, so it was going to be hard to make it from the sixth row,” he says. “We started getting on the right track after the heat race, but it was too late.” Despite a star-studded B main field, Kaley surged to seventh and set his sights on Saturday, which was televised live by the Speed Channel. The Decatur, Illinois native took advantage of a better heat race starting spot (5th) to finish fourth in his heat and transfer to the main event, starting outside of row nine. “The car was getting better as the night went on Saturday,” says Kaley. “We were a little loose to start the feature off, so I pulled the wing back, and ended up getting a lap down pretty quick. The way they put the lapped cars in the back, it’s tough to get your lap back. We moved by some cars that didn’t count for anything, but we started figuring the car out, it was just too late.” A 19th place finish put a cap on a fine 2007 season for the teenager, and the Speed Channel exposure in Charlotte was good for all involved. “It was good to get on TV there on the last night to get our sponsors some exposure,” says Kaley. This weekend the team will celebrate their Sprint Invaders championship at the SIA Banquet in Burlington, Iowa. Kaley would like to thank the following sponsors: Maxim Racing, Phillips’ Floors, Bell Racing, ProShocks, McKenna Truck Center, Charlie Fisher Racing Engines, Karl Chevrolet, Wilco Heating and Air Conditioning 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. Bill Wright |