By Bill W
June 19, 2013 – It was a successful debut for Kaley Gharst in Chuck Schlosser’s #7 at the Shawn Marquard Memorial last Friday in Jacksonville, Illinois. The Decatur, Illinois driver brought the car home in second place in the MOWA event. The team plans on running the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa this Saturday night.
Though the draw didn’t go well for Kaley’s heat race, he made the most of it. “We didn’t draw well starting eighth,” he says. “The track was pretty one-lane. It had a curb built about three car lengths off the bottom. I think we got up to fifth or so on the start though, so we were able to get a good start.”
Mark Funderburk photo
He would end up moving forward four spots. “I worked on the fourth place car,” says Kaley. “I had to work a little bit above the cushion to get around him. With passing points, that got us in the Dash.”
After drawing the pole, Kaley shot to the front. “We were able to get the jump and get out in the lead,” he says. “I jumped the cushion a couple of times, and (Jimmy) Hurley got around us.”
The second place finish would put him outside of row one for the feature, and he would run second to the checkers. “We started second, and that’s where we were the whole feature,” says Kaley. “I lost my brakes about eight or nine laps into it. I about crashed it before I realized I didn’t have any brakes. After that, I was just trying to maintain and finish the race.”
The Schlosser’s Transmission Service team plans on running a varied schedule from here on out. “I think we’re planning on going to Knoxville this Saturday,” says Kaley, who owns six career feature wins at “The Sprint Car Capital of the World”, with three coming in both 360 and 410 competition. “I know we went ahead and registered for the Nationals too.”
The Scadden Construction #6 team has been dormant since blowing an engine in a Sprint Invaders event over Memorial Day weekend. “The team is regrouping at this point,” says Kaley. “We lost that motor at Independence, so they need some time to get things built back up.”
Keep an eye on Kaley’s progress this week and beyond at www.KaleyGharst.com!
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