(Bill W) July 19, 2009 – Kaley Gharst registered his third feature win of the year with the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders at the Quincy Raceways near Quincy, Illinois on Sunday night. The victory in the Randy Plath Motorsports #14P did not come easy, as there were six lead changes in the 25-lap main event.
Jim Moughan Jr. led from the pole position on the dry-slick surface early on. On lap two, CJ Houseman brought the only caution of the race when he spun in turn two. The restart saw Moughan leading young Mark Shirshekan, Jimmy Davies, Ryan Jamison and Bobby Mincer back to green flag racing.
Shirshekan used a large cushion in turns three and four to shoot into the lead on lap three. "I saw him go low, and I just got a fire in me and had to go high and get around him," said the young Farmington, Missouri driver. "We were set up for the bottom, but I think we needed to be up top."
Moughan returned the favor low in turn two a pair of laps later. By lap nine, Gharst was into the top four, and gaining on the high side in three and four as the leaders hit heavy lapped traffic. A couple of laps later, he was by Jamison into third.
Gharst shot into second off turn four by Shirshekan on lap 17, and two laps later, he did the same to take the lead from Moughan. On lap 21, Gharst drove off the track in three and four, but was able to save it. When he emerged, he was back behind Moughan. "We were going pretty good on top there in three and four," said Gharst. "There wasn't a whole lot to hang on up there, and I was using the brake a lot. I had to pump it up before I got in the turn. I forgot to do it that one time, and flew off three and four."
It took two laps for Gharst to shoot back under Moughan into the lead on the low side of turn two. "We were really good the first 20 laps," said Moughan. "I started to get loose, but I wasn't going to change my line. Kaley was able to get by us, and he did a nice job zinging around there. I didn't think he'd recover from getting over the berm, but here he came again. This is a new motor (Gaerte), and we really haven't run too many 360 races in our career. This is a good series, and we enjoy running at this racetrack."
Shirshekan rebounded to pass Moughan for second on the last go-around. Jerrod Hull was fourth, and Jamison rounded out the top five. Russ Hall, who was as far back as 11th after his own trip outside the raceway, finished sixth, while Ben Wagoner, hard-charger Terry Gray, Bobby Mincer and Mike Trent rounded out the top ten.
Gharst talked about his trip back from outside turn four. "I thought I'd be in third or fourth, but when I came back on, I was right behind Jimmy," said the Decatur, Illinois driver. "We were able to get by again, and once we did, I was glad I didn't have to hold it through three and four too many more times."
Hall, Trent and Davies won heats, while Jamison won the Modern Welding Shake-Up Dash. The Sprint Invaders next race weekend will be Friday, August 21 at the Morgan County Speedway in Jacksonville, Illinois and Saturday, August 22 at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa.
Results
Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders 25-lap A main Finish (started): 1. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (8) 2. 3, Mark Shirshekan, Farmington, MO (3) 3. 1m, Jim Moughan Jr., Springfield, IL (1) 4. 12, Jerrod Hull, Sikeston, MO (10) 5. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (5) 6. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (4) 7. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (9) 8. 10, Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (16) 9. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (7) 10. 10x, Mike Trent, Rocheport, MO (6) 11. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (17) 12. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL (11) 13. 22, Dustin Barks, Farmington, MO (22) 14. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (2) 15. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA (18) 16. 29, Matt Rogerson, West Burlington, IA (19) 17. 00, Brett Milburn, Melbourne, VIC, Can. (13) 18. Y2, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (14) 19. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (12) 20. 80x, CJ Houseman, Norwalk, IA (23) 21. 19s, Steven Cross, Appleton City, MO (15) 22. 4m, Mark Tischer, Hannibal, MO (20) 23. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (21). Lap Leaders: Moughan 1-2, Shirshekan 3-4, Moughan 5-18, Gharst 19-20, Moughan 21-22, Gharst 23-25. Hard Charger: Gray.
Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #1 (started, Top Two to the Shake-Up Dash): 1. Russ Hall (1) 2. Ryan Jamison (2) 3. Bobby Mincer (3) 4. Jerrod Hull (5) 5. Brett Milburn (4) 6. Terry Gray (7) 7. Matt Rogerson (6) 8. Dustin Barks (8)
Cole Implement Heat Race #2 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. Mike Trent (1) 2. Mark Shirshekan (4) 3. Kaley Gharst (5) 4. Matt Harms (7) 5. Mike Houseman Jr. (6) 6. Jordan Goldesberry (3) 7. Mark Tischer (8) 8. CJ Houseman (2)
Huston Land Improvement Heat Race #3 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. Jimmy Davies (1) 2. Jim Moughan Jr. (3) 3. Ben Wagoner (2) 4. Justin Parrish (5) 5. Steven Cross (7) 6. Donnie Steward (4) 7. Andy Huston (6)
Modern Welding of Burlington Shake-Up Dash: 1. Ryan Jamison (1) 2. Mike Trent (3) 3. Jim Moughan Jr. (6) 4. Jimmy Davies (2) 5. Mark Shirshekan (5) 6. Russ Hall (4)
Contingency Awards
Rod End Supply – Matt Rogerson, CJ Houseman
Saldana Racing Products – Bobby Mincer
Diversified Machine, Inc. – Matt Harms
Hepfner Racing Products – Ryan Jamison
Brake Man – Jimmy Davies