Auto racing: Ness driven to match father's title

CEDAR RAPIDS - Like Father, like son.

At least, Todd Ness wants that to be the case.

The hornet race car driver is devoting his efforts to claim a season points title, matching the feat of his father, John Ness, at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in 1998. Todd Ness extended his points lead with his second feature win of the season Friday night during the track's weekly races.

Todd Ness is in his fourth season of racing and has delayed moving to Florida until after the season, attempting to capture that championship. The window is closing, because he plans to head to Davenport, Fla., the Saturday following the season's final race night.

"He has a track championship and I don't have one," Todd Ness said. "That's why I'm here."

He took another step closer, taking the checkered flag by pulling away from the field after a restart with nine laps remaining. Todd Ness said it was a tough challenge powered by the adjustments made to the car.

"I've been working on it all week," he said. "It's cornering a lot better."

The Ness family has shared a love for racing. John Ness raced for 25 years, winning a track championship in the thunder stocks division that raced on Saturday nights. Last year, three generations of the family raced at Hawkeye Downs, consisting of John Ness, Todd Ness and his brother, Jamie Witham, and nephew, Preston Witham. Racing is a catalyst to bonding.

"It's what brings us together," Todd Ness said. "Not just racing, but just working on cars."

John Ness had actually hung up his racing helmet after 2005 but a few years later it was Todd Ness, who got him back into racing. They each raced a hornet with son eventually taking over the faster car, which has put him in the lead this season.

They were hard at work Friday night. John Ness was under the front end of the car in the pits before hot laps and the younger Ness giving instructions. The quest is more special to Todd Ness with dad at his side,

"It's huge to me," Todd Ness said. "We try to have fun."

Todd Ness has contended every week, placing no lower than third. The key is avoiding trouble, despite pushing and forcing Kurt Bohnsack to spin out in last night's heat race, which he finished third.

"There's some competitive driving. It can be rough some times," Todd Ness said. "You just have to be consistent. You have to avoid trouble. One bad week can screw you."

Sportsmen points leader Dave McCalla captured his sixth win of the season. He entire field we clumped together in the first half of the 20-lap race, running four-wide once. McCalla was trapped in third and fourth when he made a slick move to take the lead, slipping from the inside of the front stretch to the outside halfway through and pulled away for the win.

"That sure was hard fought," McCalla said. "I've never been in a race like that. We went from front to back, front to back and front to back. There were cars all over."

Tim Plummer captured two feature wins, surviving a wreck in the late model race to get his first victory in the class this year. In the modified feature, Plummer moved to the inside of Ryan Luedtke and then pulled away from the field for his sixth win in that class. Plummer is the points leader in both divisions.

"The modified ran well. The start went my wayand I was able to get in the lead, so that helped a bunch," Plummer said. "I'm getting better with the late model. The dominant car (Griffin McGrath) wasn't here so it is hard to gauge."

In a heated hobby stock feature contest, Matt Petrzelka remained the only winner in the division this season, earning his eighth victory.

Near the midway point, Petrzelka started to take the lead and looked like he was making a move to pull away before being spun out in Turn 1 by Matt Lacoursiere. They both went off the quarter-mile track, along with Brandon Herb, coming to rest in the grass area between the ovals.

In a surprise move, Petrzelka was moved to the second row for the restart, leaving Kandi Floyd in front. The two battled making contact and rubbing sides before Petrzelka was able to keep control in the inside grass, taking the lead for good with two laps left.

Floyd caught up with him on the cool-down lap and bumped Petrzelka before he pulled into victory lane. Petrzelka said marks on his car proved he had position. It's hard not to take trying to be wrecked personally, but he dismisses it and is thanful for his family and sponsor support.

"Everyone's trying to take me out because they know my car is faster," Petrzelka said. "It's fun going out and beating them, knowing they're coming after me."

Kyle Diercks raced to his first feature win of the season in the legends car race. After his triumph, he spun out and rolled backward off the track. He was relieved just to get the win.

"I just lost it. I was holding on with one hand," Diercks said. "I held them off. It was a long race, but that's what makes it fun."

Austin Kunert, a 13-year-old from Batavia, Ill., won the first legends heat race and was runner-up to Diercks in the feature.

HAWKEYE DOWNS SPEEDWAY

Late models

Heat winner - Tim Plummer

Feature - 1. Plummer, 2. Jay Jaspers, 3. Andy Edwards, 4. Scott Siems, 5. Chad Siems

Modifieds

Heat winner - Brian Gibson

Feature - 1. Tim Plummer, 2. Ryan Luedtke, 3. Gibson, 4. Ed O'Brien, 5. Jim Dixon

Hornets

Heat winner - Kurt Bohnsack

Feature - 1. Todd Ness, 2. Bohnsack, 3. Dan Schmidt, 4. Jose DeJesus, 5. Steve Woodrow

Sportsmen

Heat winner - Ben Glascock

Feature - 1. Dave McCalla, 2. Glascock, 3. Brian Franks, 4. Cory Houdek, 5. Bob Ahrendsen

Legends

Trophy Dash - Austin Kunert

Heat winners - 1st: Rod McGlothlen; 2nd: Tim Goettsch

Feature - 1. Kyle Diercks, 2. Kunert, 3. Goettsch, 4. McGlothlen, 5. Caleb Adrian

Hobby stocks

Heat winner - Matt Petrzelka

Feature - 1. Petrzelka, 2. Matt Lacoursiere, 3. Jason Sherman, 4. Brandon Herb, 5. Kandi Floyd