Legend Cars running again at Hawkeye Downs

 The racing lineup looked a little different from recent seasons at Hawkeye Downs last Friday.

After a seven year absence, Legends Cars were racing again at the asphalt track. It was their first feature during regular Friday Night racing since 2003.

Warren Ropp, owner of Bulltown Legends of Iowa in Kalona where he sells the tiny race cars, started racing Legend cars about 15 years ago at Hawkeye Downs. He recalled the good old days when the class drew 15 to 20 cars for weekly racing. The number climbed to 25-30 for special events.

 "We ran dirt on Friday nights in Davenport," Ropp said. "We took the same car, cleaned it up, setb things different and ran again here on asphalt on Saturday nights."

The return seemed to pick up where it left off. The division had 15 cars compete in their first appearance of a limited racing schedule at Hawkeye Downs, which includes seven or eight appearances. Jill Pinkerton, a 19-year-old from Barrington Hills, Ill., won the feature, with Jeremy Meyer of Cedar Rapids placing second and Oskaloosa's Rod McGlothen was third. Ropp, who won the first heat race, was sixth in the feature.

Legends drivers hope to attract new faces to Legends racing.

"We're here to try to spark some interest of the young drivers," Ropp said. "The guys who are coming out of go-karts or even out of the 4-cylinders."

If it wasn't enough just to watch the tiny cars zip around the 1/4-mile oval at the track, car owners are making the cars appealling to the eye.  Some cars have been designed in movie themes. For example, two Legend cars are painted to resemble "Lightning McQueen" and "Sally Carrera," which are two charcters from the Family animated movie "Cars."

 "We're trying to get the family back into it," Ropp said of the special designs. "Make it fun again. Not that it hasn't always been fun, but we kind of lost something somewhere."

That trend seems to be turning and Ropp said he hopes that means a bigger role at the track in future seasons. This summer could impact those to come.

"Numbers are picking up," Ropp said. "Hopefully by next year, maybe increase our numbers, to where we can run here on almost a full schedule. We'll see how this year goes."