Eight joining Hawkeye Downs Speedway's Wall of Fame

CEDAR RAPIDS - The weekly points races will include a special ceremony, honoring eight former drivers and contributors to the racing history at Hawkeye Downs Speedway. The track will hold its annual "Wall of Fame" inductions during 10th Annual Keith Fleck Memorial Wall of Fame Night on Friday.

Inductees are Ron Hochstetler, sportsmen champion John Mudd and Paul Newkirk, all of Cedar Rapids, Les Burianek, of Marion, Benny Jamison, Jim Gerber, of Davenport, Springville's Charles Safley and Waterloo's Karl Sanger.

The evening will have six feature races, including hobby stocks, sportsmen, legends and modifieds. A 40-lap feature for ASA Trucks will also be held. The late model feature will be a 50-lap contest instead of the normal 30-lap race during regular weeks.

The Wall of Fame ceremony will be conducted between the heat races and features. Pre-race ceremonies begin at 7:15 p.m. and heat races start at 7:30.

Below is a news release about the evening and the inductees:

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Eight more inductees will join the Hawkeye Downs Speedway “Wall of Fame” on Friday evening, June 10th.

The Class of 2011 includes Les Burianek, Jim Gerber, Ron Hochstetler, Benny Jamison, John Mudd, Paul Newkirk, Charles “Chopper” Safley and Karl Sanger.

The late Les Burianek of Marion, Iowa was a award-winning race photographer at the speedway in the 1950's and 60's and also penned a column, The Finish Line, for the Cedar Rapids Citizen-Times.

Jim Gerber of Davenport, Iowa the son of 2010 inductee Johnny Gerber, ran Jalopies and Stock Cars at Hawkeye Downs with great success in the 1950's and 60's.

Ron Hochstetler owns a towing service in Cedar Rapids and has provided tow trucks and safety equipment for Hawkeye Downs Speedway for over a decade.

Karl Sanger of Waterloo, Iowa was a consistent top-10 competitor in the Late Model division starting in the 1970's and continuing into the early 80's. Sanger posted numerous feature wins, competing against some of the best drivers in the Midwest during that time.

Benny Jamison was a successful racecar builder and owner for many years, having the likes of Roger Dolan and Bill Beckman behind the wheel of his race cars.

The late Paul Newkirk of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was an accomplished Midget driver in the 1940's and 50's before a race-related accident cut short his driving career. He then became a nationally recognized mechanic for the Zebcol Lubaid Ford race team in the 1960's, wrenching for legendary drivers such as Don White, Norm Nelson, Joe Leonard and Mario Andretti.

Johnny Mudd of Cedar Rapids, Iowa was a model of consistency in the Sportsman division, regularly placing in the top five in the point standings and winning track titles in 1999 and 2003.

Charles “Chopper” Safley of Springville, Iowa competed at Hawkeye Downs Speedway starting in the late 1970's in the Street Stock division when the Downs' was a dirt surface and into the early 90's in the Pro Stock class when it turned to asphalt. He was the Street Stock track champion in 1979 and 1980.

There will be a meet and greet with the new inductees as well as previous inductees under the main grandstand before the evening's program.