(Bill W) September 18, 2009 - "Showtime" Kaley Gharst lived up to his name with a restart pass for the lead on lap 14 to capture his sixth Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders win of the year, and 13th overall to become the series' all-time leading feature winner, surpassing Jerrod Hull. The Sprint Invaders made their first ever visit to the Farley Speedway in northwest Iowa on Friday night.
Joey Moughan, who won the Shake-Up Dash, and Jon Agan started in row one. Agan jumped out to an early advantage, but with four laps in the books, Travis Porter spun in turn two of the 1/2 mile oval. Agan led Bobby Mincer, Moughan, Matt Rogerson and Dave Hall back to green flag racing.
Mincer, who entered the night just three points behind Ryan Jamison for the series' point lead, used the restart to fly by Agan on the low side and take the point. Three laps later, Agan won a good battle for the front and retook the advantage. Mincer would suffer a flat right rear a few laps later, while running second, surrendering his good run. Jamison had suffered as well, as contact during staging before the race with Justin Parrish, would cause the point leader to drop out early.
Agan had opened a large margin before a lap 13 slowdown for third running Moughan, who had broken a right rear wheel and came to a stop. Russ Hall also exited with a flat tire. The restart saw Gharst line up second, in front of Dave Hall. The lead trio would go three-wide for the deciding maneuver of the night. Gharst went high, while Hall went low, with both getting by Agan. Gharst emerged in the lead and never looked back to collect the $1,200 top prize.
Agan held on for third, and described his plight. "Early on, the wing cylinder that holds the wing forward or back was dangling. It would slide forward on the restarts, and that really hurt us and spun the tires really bad. On the last restart, I about spun the car all by myself. Once we got up to speed, it was fine. I think we had them covered, and it's disappointing."
Hall's low move was good for second. "I saw the curb on top of the track and it looked like a median on the interstate. I decided to set it up tight and sucked down. It seemed to work. That restart was pretty wild. Agan slid up a little bit, and the track was tough. I don't know how Gharst stuck it up there, but he did."
For Gharst, it was business as usual. "I was going to go to the bottom, but Jon headed that way, so I kept it straight. When I cleared him, I saw Dave down on the bottom. This track is real wide and racy, there was plenty of room. It was a long ways around the top, but we made it work."
The history of the win was not lost on Kaley, who has won all thirteen features in 2007 (7) and 2009 (6). "It's a real honor to know you've done that. There have been so many great drivers that have competed with the Sprint Invaders. Who knows? Maybe Jerrod will come back and tie me again next week."
The Sprint Invaders will compete in the Season Championship on Saturday, September 26 at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa.
Results
Ideal Ready Mix 20-lap A main Finish (started): 1. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (7) 2. 51, Dave Hall, Des Moines, IA (4) 3. 54, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA (2) 4. 29, Matt Rogerson, West Burlington, IA (5) 5. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (10) 6. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (9) 7. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (12) 8. Y2, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (16) 9. 80x, CJ Houseman, Norwalk, IA (6) 10. 53H, Matt Harms, Chillicothe, IL (18) 11. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (11) 12. 31P, Travis Porter, Rock Island, IL (14) 13. 61J, Daniel Bergquist, Burlington, IA (15) 14. 16P, Cody Petersen, Hermosa, SD (17) 15. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (8) 16. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (3) 17. 8H, Joey Moughan, Springfield, IL (1) 18. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (13) DNS - 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL, 7, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA. Lap Leaders: Agan 1-4, Mincer 5-6, Agan 7-13, Gharst 14-20. Hard Charger: Mike Houseman Jr.
Golden Eagle Distributors - Budweiser of Burlington Heat Race #1 (8 laps, top two to Dash): 1. Joey Moughan (2) 2. Dave Hall (1) 3. Kaley Gharst (5) 4. Joe Beaver (3) 5. Ryan Jamison (4) 6. Mike Houseman Jr. (7) 7. Cody Petersen (6)
Cole Implement of Media, IL Heat Race #2 (8 laps, top two to Dash): 1. Bobby Mincer (1) 2. CJ Houseman (3) 3. Russ Hall (2) 4. Andy Huston (5) 5. Travis Porter (6) 6. Daniel Bergquist (7) 7. Dustin Selvage (4)
Huston Land Improvement of Roseville, IL Heat Race #3 (8 laps, top four to feature, top two to Dash): 1. Jon Agan (2) 2. Matt Rogerson (1) 3. Ben Wagoner (3) 4. Jimmy Davies (5) 5. Justin Parrish (6) 6. Matt Harms (4)
Holtkamp's Trailer Repair Shake-Up Dash (6 laps): 1. Joey Moughan (1) 2. Jon Agan (4) 3. Bobby Mincer (6) 4. Dave Hall (3) 5. Matt Rogerson (2) 6. CJ Houseman (5)
Contingency Awards:
Rod End Supply: Travis Porter, Bobby Mincer
Saldana Racing Products: Ben Wagoner
Diversified Machine, Inc.: Joey Moughan
Hepfner Race Products: Russ Hall
Brake Man: Matt Rogerson