Things going Becker's way at Hawkeye Downs

CEDAR RAPIDS - Aric Becker doesn't carry a rabbit's foot and you won't catch him picking up a penny for any reason other than to spend it.

He doesn't buy into superstitions.

"I don't believe in that," Becker said. "If it's going to happen it's going to happen. Period."

Despite battling some spurts of bad luck in the past, the 38-year-old race car driver has used solid cars behind the wheel to turn around his fortunes at Hawkeye Downs Speedway, enjoying his best season here. He entered Friday night's races with the season points lead in the sportmod class, attempting to win his first track championship at the asphalt track.

He took another step toward that track title, leading from start to finish to claim his fifth feature victory this season.

Becker recalls being snake-bit a little bit last year. The first half of 2009 was tough no matter where he raced.

"That was last year," Becker said. "The first half of the season I had terrible luck. It didn't matter if it was dirt or asphalt."

Things turned around for Becker almost exactly a year ago, and even that came from an unfortunate incident.

Becker suffered damage to the rear end of his car, while he was leading a feature with a couple laps remaining. He was forced to replace the rear end and change its mounting. The tweak turned successful.

"It seemed to make the car work a lot better ever since," Becker said. "We got the first win the first week of August and took off. We won three more times out here and raced pretty good on the dirt last fall."

He also has four second-place finishes. Becker, the great-nephew of legendary race car driver Arlo Becker, owned a nine-point lead before Friday night's points races. He still is in search of season points title, coming within three points of the 2008 championship.

"My goal from the beginning of the year was to win a championship," Becker said. "I don't want to back into the championship. I'm just trying to push forward and win out."

As important as a championship would be, it would pale in comparison to Becker's top memorable moment this summer. Becker and his wife, Kelly, welcomed their second child, Aubrey, into the family on June 9. It's too early to tell if she will be a race fan like 3-year-old brother, Will, who joined mom and dad in victory lnever know. She might make it before the end of the year.

A second child has demanded more of Becker's time. He eliminated dirt-track racing from his schedule, running exclusively at Hawkeye Downs. His success as cut down on his time in the garage, giving more time with the family.

"It definitely takes more time with a second child," Becker said. "Fortunately I've been running good out here and I haven't had to do a lot to the car other than general maintenance."

In the make-up feature for the sportmods, Brogan Fiala just edged Tim Dains, spoiling any idea Becker had to sweep the races.

Thor Anderson, the teenager from Oskaloosa, captured his second straight late model feature victory. Kyle Hinrichs dominated early, but a wreck between turns 1 and 2 bunched the field together for a restart just nine laps into the race.

Anderson took tot as the first wreck. He went to the back of the field, and Anderson held his lead the last 10 laps after the second restart. Joey Gase finished second.

"It was really close racing," said Anderson. "We just happened to make it work toward the end. We've just had a really fast car."

In another exciting finish, Jim Hanson came away with his third feature race in the stock car class. With two laps remaining, Hanson grabbed the lead from Kurt Bohnsack as they were part of a trio that run three-wide for half a lap. Hanson took control and matched Bohnsack for the most feature wins in the division, while Dave Ballstaedt was second and Bohnsack finished third.

"It is fun out there with him (Bohnsack), racing like that," Hanson said. "But when it's time to go, we had to go. It was great."

Matt Petrzelka notched his first feature win, crossing the finish line first in the hobby stock race. Petrzelka, who is third in season points, added a win in the heat race as well.

Kevin Korsmo jumped from a seat in the press box to the driver's seat and came away with a feature win in the INEX Legend race. Rachel Pinkerton, of Illinois, who won a feature at the track earlier this year led for most of the 30-lap feature. With 13 laps to go, Pinkerton spun out while maneuvering through lap traffic. That opened the door for Korsmo, who slammed it shut behind him, leading the rest of the way.

Korsmo is a former multi-time track champion and a Hawkeye Downs Hall of Fame member.

"It's been five years since I've run the half-mile (oval). It's been 10 years since I've run the quarter-mile," Korsmo said. "It was a lot of fun."

Korsmo did some research on the tires used for the Legend cars and planned his strategy. It worked with a little help from Pinkerton's mishap.

"I paced myself the first 10 to 15 laps," Korsmo said. "I thought I'd give all out the last 15 laps. It worked pretty good."

Brothers Brad, Nathan and Dallas Chandler held the top three spots in the Hornet feature with seven laps to go when the leaders were contacted by cars in the back of the pack, causing an accident with Nathan Chandler and sending him into the wall in the front stretch and ending his night.

After the restart, Brad Chandler distanced himself from the field for his fourth feature win, tying Bryce Bailey for most in the class this year. Dallas Chandler, the season points leader, was second.

Tim Plummer continued his dominance of the season, earning his ninth feature win in the modified division. Andy Duggan, the Sportsman class points leader, swept two Sportsman, increasing his feature win total to seven this season.