Ballard kicks off busy weekend with feature win

CEDAR RAPIDS - Nathan Ballard thanked his fiancee, Stephanie, for putting up with all of his racing. She will have to put up with a lot this weekend.

Ballard, a two-time defending hobby stock season points champion, opened three straight days of racing with a feature win during opening night of weekly season points racing at Hawkeye Downs Speedway.

It was a good way to kick off a weekend that includes dirt-track racing at Independence on Saturday and Sunday at Vinton. Ballard is attempting to get his car ready for dirt competition to contend for a championship at Benton County Speedway. This weekend won't be the norm and is even a lot for him.

"That's a lot of racing," said Ballard, who will be joined by his fiancee while riding in the MayFest Parade at Amana Saturday. "I just want to get the bugs out of that dirt car and maybe I can run the points at Vinton. That's what I'm trying to do."

Ballard has some bugs to work out of his hobby stock that rides on the asphalt quarter-mile track, but it wasn't enough to keep him out of victory lane. He maneuvered through lap traffic with six laps left in the 15-lap feature, passing and then holding off  Roland Bohnsack for the win.

"If it wasn't for that lap traffic I don't think I would have caught him and passed him," Ballard said. "My car was pretty loose."

Bohnsack held an early advantage and was pulling away, but when he got caught up in traffic that gave Ballard a chance to get to the inside and ahead of the pack. Ballard said that made the difference.

"I just kept my head and tried to work through it the best as I could," Ballard said. "He went high so I figured there was only one spot to and that's low."

Ballard, 21, had six feature wins in 2009 and eight last season. He said this was a good way to start and provides an opportuity add to his win total.

"It makes you want to win all the time," Ballard said.

Joey Gase exhibited the same type of patience early in his late model feature. Gase, the Cedar Rapids Xavier senior, waited until he was hitting on all cylinders before making his move on leader Kyle Hinrichs.

Gase took the lead halfway through the 30-lap feature, passing Hinrichs on the inside of Turn 4.

"The car was there the whole time," Gase said. "I was just taking my time."

Gase, a 2009 points champion making youngest late model season points champion at Hawkeye Downs, has a tribute to his late mother, Mary Gase, on the rear quarter panel of his car. The win had extra meaning. 

"It's really special," Gase said. "My mom just died and I know she was up here watching, so this was really good."

Gase wasn't the youngest winner Friday night. Kyle Hansen, a 13-year-old from Leseur, MN., captured his first feature win in a Legends car. The rookie edged fellow Minnesotan, Tim Brockhouse.

"I'm actually kind of shocked that I made it because Brockhouse has won so many races," Hansen said. "It's kind of nice to be in victory lane."

Brad Chandler almost didn't make the races, returning from a trip to Las Vegas just in time for the Hornets heat races. he could be rich if he was as successful in Las Vegas as he was at Hawkeye Downs. Chandler won the heat race and then added a feature victory, leading from start to finish.

He praised his brothers, Nate and Dallas, who finished third and fourth, respectively, for repairing his car while he was away.

"If they wouldn't have had the car ready for me to go," said Chandler, who won six features in 2010, "I wouldn't be standing here."

In the restructured Sportsman division, Cory Houdek, a 2009 track champion who was third in the stock car class last year, came away with the feature win. He is starting to get the hang of a car he broke in last season.

"We're finally starting to get her worked out," Houdek said. "Hopefully, it will be a good year."

Tim Plummer, who has won the modified division championship the last six season, started in the second position, but took the lead by the second turn of the opening lap and pulled away for the feature win.