Kay is Eastern Iowa Driver of the Year

WHEATLAND — For the second time in as many years, Justin Kay is The Gazette's Eastern Iowa Driver of the Year.

The importance of the award and his feat can be debated. But what cannot be debated are the credentials for which he earned it. In 2015 (so far), Kay has 29 wins — seven of which have come in the IMCA Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models — an IMCA Late Model national championship (his third straight), the Summer Series championship (second straight) and a track championship at Dubuque Speedway.

Oh, and those 29 wins make it 80 total overall dating back to 2013. He's been the most written about and debated driver in Eastern Iowa by a landslide (to the chagrin of some and delight of many) and that's not about to stop soon if he keeps parking the No. 15k in Victory Lane.

'When I first started racing, I couldn't imagine having three years like this,' Kay said. 'Years of just running up front this much. When I first started it was about getting top fives and was happy with that. Now top fives aren't good enough anymore.

'It's got to be a win every night.'

If he's proved anything, it's that he's got more than one trick — both in terms of racetrack and racecar.

Those 20 wins in 2013, 31 last season and the 29 this year have come in IMCA Late Model, unsanctioned Late Model and IMCA Modified competition. He's got wins at nine different tracks in his Late Model this season alone, including West Liberty Raceway (site of his lone Modified win, too), Davenport Speedway, Dubuque Speedway, Cedar County Raceway, Boone Speedway, Hamilton County Speedway, Jackson County Speedway, Independence Motor Speedway and Farley Speedway.

He's been in a Late Model for less than 10 years, and he'll be the first to say the turning point for him was when Tyson Gheer came to work on his cars. The two work as well together as any driver/crew chief combination in Iowa, and Gheer's influence is spreading through his Gheer'd Up Mastersbuilt chassis.

But something else that cannot be denied is Kay's vast improvement behind the wheel. He's a humble guy who doesn't revel in attention or controversy, but even he admitted to how he's changed as a driver.

'I've grown a lot,' Kay said. 'It's just seat time. Running that many nights, different racetracks, (against) different racing (series), (against) different people; all the different experiences have helped.

'I'd like to say (my style) is straighter than most people. I do a lot more with the front end than the rear end. I like to use the steering wheel more than the brakes and gas. I like the feeling in the front end more than the rear.'

His growth and style obviously haven't gone unnoticed.

Racing fans are notoriously fickle. They each have their favorite driver and most often — if their guy or gal can't win — they'll also cheer on an underdog or a veteran still going strong.

But the one racer who gets booed the quickest is a winner.

It's a big reason Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson are hated now in NASCAR (and Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough before them). It's a big reason Steve Kinser and Sammy Swindell were booed for years in Sprint Cars before the tide swung back in their favor. It's a big reason Scott Bloomquist, Ray Guss Jr. and Jeff Aikey were (and presently in Bloomquist's case) booed.

Those are all legendary names with which to be associated, but Kay knows what they've gone through. Last year especially, Kay was showered with boos when he won almost everywhere — save for Jackson County Speedway, where half the grandstand wears orange to the races.

There's an ebb and flow when it comes to cheers and boos, and the only real worry for Kay is people getting carried away and it affecting young fans.

'It goes in cycles. The first year of this three-year stretch was all cheers. Then last year it was way more boos than cheers,' Kay said. 'This year, actually, there's more cheers again. Maybe the people who don't like us just aren't going anymore.

'You hear all the boos and think no one likes you. (Then) you hear the cheers and it's great to know people out there like us. The only thing that ever really bothers me is when someone tells me about their experience in the stands where two rows away a guy is yelling things he shouldn't be with little kids sitting around. That's not good.'

Kay's success, its perception and the reaction to it have extended away from the track, too. The black hole of mostly hate and complaints that is the Internet and its forums have theorized and guessed at why the Wheatland driver has done what he's done.

But for every keyboard cowboy who shouts traction control or tire dope, Kay makes a silent note in his mind.

The latest charge against Kay is he's reached the peak in IMCA and hasn't proved anything because he hasn't gone on tour or consistently raced Open Late Models to test his mettle there. Assumptions about exactly how much money is at his family's disposal and the time for which to race give people ideas about what they think he should do.

What 2016 holds isn't set in stone, but as he's said, it's likely going to be more freewheeling and less championship-focused. Wins and big money races are the idea.

'I don't really care what they think. They need to foot the bill, and then they'll understand why,' Kay said. 'When the Open motors come to town, I do go race with them. … We're definitely one of the better funded IMCA teams, but go Open and it changes in a hurry. Why don't Modified guys who win a lot move up to Late Model? It's the same idea.

'I want to play in the Modified a little more (next year); hit some of the bigger money shows. That's why they pay the extra money is to get the extra cars. We might as well go.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com