Youngster Willett pulling double-duty at Downs

CEDAR RAPIDS – A candidate for youngest season points champion in the history of Hawkeye Downs Speedway is broadening his reach.

Brody Willett, 13, started his night at the famed asphalt oval racetrack with his second victory of the season in the 25-lap Legends division feature last night, holding off a hard-charging Mark Ironside over the final 20 laps to claim the season points lead.

'Just got a good starting spot,” Willett said. 'Really, it's the car. It worked perfectly for us and we were getting a lot of pressure behind us from Ironside, but we held onto it.”

The 5-foot-4 soon-to-be eighth grader at Alburnett Middle School has been behind the wheel since age five when he cut his racing chops with kart racing at Delaware (Iowa) Speedway, where he won nearly 180 go-kart races in six years. Towards the end of the 2013 racing season at Hawkeye Downs, Willett hopped in a Legends car.

'He continues to impress me,” Willett's father Chad said. 'Last year, we never intended on winning a race.”

Willett did claim one Legends feature last season, continuing a Downs tradition inherited from his father. Chad Willett, 43, raced in the Modified division at Hawkeye Downs from 2002-07. When he wasn't competing, he brought Brody to the races in Delaware.

'One day he asked me if I wanted to start racing, and I said, ‘Yeah,'” Brody Willett recalled.

It's been a busy summer for Willett. In addition to the weekly points races at Hawkeye Downs, he has been a regular participant at the dirt tracks at Benton County Speedway and Independence Motor Speedway. Tonight, he'll compete at Dells Raceway Park in Wisconsin.

Even as he travels the region competing each weekend, Willett unveiled a new racing component in his arsenal June 26 at Hawkeye Downs – a Late Model racecar. In his second Late Model feature race last night, Willett placed fifth behind winner Tim Plummer.

'Power steering,” Willet said when asked the biggest adjustment between the new Late Model car and the smaller Legends car. 'A lot easier to turn, doesn't get loose on me.”

Should Willett hold his Legends division points lead, he'll pass Austin Kunert (14, 2014) as the youngest season points champion at Hawkeye Downs.

'He's matured as a driver and I think he's gained the respect of the guys that he's racing against,” Chad Willett said.

Derek Parrott of Marion won his second-consecutive Hornets division feature. Nathan Ballard (Hobby Stocks) won for the sixth time this season, while Jim Hanson collected his first Sportsmen win.

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