Hawkeye Downs Friday Night Racing
Weekly Racing at Hawkeye Downs
Hawkeye Downs hosted it’s 7th weekly race night of this season on Friday the 13th. Hawkeye Downs is celebrating 100 years of racing. The track began as a dirt track known as Frontier Park in 1925, and became Iowa’s first paved oval with a paved pit to host weekly races in 1989. Over the last 100 years Hawkeye Downs has hosted ASA,IMCA, NASCAR, ARCA Midwest Tour, and American Indy Car Series races. The Speedway and Expo Center offer over 35,000 square feet of event space, and is Eastern Iowa’s premier 1/2 and 1/4 mile asphalt racing venue. Hawkeye Downs is a 501 C3 Organization that hosts weekly racing, enduro racing, drag racing, and drifting, as well as trade shows, meetings, conventions, concerts, auctions, weddings, and private events. The weekly races at Hawkeye Downs begin at 7:05PM with the gates opening at 6PM.
Participants in the Legends Racing event line up before the start of the races at Hawkeye Downs Speedway on Friday the 13th. The event also featured Hornets, Hobby Stocks, Sport Mods, and Sportsman racing events.
Carla Pentecost works the concession stand at Hawkeye Downs. Pentecost has worked part time for Hawkeye Downs for the Last six years.
Army veteran Jeffery Schmidt (center) carries the American flag around the track on his motorcycle during the opening ceremonies before the races at Hawkeye Downs on Friday the 13th. Schmidt spent 22 years in the Army.
The 13 car finishes a lap during one of the Legends races at Hawkeye Downs on Friday the 13th. The events at Hawkeye Downs attract more than 100,000 visitors per year.
John Carnahan (fifth from the left, black jacket) stands for a picture with his family after winning one of the featured races at Hawkeye Downs.
Speedway Fire and Rescue worker Tara Barron watches one of the races at Hawkeye Downs on Friday. The weekly races at Hawkeye Downs are part of the NASCAR Advanced Auto Parts weekly racing series.
(left to right) the number 17, 54, and 16 cars all vie for first place during one of the races at Hawkeye Downs on Friday the 13th. The speedway and expo center at Hawkeye Downs is the only full-time weekly Asphalt race track in Iowa.
Dallas Kibbe (left) poses for a picture with his dad Robert Kibbe after winning one of the Legends Racing Features. Hawkeye Downs also hosts a kids night called Tuesday Night Titans on Tuesday nights from June to August.
Course photographer Ed Siems photographs the cars as they go by. Siems has been taking pictures for 55 years and had two kids competing in the races on Friday night at Hawkeye Downs.