(Bill W) June 29, 2012 – It was a solid week for Kaley Gharst and the Jeremy Scadden #6 sprint car team. Last Friday night, they finished third in Rock Rapids, Iowa, before a second place run on Sunday at the Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota. This weekend, tentative plans have them running Saturday night at Knoxville, before traveling back to Huset’s on Sunday night.
Kaley had a solid heat race at the Rapid Speedway Friday night. “We had a pretty good run finishing second behind Austin McCarl there,” he says. “That got us to the redraw.”
The Decatur, Illinois driver would start inside row three of the main event. “The track was pretty wide, but there wasn’t much of a bottom,” says Kaley. “It had a pretty good cushion on the top. We were able to get a good start and get up to third there. A couple of laps in, we had a yellow and I was able to get into second.”
At that point, he made a bid for the lead. “There was another caution, and I was sitting second behind Terry (McCarl) there,” says Kaley. “I tried a slidejob, but I didn’t have quite enough to clear him. I got a little behind there, and the track started taking rubber.”
It was a rough road to the checkers, but Kaley came home third. “It was kind of ‘follow the leader’ there,” he says. “I got caught up in traffic and got caught up in an accident that knocked the front wing down and got the stop on the right front arm. The car was a handful after that. (Gregg) Bakker got by us, and I was able to hold onto third, which wasn’t bad with the front end damage.”
Saturday saw a long trip to Knoxville washed out by Mother Nature. “It was a long trip just to eat at Pizza Hut!” says Kaley.
Kaley was in the catbird’s seat at Huset’s on Sunday after qualifying sixth and finishing third in his heat race. “The car was pretty good,” he says. “The redraw went our way, and we started on the pole. We got the lead in the first corner, and tried going to the top in three and four. (Justin) Henderson slipped under us, and we kind of settled in behind him for a while.”
Kaley would pursue the leader closely the rest of the way. “The track moved back to the top,” he says. “We were really catching him there towards the end. We got to traffic with five to go, and got a car length or so behind him. We had a yellow come out late, which took away any shot we had of getting him in traffic. He was good in clean air. After last week, we’ll take second at Huset’s.”
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.
Attached: (Danny Howk Photo)
- Admin Account on Jul 02, 2012
- Article Date: 6/29/2012 by Bill W.