Hawkeye Downs kicks off 2016 with an open mind

CEDAR RAPIDS — Hawkeye Downs Speedway returns for its 91st season of racing this weekend — but this time, on a Saturday.

The asphalt half- and quarter-mile oval has been a Friday night program for each of its first 90 years, but with the state of the speedway the last several years, promoter and racer Kevin Korsmo and the Hawkeye Downs board of directors has looked for something to try that will reinvigorate attendance.

Thus the experiment of opening up on a Saturday at noon has been given a shot for the first week only — a shift that's been met with positive reviews at the outset. In a time when all improvement options are being considered, the Hawkeye Downs crowd is hoping for a step toward better days.

'We've been wanting to try it for a couple years now, for several reasons. Typically this time of year, I think about my parents — it's cold, and they don't like to be out in the cold. It's an opportunity to get some more people in the stands because maybe it's not as cold,' Korsmo said at Hawkeye Downs Media Day last week. 'Also, we don't have to turn the lights on. That's saving money there. It's just something to try. And maybe the first week of the year, a guy can go in the afternoon and not interrupt other racing. It's something we wanted to try. Will it turn out? I don't know. But typically our first events aren't the moneymakers anyway.

'You can't just stay stale. We are a Friday track, and it seems to fit that way. But if it takes going on a Saturday, that's what we'll do. There's no plans now to change permanently from Friday to Saturday, but it's an experiment I think could work at the beginning of the year.'

As with any business — in Hawkeye Downs' case, a non-profit business — finances have to drive nearly every decision made for a facility and a racing program.

Rumors abound about the state of things for the historic Cedar Rapids speedway, but Korsmo and the rest of the staff at Hawkeye Downs keep plugging away despite them. Korsmo admitted things still aren't great — which, obviously, is why changes are being considered — but the fact that the lights are still on (literally and figuratively) is reason enough to keep forging ahead.

'We're doing OK (financially). Last year was about a break-even, maybe a little loss. It's not terrible. It's enough to keep going,' Korsmo said. 'It's just a matter of if we can keep continuing to build our car-count and continue to build that positive flow out there. That's where the social media is something I can't even look at sometimes. It just breaks my heart. It's not just Hawkeye Downs, either, other tracks deal with that, too. We're doing OK. We're hoping for a good year this year. That's all we can do is hope we can be consistent and the racers will come out.

'It's my love for Hawkeye Downs that keeps me going. I don't want it to die on my dime. I love the people I've met here. It keeps me wanting to push to make this thing work, and I think it can work if we can all be one family. There's some great people that are support staff at Hawkeye Downs, and that's what makes me want to continue.'

A different cloud also hangs in the periphery of the 2016 season as well, and that's the omnipresent threat of litigation stemming from the death of Joan Feller in an INEX Legends race last August.

Typically, there's a two-year statute of limitations on lawsuits of that nature, but Korsmo doesn't anticipate anything like that coming against Hawkeye Downs from Feller's family. Beyond previous and future planned tributes to a racer and friend, Korsmo said he and other Hawkeye Downs staff have kept an open dialogue with Feller's family.

'You're always worried (about lawsuits). You've always got that time table, but here have been no discussions (about it). Her family is a wonderful family,' Korsmo said. 'We're doing things to honor her and her family is tickled about it. The correspondence between the family and us has all been positive. They're hoping to make it back for a race, we've invited them back for a race this year. Everything is a positive note on that. It's an unfortunate situation. We miss Joan a ton.'

Aside from that, the ever-upbeat Korsmo remains optimistic about this season and beyond.

Though the Sportsmen division's numbers likely will dip this season, there are new drivers coming in Big 8 Late Model — including Dave McCalla, Mark Greb and dirt racer Zach Less — and INEX Legends and Hornets, and Korsmo is confident the car count will improve overall.

And though there's only two traveling series that will make an appearance — the Big 8 Series (June 3) and Mid-American Stock Car Series (June 17) — Korsmo said he looks at that as a chance to focus on the weekly crowd and not put Hawkeye Downs in a worse financial position.

'When you talk specials, that's money,' Korsmo said. 'There's just not a lot of money out there to throw at specials. I wish there was because I've got all kinds of ideas. But it's like anything, you know? You can't build a house if you don't have the money, right? That's where we are.

'We're fortunate at this track that our lights are still on and we're going to keep on going. We've got a great board of directors that are supportive and we've got people that are coming up with new ideas. We're going to keep trucking along.'

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com