Friday racing at Hawkeye Downs

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CEDAR RAPIDS - Johnny Spaw was once a young upstart driver battling veterans in auto races. That was back when Hawkeye Downs Speedway was still a dirt track.

Spaw, arguably the most recognizable name in auto racing at Hawkeye Downs, has changed to be the veteran competing against younger talents like Tim Plummer, Joey Gase, Griffin McGrath and Landon Cassill over the years.

“I was a younger guy taking on the older guys when I started too,” said Spaw, now in his late 40s. “That's just the way it ends up.”

The eight-time track champion and 2009 Hawkeye Downs Hall of Fame inductee was doing what he does best, which is mixing it up on the 1/2-mile oval Friday night during weekly points races at Hawkeye Downs.

The vet managed a sixth-place finish, climbing as high as second after starting ninth. But, the night belonged to Gase. The 17-year-old junior at Cedar Rapids Xavier won his first feature at the track, where he became the youngest late model season points champ a year ago.

Spaw notched his first victory of the season last week, overturning a rough start to the season that saw him blow out a couple motors early. An older motor helped him claim yet another win in his career at the track.

“It felt pretty good, because we had some pretty bad luck at the start of the year,” said Spaw, also noting a rule change that caused a 100-pound penalty, making him carrying the extra weight on the car because of the stronger motor he uses. “It's an old (motor)but it seems to be running alright,”

It was just another of the numerous wins Spaw has notched here. It's nothing new for the polarizing figure with fans, who either love him or root hard against him.

“It says we've been successful," Spaw said, "but it says we've been doing it a long time."

Spaw, who also runs at West Liberty Raceway, praised his brother, Ray, also a 2009 Hall of Fame inductee for his work, noting it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to race multiple tracks during the week.

Building race cars, including his own, allows Spaw to get a good feel for the car and the adjustments that need to be made. Spaw's mind, however, continues to mull over possible improvements well after he is done racing, pondering it all week. Some times he sacrifices sleep, looking for a way to be faster in competition.

“I play back laps in my head,” Spaw said. “You think about what the car was doing and try to figure out what you can do to help it go faster.”

Don't expect Spaw to lift his foot off the accelerator any time soon. He has plenty of racing left and feature wins to claim, even though he joked he will call it quits long before long-time driver Arlo Becker, who races in the modified division whose next win will give in at least one in seven straight decades.

“When I know I can't handle driving the dirt car into the corner next to the wall 100-some miles per hour (and) you know you're not liking to do that anymore or you don't feel like you can do it, that's when I'll probably know,” Spaw said. “Right now is not that time.”

It was Gase's time Friday. He grabbed the lead with 18 laps to go in the 30-lap feature, making a nice move to the inside to pass Justin Jennings.

Plummer, who is the season points leader in both the late model and modified divisions, pressed Gase late but he was able to hold off the three-time late model feature winner. Gase kept Plummer at bay after two second-half cautions.

"Our car was really fast. Timmy was really fast," said Gase, who is no longer driving for SS Green Light Racing. "I had just enough to beat Timmy at the end."

Gase will compete in the ARCA race at Newton's Iowa Speedway next weekend. The plan is to continue the winning ways at the central Iowa track.

"I'm real excited," Gase said. "Hopefully we'll have a great run like we did today."

Plummer and Nathan Ballard conitued their dominance in the modified and hobby stock division, respectively. Each won their sixth feature this season and extended their season points lead.

Ballard battled Gary Pfantz most of the race, coming out of turn 4 with the lead as the two started the final lap. Ballard took a late bump from Pfantz, but reached victory lane after starting 10th.

"Gary Pfantz was real fast," Ballard said. "Coming out of (turn) three he was getting loose so I knew if I had to do it it had to come out of there."

Despite stockpiling wins and owning a stranglehold on the lead for a second season points title, this race stood out to Ballard, who credited Pfantz for a clean race.

"That was a fun race," Ballard said. "It's the most fun I've had all year."

Plummer started on the outside of the second row in the modified race and took the lead with six laps remaining. He ran in a pack before racing alone for the last few laps.

"Everybody, at least from my vantage point, gave plenty of room and ran clean," said Plummer, who has won the last six modified season points championships. "it makes it fun to pass cars when they do that."

When Plummer got to the front of the field, he pulled away leaving the other drivers far behind.

"I like the new tires, making the cars kind of a handful," Plummer said. "So far it's played into my favor."

For the second time in as many weeks, Dave Ballsteadt and Cory Houdek fought for a close race, crossing the finish line at almost the same time. This time, Houdek came out on top for his first feature win this season.

The Hornets division treated fans to furious action, racing two and three wide for most of the feature. The checkered flag dropped to give Brad Chandler his second win of the season and the second week the Chandler family won the feature. His brother, Dallas, won it last week.

Tim Dains won his second feature in three weeks in the Sport-mod class.