Hawkeye Downs race director Brian Gibson celebrates birthday by getting behind the wheel

CEDAR RAPIDS — As far as birthdays go, Friday could not have been much busier for Brian Gibson.

After beginning the day at 5:30 a.m. at his full-time position of Battalion Chief of the Cedar Rapids Fire Department, Gibson eventually shifted his focus to the local weather report.

Now in his third summer as the race director at Hawkeye Downs Speedway, Gibson needed to determine if the inch-plus of rain that fell Friday would result in a cancellation of that night’s auto races and his plan to celebrate his birthday by getting behind the wheel for the first time this season.

“I'm guessing that pretty much everybody else got rained out,” Gibson said after the fourth week of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series at Downs. “We have the unique ability with our asphalt surface that we've got good drainage and tiling. Once the rain stops, we can get it dried. It took a little bit longer tonight than I thought. We had that one little front move through right there about 6 o’clock that got everything wet again, but we were able to get it dried and we were able to go racing. It was a long day but a good day.”

Gibson, 57 and a former points champion at Downs, saw an opportunity to race the No. 20 late model racecar of Downs driver Danny Lehmkuhl, who was out of town Friday night. Gibson finished second in the Late Model feature race behind two-time 2024 winner Griffin McGrath.

“It’s just nice to get back behind the wheel,” Gibson said. “I can’t do it every night. I have got to manage the show out here. The team encourages me to do it once a year. Get behind the wheel and have some fun.”

Gibson’s current role at Downs has morphed into much more than the “Race Director” title he assumed three years ago. Along with a staff that includes Downs Executive Director Jennifer Lawrence and marketing representative Nicole Schroeder, everything from event coordination to restroom repair to maintenance and landscaping does not occur without crossing their desks.

“It’s been a challenge and I think we’re gaining some momentum,” Gibson said. “I’ve got a great team that’s working with me, that is working behind me, alongside of me, pushing with me. I’m happy about that. We have got good people doing good things and we’re only going to get better.”

The day’s rainfall did impact the drivers. The rubber bumpers on the third turn of the quarter-mile track were moved farther inside to avoid “weepers,” a term used to describe water or moisture trying to seep up through the cracks in the asphalt, but there were still more race stoppages than normal.

The Enduro Sprint Series made its 2024 debut and was won by Brad Chandler, who also placed second in the Hobby Stocks feature and fourth in the Hornets.

Kacey Korsmo – the 2023 Legends Division points champion – won his first feature of the season, as did Derek Parrott (Hornets) and Beckett Flannagan (Sport Mods).

Todd Ness won his second Sportsman feature, while Adam Petrzelka continued his Hobby Stocks dominance with his fourth feature win in as many weeks.