Afternoon racing at Hawkeye Downs draws positive initial reviews

CEDAR RAPIDS — Hawkeye Downs opened its 91st season with good, clean racing before an enthusiastic crowd on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

For the first time in track history, a regularly scheduled, non-special race card was held on a Saturday afternoon. The card was completed without any major on-track incidents.

There were the usual first-week glitches as the drivers and track support staff worked through the afternoon. Glitches aside, the reaction from most involved was positive.

Downs promoter Kevin Korsmo, who led start-to-finish to win the 25-lap Legends feature, was busy juggling his duties on both fronts. He didn't have all the final numbers, but Korsmo was encouraged by what he witnessed throughout the day.

'This is the first-time Saturday afternoon card that I know of and I think it has all gone off pretty well,' Korsmo said. 'We had a lot of drivers come from out of town, which we don't always get when we race on Friday nights because they would have to travel too far.

'From what I can tell, it looked OK,' Korsmo said of the crowd numbers. 'It's the first time we've done it and we didn't advertise a whole lot so we're pretty happy about the turnout.'

Korsmo made it a point to thank the fans for supporting the Saturday card during his speech in Victory Lane.

'We really appreciate you all coming out on this trial Saturday run,' he said to an appreciative crowd. 'We hope this is a start to a great season.'

Fan reaction to Saturday racing was also positive.

Bill McVey of Atkins raced at the Downs several years ago. He came out to support several of his friends who were racing.

'I think this should go over very well,' McVey said. 'I would be in favor of switching things up between Fridays and Saturdays.

'It would be great if they could have some specials here on Saturdays,' he added. 'I know the past few years, the attendance has gone downhill, but racing on Saturdays is something that could help it rebound.'

Cedar Rapids' Danny Dudley has been coming to the races for many years. He was surprised it took the track as long as it did to have a regular card on a Saturday.

'They waited an awful long time to get this going,' he said. 'They used to start the season a few weeks earlier and having a Saturday race then might have worked out pretty well.'

Despite the upbeat reaction to the Saturday card, there won't be another one in 2016.

'Our deal was to try this once this year,' Korsmo said. 'Maybe in 2017 we could go the first two or three weeks on Saturdays.

'Our partner tracks to the north start their seasons later than we do,' he added. 'If we would do that next year, it would let some of their guys come down here and race with us.'

On the track, Cedar Rapids' Jim Hanson was a double winner, taking feature wins in the Hobby Stocks and Sportsmen divisions.

Dallas Chandler of Cedar Rapids took top honors in the Hornets feature while defending Late Models season champion Brian Gibson of Walford was an impressive winner in the 25-lap feature.