(Bill W) June 28, 2009 – Kaley Gharst became the first repeat winner with the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders at the Quad City Raceway in East Moline, Illinois on Sunday. The Decatur, Illinois driver was paid $1,200 for his win, and moved into second on the all-time series’ win list with nine. Russ Hall and Jack Dover followed him to the finish line.
Gharst shot out to an early lead, running on the high side of the banked ¼ mile oval. Russ Hall followed him into second in the early going of the 25-lapper, followed by Jack Dover. The lead trio ran nose to tail, banging the cushion, and at times the wall, even as they began working lapped traffic on lap five.
Hall made two slide-job attempts to take the lead from Gharst before a lap 12 red flag for Dennis Bordeau who got upside down. He was uninjured. “He (Gharst) hit the fence a couple of times in lapped traffic, so we took a shot at him,” said Hall. “I thought we could get him there, but we just couldn’t clear him. Running second really helps with the morale of our team.”
“I didn’t know who it was, but I saw a black nose wing down there twice,” said Gharst of Hall’s advances. “There were a few times I got stuck in lapped traffic there, with a car up top and a car down low. I tried the middle, and he about got me a couple times.”
Gharst led Hall, Dover, Donnie Steward and Ryan Jamison back to green flag racing on the restart. With clear track in front of him, the 2007 series’ champion was never seriously challenged again. The battle was on for second, however.
“I slid by him a couple times,” said Dover of his attempts to pass Hall. “But he would come back down and drive by on the front straight. I like tracks like this that are tight and racy. We found some problems with our tires when we came in, but we’ll take third.”
The only other caution came on lap 15, when CJ Houseman spun. Ben Wagoner, who came into the night as a leading Rookie of the Year contender running second in points suffered mechanical problems and retired early.
Gharst led the last ten laps, many of them with a clear track ahead of him. He won at the facility late in his championship season. ”The track was pretty much identical to the one in 2007, other than that one took rubber towards the end,” he says. “The cushion pretty much became the wall tonight. You can get around here pretty good for as small as it is. It’s a lot of fun.”
Steward finished fourth, ahead of Jamison. Matt Sutton, Bobby Mincer, Matt Rogerson, Jimmy Davies and Lance Gullo rounded out the top ten. Dover, Hall and Jamison won heats, while Jamison took the Kevin Doty Memorial Shake-Up Dash.
Rogerson, who entered the night as the point leader, got upside down in his heat race, but finished it with a mangled wing. He salvaged the night with his eighth place run.
Results
Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders 25-lap A main Finish (started): 1. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (2) 2. 29x, Russ Hall, Des Moines, IA (4) 3. 53, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (1) 4. 16HD, Donnie Steward, West Burlington, IA (3) 5. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (6) 6. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (7) 7. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (13) 8. 29, Matt Rogerson, West Burlington, IA (12) 9. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (15) 10. 3G, Lance Gullo, Springfield, IL (5) 11. 65, Jordan Goldesberry, Springfield, IL (10) 12. 14, Tony Daniels, Galesburg, IL (14) 13. 80x, CJ Houseman, Norwalk, IA (8) 14. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (20) 15. 53H, Matt Harms, Morton, IL (21) 16. 1PC, Pete Crall, DeSoto, KS (22) 17. Y2, Mike Houseman Jr., Des Moines, IA (17) 18. 31P, Travis Porter, Rock Island, IL (9) 19. 93, Jamie Needham, Moline, IL (16) 20. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (11) 21. 2B, Dennis Bordeau, Davenport, IA (18) 22. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (19). Lap Leader: Gharst 1-25. Hard Charger: Mincer.
Golden Eagle Distributors/Budweiser Heat Race #1 (started, Top Two to the Shake-Up Dash): 1. Jack Dover (4) 2. Kaley Gharst (1) 3. Matt Sutton (4) 4. Jordan Goldesberry (7) 5. Bobby Mincer (5) 6. Jamie Needham (6) 7. Justin Parrish (3) DNS – Pete Crall
Cole Implement Heat Race #2 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. Russ Hall (1) 2. Donnie Steward (6) 3. CJ Houseman (5) 4. Ben Wagoner (3) 5. Tony Daniels (4) 6. Mike Houseman Jr. (2) 7. Andy Huston (7)
HustonLand Improvement Heat Race #3 (started, Top Two to Shake-Up Dash): 1. Ryan Jamison (1) 2. Lance Gullo (4) 3. Travis Porter (2) 4. Matt Rogerson (5) 5. Jimmy Davies (3) 6. Dennis Bordeau (6) DNS – Matt Harms
Kevin Doty Memorial Shake-Up Dash presented by Cen-Pe-Co Lubricants: 1. Ryan Jamison (2) 2. Jack Dover (6) 3. Kaley Gharst (1) 4. Donnie Steward (4) 5. Russ Hall (5) 6. Lance Gullo (3)
Contingency Awards
Rod End Supply - Matt Harms
Rod End Supply - Travis Porter
Saldana Racing Products - Ben Wagoner Hepfner Racing Prodcuts - CJ Houseman
Brake Man - Mike Houseman Jr.