Floyd's win highlights weekly race at Hawkeye Downs

CEDAR RAPIDS - Buying a bottle soda provided some folks with more than a cold drink.

A refreshing beverage led to a thrilling night of auto racing.

Fans received a complimentary ticket with a purchase of a Pepsi product at area Casey's General Stores. They filled the stands and were treated to exciting racing last night at Hawkeye Downs Speedway, including spinouts, wrecks, cars rubbing while running two-wide around both ovals.

Hobby stocks set the tone. The contest induced cheers from the large crowd, going three wide on the final lap and causing a spinout on the final turn. When it was all done, Kandi Floyd visited victory lane for the first time this season.

She didn't know she had won at the time. It was her first feature win since claiming four in the Women on Wheels division in 2004. It was her first in this class, joining as a rookie in 2005.

"That was awesome," Floyd said. "I thought we had one lap to go. That's why I kept going."

Floyd made a nice move into turn 1 of the final lap, moving to the inside as Matt Petrzelka and Matt Lacoursiere were side-by-side and battling for the lead on the high-side. The cars were door-to-door-to-door on the back stretch, setting up the interesting finish. Petrzelka made contact with Lacoursiere coming out of turn 4 and turned him sideways.

Floyd was thrilled with the victory.

"I saw Matt take a hard right and I was like 'I'm getting it,' " Floyd said. "I've been waiting a long time for this win."

In the modified race, the top four made contact with each other for the most part as they jockeyed for early position. Tim Plummer and Ryan Luedtke battled for the lead before Luedtke dropped back and was passed by Brian Gibson for second. As Luedtke and Hawkeye Downs Wall of Fame driver Mike Schulte fought Luedtke for third, Plummer pulled away and Gibson held second for the duration of the race.

An announcer quipped about the size of the crowd that joined Plummer in victory lane after his ninth modified win.

"We're gaining fans every week," Plummer said. "We must be doing something right."

Plummer capped his 30th birthday with his second late model victory this season. He had made a habit of leading features until late when he'd be overtaken by Griffin McGrath, who has eight wins. This time, however, Plummer moved from third to first in the first three laps and stayed in front the rest of the race.

"I knew I got a big enough lead," Plummer said. "I was able to match his pace."

Plummer said a caution in the final laps would have been his worst enemy. It might have added to the fans enjoyment, but Plummer wanted to keep his distance from McGrath and the pack.

"If there had been a yellow (flag) I'd have been in trouble," Plummer said. "I'm sure it would have been more exciting but I didn't want to see it, that's for sure."

Bryce Bailey endured a bit of a slump, finishing seventh last Friday for his only top-10 performance in three weeks. Bailey broke the funk last night. Bailey held off three other cars that were all within a car length at the end to claim his third win this season and first since June 28.

He was able to hold off runner-up Kevin Korsmo and Kyle Diercks, who were both on his back bumper for part of the last five laps.

"I knew I couldn't let (Diercks) get to the bottom," Bailey said. "I kept him outside, hoping he'd use his tires up. Looks like it worked out for me.

"It was a good night. Glad to be back. It's been a few rough weeks."

Former University of Iowa four-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion and Cedar Rapids Jefferson two-time state champ Mark Ironside is in his first full season, racing for about one year. He had a large fan base Friday night, including some associated with the Hawkeye wrestling team.

Although Ironside didn't capture the feature win, he recorded his first victories behind the wheel, placing first in the trophy dash special and the first legends car heat race. Ironside said it was a good win and a goal under his belt.

"I've put a lot of time into it lately," Ironside said. "Just keep being aggressive, getting better every week and that's what it is about. Just working our way to the front."

Kurt Bohnsack hasn't won a track championship since taking the super stock points title in 2008. He took a step closer to adding to his trophy case, getting his fifth feature victory of the season and increasing his points lead. The hard fought win included a crash with another car during warm-up laps prior to the opening green flag.

"It was a little of a rough start," Bohnsack said. "Some give you a break and some don't."

Bohnsack was pulling away from the field, taking the lead from Dan Schmidt with 11 laps left with a pass on the high side of the track. He had no problem with a sprint to the finish, facing a restart with three laps remaining. The final caution was caused when Schmidt tried to cut into the lead, but was forced off the track backward by lap traffic.

Dave McCalla earned his eighth win of the year, pulling away in the Sportsmen field. He exacted some revenge on runner-up Ben Glascock, who beat him last week. The car ran so well that McCalla joked he wanted a 100-lap race.

"You don't want to get out of the car when it's running so fast," McCalla said. "You'd like to stay in and race it until next week."

HAWKEYE DOWNS SPEEDWAY

Late Models

Heat winner - Tim Plummer

Feature - 1. Plummer, 2. Griffin McGrath, 3. Jay Jaspers, 4. Andy Edwards, 5. Brian Allen

Modifieds

Heat winner - Tim Plummer

Feature - 1. Plummer, 2. Brian Gibson, 3. Mike Schulte, 4. Ryan Luedtke, 5. Jim Dixon

Legends

Trophy Dash winner - Mark Ironside

Heat winners - 1st: Ironside; 2nd: Tim Goettsch

Feature - 1. Bryce Bailey, 2. Kevin Korsmo, 3. Austin Kunert, 4. Kyle Diercks, 5. Jason Beauregard

Sportsmen

Heat winner - Dave McCalla

Feature - 1. McCalla, 2. Ben Glascock, 3. Cory Houdek, 4. Bob Ahrendsen, 5. Greg Hentrich

Hobby stocks

Heat winner - Matt Petrzelka

Feature - 1. Kandi Floyd, 2. Jason Sherman, 3. Jacob Floyd, 4. Jeremy Robbins, 5. Matt Lacoursiere

Hornets

Heat winners - 1st: Kurt Bohnsack; 2nd: Dan Schmidt

Feature - 1. Bohnsack, 2. C.J. Van Horn, 3. Jose DeJesus, 4. Schmidt, 5. Steve Woodrow