Hawkeye Downs Wall of Famer celebrates with convincing victory

CEDAR RAPIDS — As Hawkeye Downs Speedway celebrates its 100th season of racing, one of its veteran drivers is still lapping the competition.

Downs Wall of Famer, Kevin Korsmo, now in his 35th year of racing at the southwest Cedar Rapids racetrack, celebrated both milestones with a convincing victory in a new Legends car.

“Hawkeye Downs means a lot to me,” said Korsmo, 61. “A hundred years is special. Congratulations to Hawkeye Downs. I am on the Board of Directors here. I’ve been a race promoter here. We’ve got some great people. … It’s a wonderful facility and I want to be a part of it. I love racing out here. It’s where all my best friends come from. … It is just home to me. It’s pretty special to me to win in my 35th year.”

The Atkins resident serves as the sales manager for the Cedar Rapids-based Legends Direct, which is owned by Griffin McGrath and is the largest dealer of Legends cars and parts in the country. Korsmo unveiled a new car built by Miller Performance Motorsports of South Charleston, Ohio.

“Brand new car, first time on the racetrack,” Korsmo said. “The guys at Legends Direct, this is what we do for a living. So I thought it was time to put a new car together and come out and show some people what we have to offer.”

The car was adorned with Korsmo’s customary number “52B,” but with a striking color of light blue fashioned after former NASCAR legend Richard Petty and a throwback to some of Korsmo’s original late model, sportsman and hobby stock cars.

“That is originally my color that I started with,” Korsmo said. “I’ve never had this color on the racetrack. … Personally, I have never raced this color in a Legends car, but it was my original color. A ‘Petty’ blue. I always loved that color, so when I first built the cars, I did that. … So this one I went old school blue. I love the blue.”

Korsmo has totaled nearly 150 feature wins and eight track championships across four divisions – Hobby Stock, Late Model, Legends and Sportsman – in his career at Downs. Last year, he was just three points behind his son Kacey Korsmo, 27, for the Legends season points title. With Kacey Korsmo shifting some of his focus to his new late model car, the door might be open for Kevin to win his ninth points title at Downs.

“It’s a little more enjoyable for me when I see him in my rearview mirror,” Korsmo said with a laugh. “When he started beating me every week, that joy went out a little bit. I enjoy racing with him. I said I could do that and now I help him and I enjoy that.”

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