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Brad Sparks, crew chief of the Jeremy Scadden Construction #6 Winged Sprint Car is proud to announce that Kaley Gharst of Decatur, IL will be the new pilot for the Jeremy Scadden Construction #6 for 2012. The Scadden Construction J&J will compete at Husets Speedway Sunday nights for championship points. We will also compete throughout the upper midwest at selected IRA, MOWA, ASCS and most Saturday nights at Knoxville Raceway. We would like to thank J&J Auto Racing , Singer Engines, Lev Wings, Keizer Wheels, Astro Titanium, Schure Built Suspension Systems, DMI, Hoosier Tires North, CNS Homes, and Jeremy Scadden Construction for all of their support.

(Bill W) October 31, 2011 – The weekend of October 15, Kaley Gharst picked up a win at the ELKO Fall Dirt Nationals held at the ELKO Speedway in New Market, Minnesota. The Decatur, Illinois driver paired with owner Jeremy Scadden’s #6 team to win the prelim, and come a lap away from sweeping the weekend in the finale. It was Kaley’s first career win with the Upper Midwest Sprint Car Series (UMSS).

It was Kaley’s first trip to the facility that was covered in dirt for the weekend. “It’s a really nice facility,” he says. “They came out and reworked the track a few times during the weekend. There was plenty of room to race come feature time.”

Kaley started in row three in his heat race in Friday’s prelim, and moved up to finish fourth. “We got a little break when the guy in front of us was late to staging,” he says. “We were able to move up a spot, but it was tough to pass early on. That put us starting twelfth in the feature.”

The start at mid-pack did not affect the two-time Sprint Invaders champion. With 27 cars on the track in the feature, there were some dicey times, but he plugged his way forward in picking up his first win with the Scadden #6 team. The winning pass came in the low groove on the final circuit. “There was definitely a lot of traffic out there,” says Kaley. “We were able to move up through there pretty steadily. We were able to take the lead there at the end, and fortunately, the win.”

Saturday’s finale started smoother with a heat win. “We drew outside of row one for the heat,” says Kaley. “We were able to win that going away, and I think we lapped up to fourth place.”

Again, Kaley worked his way to the front. “We were in a battle with (Davey) Heskin there and we finally got by him,” he says of his battle for second. “I ran (Scott) Winters down and got by him too. I was getting through lapped traffic pretty well. On the last lap, Winters and Heskin got a run on me and slid me. Obviously, there wasn’t enough room and we crashed out.”

Despite the unfortunate circumstances, the team proved themselves fastest on both nights at ELKO. “We came to win two, so from that perspective we didn’t get it done,” says Kaley. “We fell one lap short, unfortunately. I look forward to running for Jeremy next year. We’re planning on running the 410 weekly at Knoxville, and also hitting some other shows.”

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 car owners Randy and Lori Plath would like to thank Sebastian Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Holtkamp Truck and Trailer Repair, Nelson’s Catering, Pieper Inc., Lange Chiropractic, Rockstar Graphics, Scott Performance, Midland Performance, Winters Performance Products and GPC Race Products.

Attached: Kaley in Victory Lane with the Scadden #6 team at ELKO (Vince Peterson – Track Rat Photos)

(Bill W) September 14, 2011 – The final two races of the season for the Sprint Invaders saw Kaley Gharst, car owners Randy and Lori Plath and the #14P team propel themselves into second in the final standings for the series. They pulled down a seventh place finish at Quincy on Monday, September 5, and a third place run in the Season championship at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa last Saturday. The Decatur, Illinois driver will compete this weekend at the Tom Knowles Memorial at the Spoon River Speedway south of Canton, Illinois.

The race at Quincy Raceways started with a tough draw and a heat finish back in the pack. “We had high expectations,” says Kaley. “We’ve done well there in the past. The heat was tough. The track was pretty heavy and we drew outside row three. We had a pretty tough heat with (Bobby) Mincer, (Ben) Wagoner and some others. We were only able to get to fifth.”

Starting in row seven, there was a long way for Kaley to go to get his third win at Quincy. “I went to the top early on,” he says. “We finally got a yellow, and we were able to get two or three of them on the bottom. I started picking them off. I wish I could have gotten them earlier than I did, but we ended up with a seventh place finish.”

Kaley chalked it up to a tough night. “It was a little worse than what we were hoping for, but the car was still in one piece,” he says. “We were able to roll it to Burlington for the Season Championship.”

The finale for the 2011 Sprint Invaders season saw Kaley finish second in his heat from the front row. “We drew well, we just didn’t get the start we needed to win the heat and get in the dash,” he says. “That put us eighth in the feature.”

The first try at green went well for Kaley, but it was called back. Instead he had to slowly work his way forward. “We had a good start on the first try,” he says. “We were next to (Dustin) Selvage for fifth coming out of four, and somebody spun or something. We had to race from eighth again, and they didn’t let me get the same start.”

As the race wore on, Kaley got better and better. He was sitting in third when a late yellow flag flew. “We were coming on towards the end, and just about got by (second place Jon) Agan when that late caution came out,” he says. “He took my line on the restart, and I had to switch it up. I was just holding on there at the end really.”

The third place finish propelled Kaley into second in the final point standings for the Sprint Invaders. “Randy and John and Lucas worked really hard this year to make sure we got to all the races,” he says. “We had some tough nights along the way, so to come up with second was pretty good considering.”

This week, Kaley will run the Tom Knowles Memorial at the Spoon River Speedway south of Canton, Illinois with the Monster Energy™ Sprint Car Series.

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 car owners Randy and Lori Plath would like to thank Sebastian Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Holtkamp Truck and Trailer Repair, Nelson’s Catering, Pieper Inc., Lange Chiropractic, Rockstar Graphics, Scott Performance, Midland Performance, Winters Performance Products and GPC Race Products.

(Bill W) August 24, 2011 – Kaley Gharst was on the move on the “Night of the Twins” last Saturday night at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. The Sprint Invaders featured twin features, and the Decatur, Illinois driver finished fifth and third in the events after passing a total of fourteen cars in the Plath Motorsports #14P.

Kaley drew inside row four for his heat race. With the top five transferring to the feature and some fast car in front of him, there was no time to waste. “We didn’t get the best draw and it was tough going back there,” he says. “The car was a bit loose hot lapping and we tightened it up quite a bit for the heat. It was a little tackier than we thought, and that left us a bit tight.”

After struggling outside of a transfer spot, Kaley was able to grab the final transfer late in the race. “We finally got going once we got our nose clean and got up through there,” he says. “We were able to get (Ryan) Jamison there with about two to go to get the last transfer. That put us deep in the first feature.”

Starting 14th in the first of two features, the two-time series’ champion worked his way forward into the top five. “We were just a little loose, but other than that the guys did great with the car,” says Kaley. “We got up to fifth, which wasn’t a bad deal.”

With an eye towards a win in the second feature, Kaley was soon dealing with a vibration in the right front tire. “The invert put us back in eighth for the second one,” he says. “We tightened the car up. It felt really good, but I got up on the cushion and packed the right front tire full of mud. It was just a handful after that.”

He muscled his way into the show position. After a great battle with Jamison and Bobby Mincer, he would settle for third. “Once we got to third, we were just hanging on,” says Kaley. “I was waiting for the laps to count down to be honest. It was a third place finish.”

Despite a DNF and a DNQ earlier in the season, Kaley is right there with the leaders in Sprint Invaders points heading into the last three shows at Quincy, Jacksonville and back at 34 Raceway. “It wasn’t a bad night getting a fifth and a third,” he says. “We’ll come back and try to win one next time.”

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 car owners Randy and Lori Plath would like to thank Sebastian Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Holtkamp Truck and Trailer Repair, Nelson’s Catering, Pieper Inc., Lange Chiropractic, Rockstar Graphics, Scott Performance, Midland Performance, Winters Performance Products and GPC Race Products.

Kaley races at 34 Raceway (Dennis Krieger Imagery)

(Bill W) July 14, 2011 – Kaley Gharst and the Plath Motorsports #14P team made up for a tough night at the Lee County Speedway on July 8 by winning Thursday night’s Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders feature at the Cedar County Raceway in Tipton, Iowa. It was the Decatur, Illinois driver’s second win in a row at the facility and 19th overall with the series, tops all-time.

Kaley earned the pole position after rolling a one following his Shake-up Dash win. A first lap spin by fellow front row starter, Russ Hall, collected Joe Beaver, who retired with a broken front end. Ben Wagoner, who was also collected, joined Hall at the tail on the restart. They would provide entertainment as the feature wore on.

Gharst used the low side to grab the lead early on. Two drivers were on the move. By lap five, Bobby Mincer (from 10th) and Ryan Jamison (from 14th), both former feature winners in Tipton, were in the top five. Larry Ball Jr. rode second ahead of Matt Sutton.

John Greenwood was running in the top ten when his right rear blew on lap nine, bringing a caution flag. Gharst led Ball Jr., Sutton, Mincer and Jamison back to green flag racing. Two laps later, Jamison would take fourth from Sutton.

Bart Andrews brought out the final yellow of the race with 16 laps completed. Wagoner and Hall had made their way into the top ten from the rear by now. Hall would hit the high side on the restart, and Wagoner would ride low. Soon both were battling with the fifth place car of Sutton. The trio battled tooth and nail all the way to the checkers, sometimes going three-wide on the ¼-mile oval in the battle for fifth.

In the end, Gharst proved he was the class of the field. Ball Jr. maintained second ahead of Mincer. Jamison was fourth, and Wagoner won the battle for fifth. Sutton, Hall, Jimmy Davies, hard-charger Matt Krieger and Justin Parrish rounded out the top ten.

“We watched the feature last weekend from the stands (in Donnellson),” said Gharst from Victory Lane. “To rebound was great. It was good to get back on a short track and get a win. The team had the car great all night. Towards the end, the car started to slip a bit, and I was afraid someone would catch some rubber above me.”

“We didn’t’ need the restarts,” said the second place, Ball Jr. “My tires were coming in after six or seven laps, and (Gharst) was coming on lapped traffic. I could feel the right rear tire start to drive, but then the yellow would come. He would drive away if it was just the two of us.”

“We made our way up from tenth to third,” said Mincer. “The car was good, and we could come up off of the bottom where we needed to be. I thought about catching the stuff in the center, but I decided that I had got to third where we were, so we stayed. It feels good. This is just the third night out in our car, and I think we’re gaining.”

Heats were won by Beaver, Sutton and Ball Jr. The next action for the Sprint Invaders will be at the Davis County Fair on Friday, July 22 at the Bloomfield Speedway in Bloomfield, Iowa.

Results

Ideal Ready Mix A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (1) 2. 5J, Larry Ball Jr., Knoxville, IA (3) 3. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (10) 4. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (14) 5. 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL (7) 6. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (6) 7. 45c, Russ Hall, Pleasant Hill, IA (2) 8. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (8) 9. 56, Matt Krieger, Burlington, IA (23) 10. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (17) 11. 97, Blake Nimee, Oswego, IL (4) 12. 5JR, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (12) 13. 80x, CJ Houseman, Des Moines, IA (13) 14. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (15) 15. 10T, Tim Moore, Rock Island, IL (16) 16. 50P, Harold Pohren, Lowell, IA (19) 17. 18, Jami Lusher, Pekin, IL (22) 18. 79, Destini Clark, Bollingbrook, IL (21) 19. 9x, Bart Andrews, Ft. Madison, IA (18) 20. 1st, John Greenwood, Woodward, IA (9) 21. 2x, Pat Moore, Moline, IL (20) 22. 7, Dustin Whiting, Burlington, IA (11) 23. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (5) DNS – 53H, Matt Harms, Lacon, IL. Lap Leader: Gharst 1-25. KSE Hard-charger: Krieger.

Golden Eagle Distributing – Budweiser Heat one (started), 8 laps: 1. Joe Beaver (1) 2. Russ Hall (4) 3. Ben Wagoner (2) 4. Bobby Mincer (3) 5. CJ Houseman (8) 6. Tim Moore (6) 7. Harold Pohren (7) 8. Jami Lusher (5)

Huston Land Improvement Heat two (started), 8 laps: 1. Matt Sutton (2) 2. Kaley Gharst (4) 3. Jimmy Davies (5) 4. Dustin Whiting (1) 5. Ryan Jamison (7) 6. Justin Parrish (3) 7. Pat Moore (6) 8. Destini Clark (8)

CenPeCo Lubricants Heat three (started), 8 laps: 1. Larry Ball Jr. (4) 2. Blake Nimee (1) 3. John Greenwood (2) 4. Jamie Ball (3) 5. Andy Huston (6) 6. Bart Andrews (5) 7. Matt Harms (7) DNS – Matt Krieger

Ideal Ready Mix Shake-up Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Kaley Gharst (3) 2. Russ Hall (5) 3. Larry Ball Jr. (4) 4. Blake Nimee (2) 5. Joe Beaver (1) 6. Matt Sutton (6)

Photo By Tims Racing Photos