One hundred thirty-three race cars in eight, yes count 'em eight classes were on hand Sunday to provide a full night of action as the Urbana Five were remembered and the gifts that they and their families gave through organ and tissue donation were celebrated through the Iowa Donor Network at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton.
The BCS Micro Mods would begin the parade of feature races with fifteen cars lined up for twelve laps. Mike Post would race to the early lead with Cole McNeal in hot pursuit until lap six when McNeal nosed ahead at the stripe. Just behind them Eric Knutsen smacked the wall near the flagstand and that would result in a red flag as Knutsen took a few moments to gather himself and then emerged from the car shaken, but under his own power. On the restart McNeal drove away and appeared to be headed to certain victory, but just before the white flag waved the battle for second between Post and Kaden Reynolds saw the two tangle in turn four to set up a green, white, checkered finale.
As the green waved Shawn Fisher timed it nicely and drove under McNeal to take the lead into turns one and two and down the backstretch. McNeal was determined though and he popped Fisher squarely on the back bumper entering turn three to open up a laner that McNeal then took on the bottom to regain the lead before completing the final lap for the win. Fisher took second, Dallon Murty was third, Derek Knutsen fourth and Don Erger was fifth while behind them Kyle Rose was going for a tumble in turn four. In victory lane the young driver was roundly booed by the fans and then delivered a World Wresting Federation type interview to Mean Gene Okerlund, or in this case announcer Jeff Kropf, stating that the contact was not intentional and that they could tear down his car if they wanted to, everything is legal! It was a great way to start the night out in Vinton!
The twelve lap sport Compact feature was up next and it would come down to a battle between the top two drivers in the state right now. Ryan Havel would lead the opening lap only to have the defending All Iowa Points champion Barry Taft drive by on lap two. Taft was making his first ever appearance at Vinton after his regular Sunday track in Quincy took the week off and he took a quick liking to the black dirt quarter-mile two hours north of his hometown of Argyle. Jake Benischek had started seventh and by mid-race he was in second and the battle was soon on with Benischek looking for a line around the leader. After taking the waving green signifying two laps to go Benischek drove under Taft into turn one and there was contact between the two leaders in turn two.
Benischek took the lead going down the back stretch and it looked like the win would be his after taking the white flag. It was not to be though as his right front tire went down entering turn one, perhaps from the contact the lap before, and he drifted high allowing Taft to regain the lead and take the win. Jake was able to limp his car back to the checkers for second just ahead of his brother Luke Benischek, Bill Whalen Jr. was fourth and Ryan Havel, who later donated his winnings back to the Urbana Five Foundation, finished fifth.
The Stock Cars were up next with a rough beginning to their twenty-lap main event. Jerry Schipper was looking good in his 2018 debut running in the top four until he smacked the wall exiting turn four on the second lap to bring out the caution. On the restart the second place car of Dustin Vis got turned around in turn one and the scramble was on as the field stacked up. Several cars suffered damage and a few were eliminated before leader John Oliver Jr. brought the field back to green. The leader was being stalked by Damon Murty before the caution waved again for an incident involving Shane Ebaugh and Dan Trimble on lap six and following the restart Murty drove under Oliver to take the lead.
It was all over but the shouting from there as Murty pulled away to capture his career best ninety-second win at Vinton. Oliver was a distant second, Vis battled his way back up to third, Norman Chesmore was fourth and Trimble also came from the back to take fifth.
The Legend Cars were next and I must confess that I was not familiar with most of the fourteen car field. They put on a solid show for twenty laps though that featured a back and forth battle between Warren Ropp and Dave Everly with the 65-year-old Ropp eventually taking the win. He then donated his winner's check back to the Foundation during his victory lane interview with announcer Ryan Clark.
A full field of 25 Sport Mods were up next for twenty laps with Gage Neal leading the way early as the action was intense throughout the field. Tony Olson would take the lead from Neal on lap five and then ride out three restarts before securing the win. The battle behind him though was tight as they were three wide at the checkers for second with Joe Docekal taking the runner-up spot ahead of Kyle Olson who went from fifth to third on the final lap. Neal was close behind in fourth with Jacob Ellithorpe completing the top five.
It was also a 25 car field of IMCA Modifieds that would follow with Brennen Chipp racing to the early lead. Richie Gustin was on the fly and he would power past Chipp on lap five to take the point. A caution on lap eleven would close the field giving Troy Cordes a shot at the leader, but when his focus was taken by a challenge for second by Corey Dripps, Gustin pulled away to an impressive victory. Dripps would prevail in the battle for second with Cordes racing in for third, Joel Rust would move from his sixth row starting spot to fourth and Chipp fought off Tyler Madigan for fifth.
A twelve pack of Late Models were up next for twenty laps and with Ryan Dolan and Todd Cooney drawing the front row you knew that this one would have a fast pace. Dolan was hooked up on the bottom and Cooney chose the top and the chase was on with Dolan out front. Each time that it looked like Cooney might have a run on the leader, Dolan would grab a bite on the bottom and pull away again and with just one caution mid-race to slow the field it would be Dolan taking the win ahead of Cooney. Darren Ackerman challenged Cooney on that restart but settled for third, Terry Neal was fourth and I had Kelly Pestka edging out Luke Pestka at the stripe for fifth, but that is not official.
The Hobby Stocks would close out the evening in fine fashion with a last lap pass for the win. Kyle Parizek would lead the first three laps before Daniel Wauters spun in turn two to bring out the caution. On the restart Brett Vanous would pull even with Parizek exiting turn four, but perhaps a bit too even as the two cars got hooked together and before they could spin and cause a huge pileup the caution was called sending both drivers to the rear. Bradley Graham would inherit the lead on the restart and looked like he had this one well in hand, that is until Leah Wroten emerged into second.
Wroten had started ninth on the grid and once into second she was closing fast with the laps winding down. A bit of indecision in dealing with a lapped car left Graham open for a challenge on the final lap and Wroten pounced on the opportunity powering to the inside to take the lead and the win. Graham had to settle for second place pay tonight as Matt Brown and Justin Wacha were next in line, and Vanous battled back to fifth.
For most tracks eight classes of racing on a Sunday night would be like torture, but not at Vinton. Even with some time taken to smooth out a racing surface that had soaked up more than a couple of inches of rain during the previous twenty-four hours the final checkers waved right around ten o'clock still allowing this long distance traveler to be home and in bed before midnight. The announcers Kropf and Clark were entertaining as always and when Ryan is around you know that you are always going to get those amazing stats that the "Numbersman" continues to compile. Here's hoping that I can get back up to Vinton another time or two still in 2018!
Hoping to go racing three times this week highlighted by the return of the Sprint Invaders to the Scotland County Speedway in Memphis, Missouri, this coming Friday night. Work commitments and weather will determine my destinations for Wednesday and Sunday, but I do hope that you will keep an eye out for me here on the Back Stretch.
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