Derek Parrott back in Hornets Division at Hawkeye Downs

CEDAR RAPIDS — For Derek Parrott, the 2024 auto racing season promises to be just like old times.

After winning a season points championship in the Hobby Stocks Division last year at Hawkeye Downs Speedway, the Marion resident has returned to a division he knows well — Hornets.

“The guy I drove for last year sold the (hobby stock) car and got out of it,” Parrott said. “‘Salute to the Fallen’ is an organization that I support. ... So I ended up getting the (hornet) car in on trade … I looked for a hobby stock. There was just nothing out there and everybody was so booked up I couldn’t build one in time. And it is like, ‘Well, just to get something.’”

Parrott raced in the Hornets Division at Downs for more than a decade beginning in 2007 and won a season points title in 2008. Two weeks into the 2024 season, Parrott appears to be on the verge of breaking through to victory lane.

On Downs’ opening night May 3, a couple of bent spark plugs forced Parrott to bow out a couple of laps into the heat race, but he returned to the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series Friday night, won the heat race and led the feature for 12 of 15 laps before finishing third with more engine trouble.

“We replaced the spark plugs, it seemed to run fine so I brought it tonight,” Parrott said. “Ran good in the heat, ran good in the feature until three (laps) to go. It died. … I think we’re going to switch a motor this week.”

Corey Crispin — last season’s Hornets Division points champion — claimed his first feature win of 2024. Once Parrott solves his engine issues, he and Crispin should provide race fans with a summer of hotly-contested feature races.

“It’s always a challenge to beat everybody on the track,” Parrott said. “(Corey’s) a great racer and he’s a very clean racer. He and I get along very well. If I had a motor, he wouldn’t have beat me.”

There have been some changes to the Hornets since Parrott last competed in the division. The biggest learning curve might be the tires, which now consist of “slicks,” which have no tread and therefore offer better grip to the track. Judging by the way Parrott deftly hugged the new rubber bumpers on the quarter-mile asphalt oval, it’s safe to say that hurdle has been cleared.

Parrott expects the Hornets Division to be one of the highlights of the Downs lineup.

“More cars in this division and some great people in this division,” Parrott said. “Some people I really respect. Good, clean racers. I think it will be fun.”

Two divisions made their 2024 Downs debut. Griffin McGrath notched a victory in the Late Models feature, while the A.I.R.S. (American Iron Racing Series) feature — consisting of cars with a body from 1979 or before — was won by Brian Gade, who is responsible for starting the series in Eastern Iowa.

Patrick Flannagan (Sport Mods) and Adam Petrzelka (Hobby Stocks) won for the second week in a row, while Danny Lehmkuhl (Legends) and Cory Houdek (Sportsmans) earned their first feature wins of the season.