NESS, BALLARD, KORSMO AMONG CASEY”S NIGHT WINNERS AT HAWKEYE DOWNS

admin | July 27, 2014

Cedar Rapids, IA (July 25, 2014) – The annual “Caseys Night at the Races” brought a huge crowd to Hawkeye Downs Speedway Friday night, July 25. They were treated to some great racing, a novelty Sunline Hornets race run in reverse gear, and some fun during Intermission with the Dodge Street Tire Lil’ Racer Car Club Chuck-a-Duck Contest.

Ankeny, Iowa based Casey’s General Stores is a long-time supporter of Hawkeye Downs Racing and has run yearly promotions to provide fans free tickets in exchange for a purchase at their neighborhood Casey’s store. This year Caseys teamed up with PepsiCo, the official soft drink provider of Hawkeye Downs, with a Pepsi product purchase earning free tickets. Earlier in the season Caseys also assisted with the ARCA Midwest Tour event by providing a ticket discount as well.

Greg Hentrich gained a little ground on point leader Jim Hanson after winning the 20-lap Mountain Dew Sportsmen feature, the first of the night for the HyVee Racing Series and one of the best races of the night. Hentrich parlayed an outside row one start into a big early lead over Tom Burke and Jim Hanson. By lap six Hentrich continued to widen the margin but Cory Houdek had moved through the pack to second and Burke was in third.

Just past the halfway mark, Dave McCalla found himself in second and was closing on the leader as the laps continued to tick off the board. With two laps remaining, McCalla was planted on Hentrich’s rear bumper but time and laps ran out and Hentrich outran McCalla to earn his third win of the year. Jim Hanson finished in third with Houdek and Burke filling out the top of the order.

The outside row one starting slot came through again in the fifteen lap Sunline Hornets feature as Todd Ness collected the Marion Tire Checkered Flag from that starting spot. Ness held off both Kurt Bohnsack and Dallas Chandler to gain the win as that pair traded second and third back and forth in a side-by-side battle that lasted virtually the entire race. Bohnsack, who sits atop the points with eight wins, made one last effort to pass Ness with two laps remaining but couldn’t turn the outside move into the win. Bohnsack finished second followed by Dallas Chandler, Brad Schmidt, and Drew Nickell.

Nathan Ballard made a nice recovery from a mechanical issue last week to claim his fifth feature win in the Barron Motor Supply Hobby Stocks. Ballard started in row two and emerged as the leader after running three-wide with Jeremy Floyd and Malena Clement on the first lap. He was chased early by Matt Lacoursiere and then defending champion Matt Petrzelka before pulling away to a sizable lead. With four laps remaining caution bunched the field but Ballard held off Petrzelka and Jim Hanson to claim the win. Hanson was able to slip around Petrzelka over the last couple laps to claim second while Petrzelka finished third. Adam Petrzelka, the younger brother of Matt finished fourth and Kandi Floyd was fifth.

The Dublin City Pub INEX Legends feature saw three different leaders with Dennis Diercks holding the early edge but that lead was short-lived as an early caution reset the field. Matt Blake blasted into the lead on the start while the rest of the grid jockeyed for position. By lap ten point leader Kevin Korsmo caught up to Blake and on lap twelve Korsmo took control of the race. Korsmo saw his lead wiped out on lap eighteen of the scheduled twenty-five as caution halted the action.

When racing resumed Korsmo maintained the point but Austin Kunert was coming fast over the last few laps after slipping around Blake to take second. Tim Goettsch followed Kunert around Blake to claim third with a couple laps to go but neither Kunert or Goettsch could catch Korsmo. Blake finished fourth after a rough outing last week and Bryce Bailey scored fifth. The win was the second of the season for Korsmo.

After winning a heat race earlier in the evening, Chad Siems led the first seven trips around the Hawkeye Downs half-mile in the Carpetland USA Late Model feature but Tim Plummer grabbed the top spot on lap eight after using the first few laps to work toward the front. One lap after Plummer secured the point, caution waved and reset the field. When the green waved again, Plummer set sail for the checkered flag with Brad Osborn his closest pursuer. Osborn appeared to cut into Plummers’ lead as the laps ticked off but each time Osborn closed the gap a bit Plummer would extend the lead once again. Brian Allen finished in third while Tom Rayl posted his strongest run of the season to finish fourth. Brian Gibson crossed the stripe in fifth.

The Miller Time Modifieds had this week off.

Weekly racing resumes next week with all six divisions slated for action.

HAWKEYE DOWNS SPEEDWAY

HY-VEE RACING SERIES

Casey’s General Stores Night

July 25, 2014

MOUNTAIN DEW SPORTSMEN

HEAT- 1. (35) Greg Hentrich, Hiawatha; 2. (19) Cory Houdek, Marion; 3. (3) Dave McCalla, Cedar Rapids; 4. (88) Jim Hanson, Cedar Rapids; 5. (5) Tom Burke, Nevada; 6. (9) Dave Ballstaedt, Marion; 7. (7) John Johnston, Victor; 8. (36) Jeremy Clement, Cedar Rapids

FEATURE (20 laps) 1. (35) Hentrich 2. (3) McCalla 3. (88) Hanson 4. (19) Houdek 5. (5) Burke) 6. (9) Ballstaedt 7. (7) Johnston 8. (36) Clement

SUNLINE HORNETS

HEAT 1.- 1. (16) Todd Ness, Cedar Rapids; 2. (3) Dallas Chandler, Cedar Rapids; 3. (4) Kurt Bohnsack, Iowa City; 4. (7b) Brad Schmidt, Cedar Rapids; 5. (321) Drew Nickell, Cedar Rapids; 6. (1) Kaden Reynolds, Cedar Rapids; 7. (1a) TJ Aimers

FEATURE (15 laps) 1. (16) Ness 2. (4) Bohnsack 3. (3) Chandler 4. (7b) Schmidt 5. (321) Nickell 6. (1a) Aimers 7. (1) Reynolds

REVERSE RACE (Novelty) (5 laps) 1. Bohnsack 2. Schmidt 3. Aimers 4. Reynolds

BARRON MOTOR SUPPLY HOBBY STOCKS

HEAT 1- 1. (29) Nathan Ballard, Marengo; 2. (77) Jim Hanson, Cedar Rapids; 3. (54) Jason Sherman, Marengo; 4. (12k) Kandi Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 5. (57) Malena Clement, Cedar Rapids; 6. (1) Sonny Parker, Cedar Rapids

HEAT 2- 1. (22) Matt Petrzelka; 2. (14j) Jacob Floyd, Cedar Rapids; 3. (4) Kurt Bohnsack, Iowa City; 4. (2) Matt Lacoursiere, Cedar Rapids; 5. (48) Adam Petrzelka, Marengo

FEATURE (15 laps) 1. (29) Ballard 2. (77) Hanson 3.(22)M. Petrzelka 4. A. Petrzelka 5. (12k) K. Floyd 6. (2) Lacoursiere 7. (4) Bohnsack 8. (14j) J. Floyd 9. (57) Clement 10. (1) Parker DNS- (54) Sherman

DUBLIN CITY PUB INEX LEGENDS

HEAT 1- 1. (88) Matt Blake, Cedar Rapids; 2. (10) Mark Ironside, Swisher; 3. (01) Tim Goettsch, Davenport; 4. (29) Austin Kunert, Batavia, IL; 5. (43) Gary Dyer, Blue Grass; 6. (29w) Jeff Willits, Milan, IL; DNS (95) Al Diercks, Davenport

HEAT 2.- 1. (86) Kevin Korsmo, Atkins; 2. (66) Dennis Diercks, Eldridge; 3. (25) Cole O’Brien, Cedar Rapids; 4. (54) CJ Van Horn, Marion; 5. (00) Brody Willett, Alburnett; 6. (51) Bryce Bailey, Cedar Rapids

FEATURE (25 laps) 1. (86) Korsmo 2.(29) Kunert 3. (01) Goettsch 4. (88) Blake 5. (51) Bailey 6. (95) A. Diercks 7. (25) O’Brien 8. (10) Ironside 11. (29w) Willitts 12. (43) Dyer DNS (00) Willett

CARPETLAND USA LATE MODELS

HEAT 1-1. (43) Scott Siems, Cedar Rapids; 2. (76) Chad Siems, Shellsburg; 3. (72) Brad Osborn, Janesville; 4. (17) Brian Gibson, Walford; 5. (52) Brian Allen, Hiawatha; 6. (74) Tim Plummer, Norway; 7. (5) Tom Rayl, Mitchellville; 8. (29) Caleb Adrian, Davenport; 9. (99) Logan Mitchell, Palmyra, MO

FEATURE (25 laps) 1. (74) Plummer 2. (72) Osborn) 3. (52) Allen 4. (5) Rayl 5. (17) Gibson 6. (76) C. Siems 7. (99) Mitchell 8. (29) Adrian 9. (43) S. Siems

Category: Hawkeye Downs Speedway, Iowa