Hawkeye Downs hornet class race honors driver’s late father

CEDAR RAPIDS — A bogus title on a 1998 Pontiac Sunfire in 2013 led to Harold Scott convincing his 19-year-old son, Troy, they should start a race team and compete at Hawkeye Downs Speedway.

"We decided to break the windows out and make it a race car," Troy Scott said. "We kind of just got thrown into it."

Although Harold was always painting and working on cars, Troy said, “When we got into racing it was a whole different ball game.”

Originally in for $300 on the Sunfire plus another $400 for an engine, Harold was willing to do whatever it took to get his son behind the wheel of their new hornet class racer.

“At first I didn't want to do it and I told him no,” Troy said. “He pushed me into it and I'm glad he did.”

Troy got lapped three times in that initial race, leading to him dreading those first few Fridays at Hawkeye Downs.

Harold led the way for the Scott team, handling everything from the work on the car itself to the transportation of the racer to and from the track. By the end of the season they were competing and Troy was hooked.

“Dad was the base of our racing,” Troy said. “He did everything.”

At the end of the 2021 season, Harold and Troy decided to slow things down in 2022 and just race for fun, not weekly. One reason for the Scotts to put extra focus on family was the birth of Troy's second son in January.

The next day, while spending time with his wife Cheryl and babysitting Troy's oldest son, Harold died of a sudden heart attack. He was 63.

“At the funeral my boss, Adam Sadler, told me they wanted to honor my father,” Scott said. “Our marketing manager at Sadler Power Train, Kelly Novak, worked with Brian (Gibson) and Jay (Crabill) at Hawkeye Downs to plan Friday’s honorary race.”

Instead of the regular 15 laps for the hornet class feature with the winner earning $150, the field competed in a 44-lap finale that paid $444 to the victor.

Sadler Power Train rented the party deck for Scott's family and co-workers to attend and honor Harold while Troy added an H to his red and black No. 44 in honor of his late father.

“Last Friday was tough because he would always give me knuckles, tap the top of the car and say see you in Victory Lane before I pulled out,” Scott said.

Despite obvious joy from winning last week's feature, Troy had to head to the tech barn for the first time without his father waiting for him to celebrate their victory together.

“I miss that already,” Scott said. “There is definitely an empty spot.”