Rain adds extra challenge for Hawkeye Downs racers

CEDAR RAPIDS – Drivers at Hawkeye Downs Friday were racing more than just each other.

With lightning to the east and rain in turns three and four during the heats, the drivers and race organizers were racing a storm front as well. Late Model heat racing, as well as the Miller Time Hornets division feature race, ran in periodic rain showers, with harder rain ending the Mountain Dew Sportsman race early after Jim Hanson and Greg Hentrich, among others, had already wrecked.

'It's just been a long night in the sportsmen,' Hanson said. 'There's some tempers out there.'

The Late Model feature was casualty to the rain entirely, as the half-mile track was too wet for the slick tires on late model cars to even start the race.

The Hornets, meanwhile, took several laps around the track behind the pace truck and under the close supervision of safety personnel.

Paper towels passed between window netting so the drivers could wipe their visors both before the Hornets and during the two cautions of the Hobbystock division.

Hanson, winner of all three Hobbystock features so far, as well as the first two Mountain Dew Sportsman races, said he'd raced with lightning in the distance before, and so did racers in other divisions, but he said the rain made the track a challenge.

'It got to a point with these cars (Sportsmen), with the slicks on it, they don't take the water out from under like the treaded tires will.' He said. 'They were just trying to get (the race) in, which is OK.'

But for all the radar watching and fretting over the weather, the drivers made adjustments, and fans were treated to exciting, albeit rain-shortened, racing.

Dallas Chandler took home the win in the Hornets, beating out Drew Nickell and pole sitter Todd Ness, who took second and third, respectively after Troy Scott was bumped off track in James Montgomery and Chandler's battle for position.

The Dublin City Pub Legends division saw a battle between Cole O'Brien and Brody Willet, with Willet holding the advantage after passing O'Brien in lapped car traffic.

Willet said the wet track added a new dimension to the race, and credited O'Brien for having a fast car all evening.

'We had to tighten the car down just so that it wouldn't spin out,' Willet said.

Mike Mitchell, a sportsmen driver, said he'd run a race with lightning flashing at Hawkeye Downs 20 years ago, and also noted the rain played a role Friday night.

'I could just feel the track getting slicker, and I just tried to keep the car under me,' Mitchell said. 'I wasn't worried about going fast. I was worried about keeping the car under me to keep from spinning out.'