By Bill W
July 22, 2011 – Kaley Gharst took his second county fair date in a row by leading from green to checker with the Ideal Ready Mix Sprint Invaders at the Davis County Fair in Bloomfield, Iowa Friday night. The win was the Decatur, Illinois driver’s 20th in series’ history and second at the 4/10-mile oval in southern Iowa.
Gharst shot out to the lead from his pole position in the Plath Motorsports #14P with fellow front row starter Larry Ball Jr. and Jimmy Davies giving chase. Ball would fall out after a tire went down, and Russ Hall, who took the win in the Shake-Up Dash and started sixth, quickly moved into third.
Taking advantage of a weekend off from Sprint Cup, Tony Stewart started asserting himself, and was into the top three behind Gharst and Hall at the halfway point of the 20-lapper. Joe Beaver and Matt Sutton completed the top five with ten to go.
Two laps later, Stewart’s run came to an end as he pulled to the infield with a smoking gun. Randy Martin had fallen as far back as eighth, but climbed into the top three with five laps to go. No one could do anything with Gharst, however, as he won by almost a straightaway.
“We changed our game plan for the feature after Russ Hall passed us in the dash,” said Gharst. “We decided to set the car for the high side instead of the bottom. We got a good start, and that was good, because if Larry would have got the jump it would have been tough to pass him. It’s good to be back in Victory Lane.”
Russ Hall finished a strong second in the Mike Waddell Racing #45c. “We settled in third and when Larry Ball hit the fence and pulled in, that gave us second,” he said. “I left the car alone after the dash. My Dad and Dirty Red had the car ready. We just missed it a little bit. It feels good to be second with good drivers like Tony Stewart in the field.”
Randy Martin was third in the Diamond Pet Foods #14. “We just kept committed to the top and we were able to move up,” he said. “There was some rubber coming off of two and coming off of four. I guess we found it before some of them did. It would have been nice to start closer to the front.”
Josh Schneiderman charged from row seven to finish fourth ahead of CJ Houseman. Ryan Jamison, Justin Parrish, Matt Sutton, who was in the top five most of the race but skidded across the finish line after contact from the wall and another car, Bobby Mincer and Jimmy Davies rounded out the top ten.
Hall, Larry Ball Jr. and Gharst took the heat races. Tyler Groenendyk flipped in his heat, but was uninjured. Mark Widmar won the companion main event in the 305 class.
The Sprint Invaders hit Peoria Speedway in Peoria, Illinois Sunday night for the 2nd Annual Kitchen Cooked Summer Shootout.
Ideal Ready Mix A main (started), 20 laps: 1. 14P, Kaley Gharst, Decatur, IL (1) 2. 45c, Russ Hall, Pleasant Hill, IA (6) 3. 14, Randy Martin, California, MO (8) 4. 88, Josh Schneiderman, West Burlington, IA (14) 5. 80x, CJ Houseman, Des Moines, IA (10) 6. 51J, Ryan Jamison, Mediapolis, IA (15) 7. 4J, Justin Parrish, Oquawka, IL (17) 8. 3, Matt Sutton, Macomb, IL (9) 9. 15, Bobby Mincer, Burlington, IA (4) 10. 99, Jimmy Davies, Oquawka, IL (3) 11. 10, Mike Trent, Rocheport, MO (11) 12. 7TAZ, Rager Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (13) 13. 97, Blake Nimee, Oswego, IL (18) 14. 18, Jami Lusher, Pekin, IL (22) 15. 1st, John Greenwood, Woodward, IA (16) 16. 10T, Tim Moore, Rock Island, IL (20) 17. 5JR, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (12) 18. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (5) 19. 14x, Tony Stewart, Columbus, IN (7) 20. 5J, Larry Ball Jr., Knoxville, IA (2) 21. 40, Andy Huston, Roseville, IL (19) DNS – 10x, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA, 84, Ben Wagoner, Emden, IL. Lap Leader: Gharst 1-20. Hard-charger: Schneiderman. KSE Hard-charger: Parrish.
Golden Eagle Distributing Budweiser of Mount Pleasant Heat one (started), 8 laps: 1. Russ Hall (6) 2. Jimmy Davies (1) 3. Tony Stewart (4) 4. CJ Houseman (2) 5. Rager Phillips (8) 6. Ryan Jamison (3) 7. Justin Parrish (5) 8. Andy Huston (7)
Huston Land Improvement of Roseville, Illinois Heat two (started), 8 laps: 1. Larry Ball Jr. (1) 2. Bobby Mincer (2) 3. Randy Martin (3) 4. Mike Trent (4) 5. Josh Schneiderman (8) 6. John Greenwood (5) 7. Blake Nimee (6) 8. Tim Moore (7)
CenPeCo Lubricants Heat three (started), 8 laps: 1. Kaley Gharst (3) 2. Joe Beaver (1) 3. Matt Sutton (2) 4. Jamie Ball (6) 5. Ben Wagoner (5) 6. Tyler Groenendyk (4) DNS – Jami Lusher
Shake-up Dash (started), 6 laps: 1. Russ Hall (2) 2. Kaley Gharst (1) 3. Larry Ball Jr. (5) 4. Jimmy Davies (3) 5. Bobby Mincer (4) 6. Joe Beaver (6)
Contingencies
Rod End Supply – Jamie Ball, CJ Houseman
Saldana Racing Products – Mike Trent
Super Shox – Blake Nimee
Competition Suspensions – Andy Huston
Brake Man – Bobby Mincer
Keizer Wheels – Justin Parrish