Legue captures Enduro at Hawkeye Downs

By Jim Ecker

CEDAR RAPIDS – Eric Legue has been serious about Enduro racing for about four years, but he had not tasted victory despite his best efforts.

That changed Saturday night.

Legue, from Vinton, raced his Sentra to the championship of the Enduro 200 race at Hawkeye Downs.

“I guess I played everything just right,” he said. “You learn something every race.”

Legue, 34, led for most of the 50-mile race on the quarter-mile oval, but deliberately yielded to other drivers at times.

“A couple of times, but I knew they were running too hard to keep their tires on the track,” he explained.

His strategy was simple. And it worked.

“Hold up front, but pace yourself so I didn’t burn my tires out,” he said.

Legue, a welder by trade, has done some racing at Benton County fairs in Vinton. He’s also raced in Illinois, and he quickly praised his team for making it click Saturday night.

“A good group of guys,” he said.

There were 28 cars in the Enduro 200.

Laney Chandler of Cedar Rapids won the Powder Puff 40, topping eight other drivers.