Bennett recalls good ol' days running at the Downs

CEDAR RAPIDS - Bill Bennett Jr. has fond memories of competing at Hawkeye Downs Speedway.

Running in front of packed crowds, many following him personally, winning championships and being social long after the checker flag dropped all stand out to the former race car driver.

Bennett has one more pleasant memory. He was one of eight members inducted into the Hawkeye Downs Wall of Fame on Friday night during the track's weekly points races.

"I was kind of shocked when they called me," Bennett said. "Obviously, I spent a lot of time out here.

"It's an honor."

Bennett, who started racing motocross at age 5, competed for more than a decade at Hawkeye Downs, winning three consecutive track titles from 1996-98 in the Sportsman Division before moving on to late models. He remembered the feeling of racing in a packed class and in front of packed stands.

"It was a lot of fun back then," Bennett said. "There were 3,000 people in the stands and you're racing with 25 Sportsmen to start the feature."

Bennett was one of the reasons the stands were filled. Wall of Fame member and former Sportsman champion Kevin Korsmo said Bennett brought many fans to the races and half the stands emptied when Bennett stopped competing.

"He had quite an entourage," Korsmo said. "It was like a movie star or music artist. He brought in a ton of people."

Bennett enjoyed the camaraderie in the pits after the races, noting Keith Fleck Night was always a favorite. He visited with numerous fans, sponsors and other drivers, letting many sit in his race car. He doesn't see it as much these days, while helping former crew member Jeff Dvorak with a hornet that is raced by Dvorak and his son, J.R.

"People liked to come out and we had a good time," Bennett said. "We stuck around late in the pits, as late as they would let us. Fans liked that."

Fans also liked the way Bennett drove. He had a knaak of avoiding trouble while maneuvering his way around the track. Bennett also made passing other drivers a habit. He said he and his team took as much pride in winning Hard Charger awards, given to the driver who passes the most cars in a season, as much as points championships.

"The was always a feather in our hat," Bennett said. "The consistency was a great thing, but passing the most cars had the adrenaline rush."

Korsmo recalled the unorthodox way Bennett controlled his car. Many might have to take a second look when they noticed his style in the speedy Sportsman.

"He drove one-handed," Korsmo said. "He had his right hand on the roll cage and left hand on the steering wheel. It was a trait of his back then and it was interesting."

Vince Fiala and Russ Lyman, both of Cedar Rapids, were induc ted as owners. Both provided rides for multiple track champions at the track.

Jerry Epperson, of Cedar Rapids, was a talented young driver at Hawkeye Downs in the late 1960's and early 1970's. He elected to stop racing to start a family after service in the Vietnam War interrupted his racing career.

Sonny Crow, of Marion, provided support to the track by supplying tow trucks and helping race officials, drivers and their crews.

Brothers Lem and Gordon Blankenship, both of Keokuk, and the late Eddie Leavitt, who was from Kearney, Mo., were also inducted.

"These are the legends," Hawkeye Downs Race Promoter Mike Becker said. "These are the guys that did it back in the day. They're the names that we grew up with. They were here. They were our friends and enemies. They were the guys that made racing (here)."

The fans who turned out to recognize the talent of the past were entertained by the current on-track talent.

Dave McCalla produced the most exciting finishes of the night. McCalla spun out, McCalla, Ben Glascock and another driver were three-wide in the first turn. Contact forced the second caution with more than 10 laps left of the Sportsman feature.

"It knocked the steering out of whack on the car," said McCalla, who was unsure about whether to head to the pits or stay on the track. "I saw there were a lot of laps left and thought maybe we could get up to fourth or fifth, have a decent night and try to salvage something."

McCalla started his attack on the leaders, passing on the high side. He said the longer the race went the more the leaders dropped back to him.

"It was hard not to get excited and start over-driving the car," McCalla said. "I still had to stay out of the gas and the car kept coming."

McCalla zipped through the field, trailing only Glascock with a few laps to go. On the final lap, McCalla made his move, slipping inside of Glascock on Turn 2 to take the lead and completing a worst-to-first performance for his fourth victory this season.

"By the time I got to Ben, he had a hobbled car from when we got together, he couldn't keep it on the bottom, which gave me the bottom," McCalla said. "It's hard to keep someone from passing when they come up on you from the bottom.

"I was just barely able to get it out. I was so excited. We really worked hard to get there. It was a hard race."

Thor Anderson grabbed the checkered flag for the second straight week and third overall this season. Anderson took the lead eight laps into the 30-lap feature, passing Brian Allen on the inside and led the rest of the way. His success is the product of dedication in the offseason.

"It's great," Anderson said. "We worked really hard over the winter. We spent a lot of time working on it. It's nice to get rewarded and see that it's really fast and working well."

Anderson was challenged by defending season points champion Brad Osborn on a restart with 14 laps left, but Anderson held him off and then distanced himself from the field, closing the gap on Osborn's points lead. Osborn was second followed by Dudley Fleck.

"We got it really fine-tuned," Anderson said. "Now it's just there. We just have to make sure we keep on top of it and just keep driving. It should be good the whole season."

Brad Chandler, the defending Hornets season points champ, won his second straight race, passing Shane Hanson with five laps remaining and pulling away.

Chandler couldn't double-up for the second straight week, settling for second to Matt Petrzelka, who avoided engine trouble this week to win the hobby stock feature. It was Petrzelka's fourth win of the season.

Race car veteran Mike Schulte captured the modified feature win, battling Arlo Becker for the lead with less than 15 laps to go and  dominating his way to victory lane.

Bryce Bailey earned his first feature win in the Legends division.

Next week is Van Meter Industrial Night, featuring a Celebrity Charity Legends car race in addition to weekly points races. The event is a fundraising benefit to raise money for Aiming for A Cure, Admission, normally $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and $5 for 12-and-older, has been changed to a minimum donation of $1 (although fans are encouraged to give as much as possible) toward Aiming for A Cure.

The Legends race is expected to feature a Van Meter employee, University of Iowa head wrestling coach Tom Brands, and former Hawkeye two-time national champion and four-time All-American and two-time Cedar Rapids Jefferson state champ Mark Ironside. The first two celebrity races has raised more than $10,000 for charity.

HAWKEYE DOWNS SPEEDWAY

At Cedar Rapids

Late models

Feature - 1. Thor Anderson, 2. Brad Osborn, 3. Dudley Fleck, 4. Jay Herbst, 5. Andy Edwards

Hobby stocks

Feature - 1. Matt Petrzelka, 2. Brad Chandler, 3. Alex George, 4. Matt Lacoursiere, 5. Roland Bohnsack

Sportsman

Feature - 1. Dave McCalla, 2. Ben Glascock, 3. Bob Ahrendsen, 4. Dave Ballstaedt, 5. Craig Stepanek

Legends

Feature - 1. Bryce Bailey, 2. Dennis Diercks, 3. Kevin Korsmo, 4. Matt Blake, 5. Al Diercks

Modifieds

Features - 1. Mike Schulte, 2. Brian Gibson, 3. Jake Griffin, 4. Ryan Luedtke, 5. Arlo Becker

Hornets

Features - 1. Brad Chandler, 2. Shane Hanson, 3. Kurt Bohnsack, 4. Jose DeJesus, 5. John Ness