McBride takes home trophy but charity wins

CEDAR RAPIDS - Lura McBride earned a trophy, but as far as she is concerned charity was the real winner.

She was driven to do perform at her absolute best.

McBride raced to victory in the celebrity legends car race during Van Meter Night on Friday night at Hawkeye Downs Speedway. McBride topped Lindsay McGrath, of McGrath Automotive Group, Television personality Tiffany O'Donnell and KZIA's Clair Duffy in the 15-lap feature.

The race was part of the company's fourth annual charity event, raising funds for Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Women's Center to benefit breast cancer patients and their families.

The people affected by breast cancer were at the heart of McBride's motivation.

"I did it for all those women going through breast cancer, breast cancer survivors or people who have had breast cancer in their family," McBride said. "And, to the Van Meter team, I'm glad I could bring the trophy home today."

McBride has had two close friends and an aunt affected by breast cancer recently. She accepted the trophy from a Hawkeye Downs employee named Betty, who is a breast cancer survivor.

"It's very special," McBride said.

Like McBride, O'Donnell has had a loved one suffer from breast cancer. Her mother-in-law died from complications caused by breast cancer.

"Sadly, so many of us are touched by this," O'Donnell said. "What a tremendous experience and opportunity to raise money for such a worthwhile cause."

The sentiment was shared by the other four celebrity drivers.

"This was an awesome cause," McGrath said. "it was really fun thing to be a part of."

The charity was the main focus. Emotions ran as high as the engines when the drivers realized many spectators and supporters were directly impacted by the disease.

"They were all here cheering for us," O'Donnell said. "That definitely made it more emotional."

McBride passed McGrath with about four laps to go and held on for the win. She started at the back of the pack, and wondered how she would be able to pass without much practice leading into the race.

She had never raced competitively before Friday night, but performed and spoke like a pro, especially about her move to the high side of the track to take the lead for good.

"I was trying to figure out how to do that," said McBride, praising Bulltown Legends and owner Warren Ropp for their work with the women drivers. "I knew if I could get up on her close enough and then start to get out around her on that second corner I could get out and try to squeeze her down on the inside. It worked."

McGrath, who is related to Hawkeye Downs late model driver Griffin McGrath, took the lead from McBride with 10 laps left after a spin out by Duffy in Turn 1 led to a caution and restart one lap earlier.

"I tried to do Griffin proud, but Lura was fast," McGrath said. "Holy cow, she's fast."

The race was won of the biggest thrills McBride has experienced. She could only imagine what could surpass it.

"I've never been skydiving," McBride said. "That might top this, but this was awesome."

O'Donnell whipped by Duffy, who spun out on the final turn, to place third. She said she practice the most with Duffy and didn't like seeing her finish that way. Her competitive nature allowed her to get over it quickly.

"I felt bad for about a second," O'Donnell said with a laugh. "My first question out of the chute was did I get third."

Duffy noted that she is an entertainer and hoped she provided a good time to the fans. She said she enjoyed the contest, despite two wipe outs that scared her.

"I tried to hang in there the best I could and live," Duffy joked. "I kept telling myself just live, live, live."

She developed a new respect for the sport and its competitors. It is more challenging than just making laps around the quarter-mile oval.

"It's so much fun," Duffy said. "This is so much more than driving in a circle. I never wrapped my head around racing. Oh my goodness, what a sport. It's incredible."

In the weekly points races, Ryan Luedtke provided a thrilling victory in the modified class. Luedtke grabbed his first win of the season, edging points leader Tim Plummer by a few feet in a race to the finish line.

"I have to thank Tim, though," Luedtke said. "We've been struggling real bad. He has helped me. He cut me a break there."

Dallas Chandler posted an emotional win in the hornets division, driving his brother Brad's car. It was his second of the season, surviving trouble that sent him into the water, mud and grass off the backstretch.

He dedicated it to his late girlfriend, Ashley Saari, who died about a month ago.

"I had someone riding with me tonight," Chandler said. "This one's for her."

Matt Petrzelka claimed his sixth hobby stock feature win. He has swept the division this season.

Tim Goettsch maneuvered through the legends field and claimed a division-best third feature win of the season.

Dave McCalla won his fourth feature in the sportsman division.

After an incident that saw a a car catch fire with 12 laps remaining, the rest of the late model feature was cancelled. The race will be made up next week with a double feature for the division.

HAWKEYE DOWNS SPEEDWAY

Legends

Van Meter Pride Race - 1. Lura McBride, 2. Lindsay McGrath, 3. Tiffany O'Donnell, 4. Clair Duffy

Trophy Dash winner - Gary Dyer

Heat winners - 1st: Matt Blake; 2nd: Tim Goettsch

Feature - 1. Goettsch, 2. Bryce Bailey, 3. Austin Kunert, 4. Kyle Diercks, 5. Dennis Diercks

Hobby stocks

Heat winner - Matt Petrzelka

Feature - 1. Petrzelka, 2. Matt Lacoursiere, 3. Jason Sherman, 4. Jacob Floyd, 5. Jeremy Robbins

Sportsmen

Heat winner - Cory Houdek

Feature - 1. Dave McCalla, 2. Ben Glascock, 3. Houdek, 4. Jim Hanson, 5. Greg Hentrich

Modified

Heat winner - Brian Gibson

Feature - 1. Ryan Luedtke, 2. Tim Plummer, 3. Mike Schulte, 4. Gibson, 5. Jim Dixon

Hornets

Heat winners - 1st: Dallas Chandler; 2nd: Todd Ness

Feature - 1. Chandler, 2. Kurt Bohnsack, 3. Ness, 4. Jeff Dvorak, 5. Jose DeJesus

Late Models

Heat winner - Tim Plummer