By Bill W
May 31, 2012 – Kaley Gharst and the Jeremy Scadden #6 team were on a rail at the Huset’s Speedway on Monday night. The strong run saw a second place finish, with the car getting stronger as the feature event went on. The finish made up for some mechanical problems that had plagued the 360 side of weekend plans.
The Decatur, Illinois driver timed in ninth quick at Huset’s. “We went out early in time trials, and the track caught us a little off-guard,” says Kaley. “It was pretty heavy in hot laps and the thing turned to dust for time trials. We didn’t have a chance to change tires or anything. We were pretty loose, but we were able to get a lap in and get on the front of a heat.”
Kaley would win his heat from outside of row one, and start seventh in the main event. “The car felt pretty good in the heat,” he says. “We didn’t make any changes to the car for the feature. We started seventh there and worked our way up. With about four laps to go, we got up to second. We were able to catch up to Terry (McCarl) there but just ran out of laps.”
Following on the nerf bar of the all-time leading feature winner at Huset’s isn’t a bad way to gain momentum heading forward. “We were running on his bumper coming to the checkers,” says Kaley. “We’re getting more laps (at Huset’s). That was only our second full night running there. We got the car freed up to rotate the corners a little better.”
Things had gone worse on Thursday and Friday. Things started Thursday at the I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska. “We had a bad left rear shock that we fought all night long,” says Kaley. “We didn’t catch it until it was too late. Starting third and finishing third in the heat was enough to get us in the feature. We started twelfth in the feature and just went backwards from there. We kept adjusting the car all night. We were turning weight into the left rear, and didn’t realize it was the shock.”
Things went from bad to worse the next night at the Junction Motor Speedway near McCool Junction, Nebraska. “We were pretty quick in hot laps there,” says Kaley. “We thought we had a good car. We started third in the heat, and ended up having a motor go bad. We lost a cylinder. That put an end to our 360 venture for the weekend. We actually were going to run at Knoxville in the 360 (Saturday). We’ll send the motor back to (John) Singer to get fixed.”
Things stay busy this week. “We’re planning on all 410 stuff this weekend,” says Kaley. “We’ll be with the IRA at Jackson (Minnesota) on Friday and Cedar Lake Speedway (Wisconsin) on Saturday. Then we’ll be back at Huset’s on Sunday.”
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.