Kaley Gharst – Big Weekend Leads to Another!
(Bill W) May 15, 2012 – It was a busy three-day weekend for the Jeremy Scadden Construction #6 team and driver, Kaley Gharst. After finishing sixth on Friday night in 410 competition at the River Cities Speedway near Grand Forks, North Dakota, they finished in the runner-up spot Saturday in the 360 at I-90 Speedway in Hartford, South Dakota. Unfortunately, motor issues sidelined the team before Sunday’s 410 feature at Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota. This weekend, it will be three more events. On Friday, they will compete with the 410 at the Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa. Saturday will find them in 360 competition at the Fairmont Speedway in Fairmont, Minnesota, and Sunday will see them back at Huset’s with the 410.
The Decatur, Illinois driver finished fifth in his Friday heat at the River Cities bullring after starting tenth. “With their point system, we had to start in the back of the heat,” says Kaley. “We had a pretty decent car, it was just a bit loose. But we were able to get up to fifth, I think it was. That got us in the A.”
Starting fourteenth in his maiden voyage to the tough Grand Forks track he would charge to a sixth place finish. “We had a pretty decent car,” says Kaley. “Again, a bit loose, but it was good. We were able to get up to sixth. That wasn’t bad at all for our first time up there. It’s a high-banked place, and you can really carry your speed around the place. You definitely don’t want to go over the top of the turns.”
Another bullring awaited in Hartford on Saturday night. Kaley ran second in his heat after starting sixth. “They ran six or seven heats,” he says. “Our finish gave us enough passing points to get in the redraw there.”
Starting fifth he advanced to the lead. “We were going pretty good in third and the yellow came out,” says Kaley. “Chuck Swenson was running second, and he was able to get into the lead. I was able to get to second behind him. Then we got by Swenson for the lead and the yellow came out again.”
The pass was called back, but Kaley regained the position on the restart. Ryan Bickett would find the rubber first and get by for the win, relegating him to second place at the checkers. “(Swenson) had seen where I went by him, and he got a little too high in turn four and spun out,” says Kaley. “We were able to take the lead, and we were going decent until the last few laps. Someone found some rubber down lower than where we were running.”
Sunday night, Kaley registered the eighth quick time of the night. “We got to Huset’s and we were looking forward to getting some laps in with the 410,” he says. “We were a little tight timing in.”
The motor ills happened in the heat, and left the team watching the main event from their pit eager for next week’s trio of races. “We were running third in the heat there when a rocker arm broke,” explains Kaley. “(Mark) Dobmeier got by us. We finished the heat, but when we found the issue, we weren’t able to run the feature. We were supposed to start third, so that was disappointing.”
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 the Jeremy Scadden #6 team would like to thank: Scadden Construction, CNS Homes, Adrenaline Sports Bar & Grill, LEV Wings, Singer Engines, J&J Auto Racing , DMI Components, Keizer Wheels , Schure Built Suspension Systems, Hoosier Tire North , Butlerbuilt Seating and Bell Helmets.
Kaley at Huset’s Speedway (Jeff Bylsma Photo)
Category: Driver Updates, Kaley Gharst, News
