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Kaley Gharst – Driver of the Year!
(Bill W) – November 12, 2009 – For the second time in his young career, "Showtime" Kaley Gharst was named the 2009 Brian Hetrick Memorial Driver of the Year for the Sprint Invaders Association series. Unfortunately, the Decatur, Illinois driver had to miss the banquet as he was competing at the Short Track Nationals south of Little Rock, Arkansas, but he was honored nonetheless. He now aims his sights at a winter opportunity "Down Under".
Kaley won six feature events this season on the Sprint Invaders trail, and in turn, became the series career wins leader despite having just turned 21 years old in June. He teamed up with car owner Randy Plath and a team that included "Mechanic of the Year", Nick Breuer. "We had a nice season with Randy, and unfortunately, we had some plans change where we couldn't run the whole series and go for the title," says Kaley. "I guess we did enough to win the award, but I feel bad about dumping the car and using up some of the equipment I did. I really have to thank Randy, who gave me a good car every time out, and Nick had the car maintained to the point that we never really had a mechanical failure other than something beyond our control in Jacksonville. I'd like to build on that next year."
Kaley started the year driving for Plath and in the Webb #51 410 sprint car, but he returned to run Knoxville and the Midwest for Bruce Williams in July. "About halfway through the season, Bruce wanted to make a change in the #7K car," he explains. "We decided to finish out the last few months of the season with him. We had some good runs, but we struggled qualifying. I really felt like we got things going there towards the end of the year. I have to thank him for the opportunity for a second time around. I'd really like to get the qualifying thing figured out before 2010 hits."
Last weekend, Kaley teamed up with Hammons Motorsports and their beautiful #6 machine that Dale Blaney was originally going to run in Little Rock. The team struggled with the setup on the ¼ mile oval, and bowed out early. "We hooked up with the Hammons, and they gave us a good car," says Kaley. "We just weren't able to get it working real well. We had hoped to go down there and contend for at least a top five. We were having trouble with it slamming down on the left side of the frame rail in the corners. It was the first time we'd driven that kind of Maxim chassis and we really didn't know how to fix it. We struggled the first night, and changed some things for the better on Saturday. We hooked the cushion in the heat on Saturday and got upside down, so that ended the weekend early. I'd really like to thank Ron and Gene. They are really good people to be around, and maybe in the future we can do a lot better for them."
As for next year's plans, it is still early. "We're kind of in the middle of figuring out what we're going to do," says Kaley. "We haven't sat down and talked to anyone about schedules or anything yet. We may do the same things, or we may change it up. We don't know yet."
Kaley is planning to run in Australia again this winter, though some flight change obstacles are plaguing him right now. "We're looking to get down there in January or February at the latest," he says. "We'd like to get a dozen races in, but we'll have to see. I'll be driving for Steve Duggan again, like we did last winter."
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 [email protected].
Kaley and car owner Randy Plath would like to thank Sebastian Powder Coating and Sandblasting, Scott Performance, Holtkamp's truck and trailer repair, Rockstar Graphics and all of their sponsors. The 7K team would like to thank Phillips Floors, Info2go, Wagner Excavating, Parker Signs, Redtail Painting, Rod End Supply, LWBJ, Community State Bank and Carlson Systems.
Kaley drove for Hammons Motorsports in Little Rock (Dennis Krieger Imagery)
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