Schnor Scores First Win, Atkins Takes American Iron Racing Series Victory
The penultimate race of the NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series took place Friday, August 9th with a picture-perfect night of weather in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. For Linn Animal Hospital Night at the Races, the lineup was jam-packed with all of the weekly racing classes, including a Legends double-feature and an appearance from the American Iron Racing Series.
In the first Legends.Direct Legends race, Adam Reed held off the field for the first 16 laps in the 20-lap feature. Unfortunately, things went south just after, when contact spun him around in turn three, triggering a large crash that saw multiple cars go airborne. One of the cars involved was points leader Kevin Korsmo, whose car briefly caught fire. All drivers involved were able to get out of their vehicles. Jeremiah Davis claimed the lead for the remaining laps on the restart and grabbed his second win in a row.
Photo by Ed Siems
The second Legends feature saw Jacob Tiegen take over the lead from Reed on lap 5. Kacey Korsmo would get to 2nd and Davis to 3rd. Over the remaining laps, Kacey worked hard to catch up to Tiegen and would come within a couple of car lengths before the checkered, but Tiegen would go home with the win.
Kacey Korsmo now leads the points by four over Austin Slabaugh and seven over Kevin Korsmo and Davis.
Photo by Ed Siems
Corey Crispin stretched his point lead out to six points over Chad Vozenilek in the Sunline Hornets with another win in the class. Crispin was able to take the lead from Korey Lana with just five laps to go. Lana then battled with John Carnahan and Vozenilek to retain the runner-up spot. Brad Chandler rounded out the top five, making his first start in the season.
During the heat race for the Performance Concepts Late Models, something broke on the #8 of Kacey Korsmo, sending him hard into the wall of turn three, resulting in a lengthy clean-up. Korsmo got out of the vehicle, which was in rough shape and believed to have had a mechanical failure. He would not make it out for the feature, so seven cars would start.
The rookie Drew Nickell led the first four laps until Danny Lehmkuhl came through to take the top spot. It looked like it may be Lehmkuhl's race to win until Griffin McGrath slipped to the inside with two laps to go and made his way to Green State Credit Union Victory Lane.
Jeremy Peterson was back on track with plenty of speed in the Anderson Automotive Hobby Stocks. Peterson opened up a nearly half-second lead over Brad Chandler until Adam Petrzelka passed Chandler with six laps to go. Petrzelka then ran down Peterson in the final laps and made the pass. Peterson would also lose 2nd to Chandler at the end, moving him to third. Petrzelka has won all but two races this season, leaving him with a 28-point lead over Scott Siems.
Just when fans thought the race was over in the All Seasons Automotive Sportsman, everything changed. Cory Houdek worked to a healthy lead until Todd Ness began to reel him in. For the last five laps, Houdek had a lead of nearly three-tenths. On the final lap, in turn three, Houdek pushed up the track, allowing Ness to track the inside, take the lead, and win. Houdek later said the car had an engine miss fire or carburetor issue that progressively worsened as the race continued. After the race, contact was made between two cars, resulting in Dave Ballstaedt being black-flagged. Ness enters the final race 9 points ahead of Brandon Herb.
The American Iron Vintage Series rolled into town for their final visit to Hawkeye Downs in the 2024 season. Robin Atkins bested the rest of the field to claim his 2nd win at Hawkeye Downs of the year. Lisa Miller looked to have the win until the very end when she was passed by Atkins. Dan Thompson, who won the Iowa Vintage Series feature last week, finished third.
Photo by Ed Siems
Lastly, another new winner was added to the record books in the Cassill Motors Spot Mods. While Tallan Chandler worked his way to second, Steve Schnor gapped the rest of the field by more than one second. Once Chandler made his way around Stacy Olson to take the runner-up spot, he got the gap down to .5 seconds, but it would not be enough. Schnor claimed his first victory in his rookie season. Chandler is just four points ahead of Chad Siems headed into the finale.
Photo by Ed Siems
Next Race: Season Championship
This weekend is a double header of racing! On Friday, August 16th, we will celebrate our season championship race night, presented by Sadler Power Train. Gates open at 6pm, with racing at 7pm! There will be giveaways at the gate for the first 75 kids, prizes for fans in the stands, and an autograph session post-race. After the track closes, Hawkeye Downs staff welcome you to the official “After Party” at the Tavern on the Mall behind the grandstands.
The Stars and Cars of the ASA Midwest Tour will be in town on Saturday, August 17th, for the Hawkeye 100 presented by Cassill Motors! Qualifying begins at 5:45 for the Super Late Models and will be followed by the Hornets, HD Dawgs, Legends, and Bandoleros support divisions. Gates will open for spectators at 5:30pm, with opening ceremonies to begin at 6:45pm.
