(Bill W) September 13, 2009 – Kaley Gharst joined Jerrod Hull atop the all-time Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders winners' list with his victory at the Quincy Raceways on Sunday night. The win was his 12th career triumph with the Sprint Invaders, tying him with Hull. The Decatur, Illinois driver led flag to flag in an event that capped off the series' Triple Threat weekend in Illinois.
Driving the Plath Motorsports #14P, Gharst took off from his pole position and rode the bottom around the 3/8 mile oval. Only three of 25 laps had commenced, when Dustin Barks flipped over the top of turn three. He was uninjured. Matt Harms was also towed to the pits. The restart saw Gharst leading Matt Rogerson, Ryan Jamison, Donnie Steward and Mark Shirshekan.
Tasker Phillips ended up wrong side up two laps later, with Sid Blandford Jr. also involved. Both drivers were done. Steward had used the high side to slingshot around Jamison for the third spot. The next nine laps went non-stop. Steward braved the cushion on both ends of the track and worked his way around Rogerson for third, slowly reeling in the leader.
Lap 14 saw the final slowdown for a spin by Andy Huston. Gharst had a lapped car between himself and Steward on the restart. Steward's progress was interrupted after tangling with the lapped machine of Haley Arnold.
Gharst was able to win by only a car length at the checkers as Steward ran out of laps. "The car felt pretty decent from the beginning," said Kaley. "With seven or eight laps to go, it got really loose and I had the wing back as far as I could get it. I felt I was slipping a little bit, and I didn't know if anyone was gaining. It turns out that Donnie was. I really want to thank Nick Breuer, who has done a lot of the work with this motor."
"It felt good," said Donnie. "The car was nice tonight. Kaley is usually fast on top, and I was kind of surprised he wasn't up there. Lapped cars hurt us a bit. Haley kind of came up on me quick there and I wasn't ready for it."
Rogerson settled for third. "We were really loose the whole race," he said. "We had the wing as far back as we could. We'll take a solid third here and move on."
Point leader Jamison was fourth, ahead of Shirshekan, Bobby Mincer, Jordan Goldesberry, Ben Wagoner, Mike Houseman Jr. and Justin Parrish. Steward and Gharst won heats, while Mincer won both a heat and a dash.
Matt Sutton was forced to scratch with mechanical problems after his heat. Russ Hall flew over the turn two banking and into the concrete barrier. He returned to start the feature, but pulled off early.
The Sprint Invaders will be back in action this Friday night, September 18 at the Farley Speedway in Farley, Iowa.
Results
Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders 25-lap A main Finish (started): 1. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (1) 2. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA (5) 3. 29, Matt Rogerson, West Burlington, IA (2) 4. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (3) 5. 3x, Mark Shirshekan, Farmington, MO (4) 6. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (6) 7. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (12) 8. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (10) 9. Y2, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (8) 10. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (11) 11. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (17) 12. 80x, CJ Houseman, Norwalk, IA (14) 13. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (15) 14. 4m, Mark Tischer, Hannibal, MO (16) 15. 165, Haley Arnold, Sedalia, MO (18) 16. 7x, Sid Blandford Jr., Vail, CO (19) 17. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (13) 18. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL (7) 19. 22, Dustin Barks, Farmington, MO (9) 20. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (20) DNS – 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL. Lap Leader: Gharst 1-25. Hard Charger: Davies
Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #1 (started, Top Two to the Shake-Up Dash): 1. Bobby Mincer (4) 2. Matt Rogerson (7) 3. Matt Harms (1) 4. Ben Wagoner (6) 5. Tasker Phillips (5) 6. Mark Tischer (3) 7. Sid Blandford Jr. (2)
Cole Implement Heat Race #2 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. Kaley Gharst (1) 2. Ryan Jamison (2) 3. Mike Houseman Jr. (6) 4. Justin Parrish (3) 5. CJ Houseman (4) 6. Jimmy Davies (5) 7. Russ Hall (7)
Huston Land Improvement Heat Race #3 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. Donnie Steward (5) 2. Mark Shirshekan (1) 3. Dustin Barks (3) 4. Jordan Goldesberry (7) 5. Andy Huston (2) 6. Haley Arnold (4) 7. Matt Sutton (6)
Holtkamp's Trailer Repair Shake-Up Dash: 1. Bobby Mincer (2) 2. Kaley Gharst (1) 3. Matt Rogerson (3) 4. Ryan Jamison (4) 5. Mark Shirshekan (6) 6. Donnie Steward (5)
Contingency Awards
Rod End Supply – Bobby Mincer, CJ Houseman
Saldana Racing Products – Andy Huston
Diversified Machine, Inc. – Mark Tischer
Hepfner Racing Products – Justin Parrish
Brake Man – Matt Harms