By Bill W
April 14, 2011 – Although Mother Nature may have other plans, Kaley Gharst is ready to hit Midwest tracks in a sprint car. He just returned from a two month stint in Australia where he finished with a fifth place finish at the Perth Motorplex last weekend. Plans are to run with the Sprint Invaders this Saturday night at 34 Raceway.
Kaley received a call in February to go “Down Under”. “We were able to grab fifth at Perth in our last race there last week,” he says of the tour that also included the Krikke Boys Shootout. “I drove for Steve and Paul Stathy. They called me up and I went down. Steve had crewed on the #41 car that I drove a couple of years ago (in Australia) and he decided to put a car together. It was a good excuse to get out of the snow!”
Not only was Kaley able to race and work on the car, but he also took in some sites. “We started with the two-night Krikke Boys Shootout, and then we ran the Perth race,” he says. “I was able to do a few things while I was over there. We were able to go out and check 100 pots with a lobsterman. It was fun and something different to do.”
The Decatur, Illinois driver is the defending champion with the Sprint Invaders, and plans to spend more time behind the wheel of Randy Plath’s #14P. “We plan on running Burlington with Randy,” says Kaley. “We’re trying to work on some things with the schedule to get some shows in. We’ll run the new Monster Series (410) quite a bit with Randy and probably with our car a little bit too.”
The Monster Sprint Series has eleven shows scheduled in Illinois and at 34 Raceway. Shows are scheduled close to home at Jacksonville, Lincoln and other area tracks. “We plan on running the Burlington Monster show with Randy,” says Kaley. “From there, we’ll kind of just pick and choose. When Randy calls us to go to a race, we’ll be there.”
Hopefully, Mother Nature heeds the call this weekend!
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 and GPC Race Products.