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Kaley Gharst – Fast at 34!

5/15/2008 - (Bill W) – May 15, 2008 – New power under the hood can do much for the confidence of a young driver, and that was the case with Kaley Gharst last weekend at the 34 Raceway near West Burlington, Iowa. With the Interstate Racing Association in town, 35 sprint cars were also bolstered by six World of Outlaw regulars. The Decatur, Illinois driver held his own, putting on a show until a miscalculation in traffic in the feature event.

The Bruce Williams’ #7K team came into the night with a little experimentation on their mind. “We were going pretty well,” says Kaley. “We were trying some new shocks and bars going into the night. We were going to try them at Knoxville, but with our motor problems we never got any good laps with them. We went into Burlington with a setup we’ve never used and weren’t sure what it was going to do.”

The experimentation paid off as Kaley turned the seventh quick lap of the night, trailing only the six WoO competitors assembled. The development was huge, since Kaley’s biggest problem in 2007 was the two laps he ran by himself in time trials. “We weren’t very good in practice, but got it going in qualifying,” he says. “I was a bit surprised when they told us we were seventh quick. We’d like to continue that going into Knoxville for sure.”

Starting beside Danny Lasoski in the third row, Kaley put on a show in his heat in the Phillips’ Floors #7K Maxim. Taking advantage of a black flag to Bob Weuve, he moved up to row two, and shot to the front on the first circuit, pulling away the rest of the 10-lap distance. “We adjusted some more on the car for the heat race and got quicker,” he says. “The Fisher motor was really good, but stumbling a bit on the starts. I think we have that fixed now.”

The wrenches kept turning in the pit area, but maybe a bit too much for the 30-lap main event. “We adjusted maybe a little too much for the feature, and shot ourselves in the foot a bit,” says Kaley. “It took me awhile to find a line the car would react to, and then we started passing some cars.”

Kaley was shuffled back out of the top ten from his starting spot outside row two. After finding his groove, he climbed back up to eighth. “We were decent on the top,” he says. “We were just too tight and leaning on the right rear hard. It was trying to pick the left front up, and it was kind of a pain to drive for awhile. Several laps in, we were decent around the top in turns one and two and halfway decent in three and four.”

Still moving forward, Kaley tried to duck under another competitor for seventh on lap 18. He ran out of room and met one of a sprint car driver’s worst enemies…the infield tire. “We were getting back by some guys, until I made that mistake,” he says. “I was trying to make something happen there in turn four, overdrove it a bit, and took the front end out. I tried squeezing under a car and there just wasn’t enough room.”

Kaley and the #7K team will compete at Knoxville Raceway this Saturday night knowing they have a fast car in their stable. Often, that is half the battle.

Keep an eye on Kaley’s progress this week and beyond at www.KaleyGharst.com!

Kaley would like to thank the following sponsors: Maxim Racing, Phillips’ Floors, Bell Racing, info2go, Parker Signs and Graphics, LWBJ Accounting, Community State Bank, Pro Shocks, QA1, VRP Shocks, Charlie Fisher Racing Engines, Karl Chevrolet, WillCo Services and HostIowa.net - Your Complete Internet Solution.

If you would like to receive Kaley’s weekly releases, send an e-mail with the subject line “Kaley” to sprntcar@iowatelecom.net.

Bill Wright

Bill W Media

Monroe, IA USA

sprntcar@iowatelecom.net

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