Iowa BIG Teen Race back at Hawkeye Downs for third iteration in 2024

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Iowa BIG Teen Race returns to Hawkeye Downs Speedway on Saturday.

Now in its third year, the event presents an opportunity for individuals with a valid Iowa driver’s license or Iowa minor school license to step into the driver’s seat of a racecar and compete against others.

Racing begins at 2 p.m.

“It’s similar to last year’s event, but we are trying to make it bigger by having more competitors and more fans in the stands,” said Maddox Rowley, an Iowa BIG student who recently graduated from Cedar Rapids Prairie. “We also want to have some intermissions this year — one with a weekly class doing an exhibition race, the second allowing the sponsors time to talk.”

Racing gear is provided by Hawkeye Downs and five cars will be available for participants to drive, sponsored by Sadler Power Train, CRST, Modern Companies, Van Meter and Hy-Vee.

“People should participate in this event if they are interested in racing and may not have the money (for a race car) or come from a racing family,” Rowley said. “Putting this event together was a lot of fun. It was nice as we already had a ground layout with five cars and five great sponsors to go with them.”

What originally started as a “race camp” developed into a competition. The first Teen Race ran in the spring of 2022, the second last July.

“Iowa BIG and Hawkeye Downs have been working together for the past two years to make the event a success and it’s only getting better,” Rowley said.

Rowley added that last year’s race saw “significant growth” with the support of sponsors and community involvement.

In addition to Rowley, Iowa BIG students involved in coordinating Saturday’s event include Will Wray, Athyn Block, Anthony Zachar, Lilliana Kaufman and Tyler Schamburger.

“I believe (helping to coordinate) this event has helped my professional growth as I’ve learned a lot over these last two years,” Rowley said. “It taught me how to market when we had to try and get sponsorships from local businesses. I also learned how draining the process can be.

“Once we got going, it seemed like I was doing work four out of the five days I was at Iowa BIG, but I had to understand that a big project like this takes big time.”

Having a role in organizing the Teen Race also played a part in Rowley getting behind the wheel.

Rowley began driving in Hawkeye Downs’ Hornets Division this year.

“It’s a little of two things — my uncle, Patrick Flannagan (current points leader in the Sports Mods class at HD), happened to have an enduro that I raced a few times last year,” Rowley said. “I knew it was something I wanted to do more of, and I think this event helped light that fire a little more.”