Keith captures another victory at Hawkeye Downs

CEDAR RAPIDS - It's a safe bet Brad Keith will jump at the chance to come back to Hawkeye Downs Speedway.

The Eastern Iowa track has produced memorable moments for the 29-year-old race car driver from West Bend, Wis.

Keith will leave Cedar Rapids with another fond memory and the Mid-American Stock Car Series points lead after claiming a victory in the 45-lap feature run during weekly points races Friday night at Hawkeye Downs, marking the touring series first return since 2009.

Keith was also victorious here in a 2002 enduro event.

"It was the first one I ever got in any type of race car," Keith said in his victory lane interview after a caution-free race. "To come back and get my first Mid-American Stock Car Series feature win here is awesome. I love this place."

Keith started on the inside of the fourth row in the 16-car field, representing six Midwestern states. Local driver Brian Gibson and Lyle Nowack, of Wausau, Wis., battled for the early lead, but Keith crept up on the leaders, taking the lead at the midway point with a strong move to Nowack's outside.

The competition narrowed to two a few laps later as Bill Prietzel, Richfield, Wis., made his move and threatened Keith's lead. The leaders approached the rear of the pack, which proved to impact the finish. While Keith was able to maneuver through the group, Prietzel was bottled up with slower cars, allowing Keith to pull away.

Prietzel made a late push, but it wasn't enough to catch Keith, who cruised to his second top-five finish of the season and grabbed sole possession of the series points lead.

"Lapped cars played a little bit of a factor," Keith said. "Toward the end, my spotter said just conserve your tires. ... it turned out in our favor."

Prietzel finished second and Nowack was third. Jeremy Spoonmore, of Somonauk, Ill., who entered Friday night's race tied for third in points, was fourth, and Rick Tackman, Waukesha, Wis., rounded out the top five.

Petrzelka, who has won the last two hobby stock season points championship, claimed the lead with a little more than nine laps remaining, moving to the outside of Matt Lacoursiere to get out front. He then pulled away and pulled away from the pack, repeating it after a restart with seven laps to go. Lacoursiere spun out with three laps left, forcing another caution, but Petrzelka was challenged to win.

"Those cautions kept coming out," Petrzelka said. "I was a little worried. The motor started to heat up but it held up."

Tim Plummer is no stranger to victory lane, even though Gibson got the better of him in the season opener last week. Plummer made adjustments to the car in the last week and switched spots with Gibson, the defending season points champion, winning the modified feature in dominant fashion.

"There were some things wrong with the car," said Plummer, who won heat races in modified and late model classes. "We have it rocking and rolling now."

Plummer looked on his way to a double-dip, leading most of the 30-lap late model feature. Griffin McGrath, who had three feature wins a year ago, chased down and passed Plummer with seven laps to go and earned the feature win.

"It shows how much hard work we put into this car," McGrath said. "We put a lot of time into it."

Todd Ness won his first feature of the season in the hornets division, holding off Kurt Bohnsack late and preventing him from a second straight victory.

HAWKEYE DOWNS SPEEDWAY

Mid-American Stock Car Series

Heat winners - 1st: Jack Stern, Slinger, Wis.; 2nd: Adam Bendzick, Elko, Minn.

Feature - 1. Brad Keith, West Bend, Wis., 2. Bill Prietzel, Richfield, Wis., 3. Lyle Nowack, Wausau, Wis., 4. Jeremy Spoonmore, Somonauk, Ill., 5. Rick Tackman, Waukesha, Wis.

Hobby Stocks

Heat winner - Matt Petrzelka

Feature - 1. Petrzelka, 2. Malena Betzer, 3. Brandon Herb, 4. Bob McCorkle

Legends

Heat winners - 1st: Bryce Bailey; 2nd: Matt Blake; 3rd: Rod McGlothlen

Feature - 1. Andy Jones, 2. Garrett Harris, 3. Randy Harris, 4. Blake, 5. Jason Beauregard

Modifieds

Heat winner - Tim Plummer

Feature - 1. Plummer, 2. Brian Gibson, 3. Jim Dixon, 4. Ryan Luedtke, 5. Ed O'Brien

Hornets

Heat winner - Kurt Bohnsack

Feature - 1. Todd Ness, 2. Kurt Bohnsack, 3. Dallas Chandler, 4. Jeff Dvorak, 5. Zach Chevalier

Late models

Heat winner - Tim Plummer

Feature - 1. Griffin McGrath, 2. Plummer, 3. Joey Gase, 4. Brian Allen, 5. Chad Siems