Becerra, Carter and Schmidt Earn Four Figure Wins At Benton County's Urbana Five Memorial

Thursday April 9th, 2015 was a tragic day almost beyond comprehension. It was that day when young lives were lost in a traffic accident, Nicole (20), Quentin (19), Triston (17), Hunter (14) and Zoey (12). The Urbana Five.

They were race fans and they loved to be at the Benton County Speedway in Vinton cheering on their favorites every Sunday night and it is good that each July the Benton County County Speedway, with the incredible help from a group of volunteers and a long list of sponsors, pays tribute to these five lives that were lost way too soon. And with each year this event grows larger and perhaps even more meaningful as not only are those five souls honored, but we as attendees of this event are reminded of the gifts that these young people made to others in the form of organ and tissue donation and the Iowa Donor Network is there in hope that you have indicated on your driver license that you will give that same gift. 

The posted purse money continued to grow right up to Sunday's race day and you might even have to think that the 5 may have had a say in the weather as while it rained on me all the way from Mount Pleasant to Cedar Rapids, it was a beautiful Sunday evening in Vinton. With East Moline having canceled early in the day, several of their regulars made the trip and the car count swelled to 155 in six divisions. With over $2,000 up for the winner it was no surprise that the Sport Mods had the highest count ending up at fifty, and then again that should answer any questions as to why I was not able to stay for the final two features that took the green after 10:10 p.m.

Five stop and go heat races and two big caution riddled B-Mains whittled the field down to twenty-four come feature time with California resident Kaylin Lopez and Illinois traveler Austen Becerra drawing the front row for the twenty-lap main event. Lopez has based himself in Iowa for the racing season and continues to improve each time that I see him while Becerra has again had to hit the road on Sunday nights if he wants to go racing since the Quincy Raceways remain dormant following the pandemic shutdown. As announcer Ryan Clark stated though, Becerra is no stranger to victory lane here in Vinton and he would set sail at the drop of the green in an effort to get back there and claim the night's $2,200 top prize.

The first of two cautions in the main event would come on lap eight when Tony Olson slipped off the top of turn three and then headed to the work area to change a flat tire. The second came on lap twelve when Robert Patava spun in turn two and on this restart Brayton Carter gave Becerra his best shot even taking the lead exiting turn two and heading down the back stretch. Austen was not fazed though as he expertly drove the cushion that was by now precariously at the top of the quarter-mile on both ends and maintained the lead for not only lap thirteen, but the rest of the way to take the win.

Carter would chase him in for second while the race to watch over the closing laps was the one for third where Dylan Van Wyk was throwing everything that he could at Lopez. A big slider from Van Wyk in turns one and two was answered with a perfect crossover by Lopez so on the next try Dylan was able to pull even on the front stretch and then drove Kaylin to the cushion forcing him to lift and give up the position. Logan Anderson finished fifth and then a few positions behind him would see five cars pileup against the wall just past the flag stand. Thankfully no drivers were injured and hopefully the damage was more cosmetic than anything else.

That was when I headed for the gates with the Legend Car and Sport Compact features still to go. Earlier in the night though the Sport Compact feature that was postponed from July 4th opened up the racing action with fifteen cars going for twelve laps. Early contender Ashley Reuman would lose her left rear wheel to bring out a caution on lap five and on the restart William Michel appeared to be in complete control having lead from the pole position at the drop of the green.

In the closing laps though you could hear the four cylinders of the leader going sour and while he was still quick in the turns, his straightaway speed was fading. Cristian Grady and Justin Stevenson were now closing in quickly and if not for having their own battle for a couple of laps, Michel would have been a sitting duck. Going down the back stretch on the final lap Grady would close quickly on the leader and they would exit turn four side-by-side. Luckily for Michel his motor had just enough power remaining to get him to the stripe just inches ahead of Grady to take the win. Stevenson, in his first feature here at Vinton, was an impressive third followed by Travis Losenicky and Korey Lana.

The current track point leader here at Vinton, Michel scratched from his heat race but he did run the feature where he started from the tenth row and finished seventh. Urbana driver Lukas Rick would take the win in the nightcap followed by Losenicky, Reuman, Grady and Logan Clausen.

If you were writing a recap based upon results off of MyRacePass you would have missed the big stories on the eighteen lap feature for the IMCA Stock Cars. First of all, even though this one would pay $1,100 to the winner, division dominator Dallon Murty was out in Albion, Nebraska, chasing an even bigger payday so the twenty car starting field was wide open as to who might win. Pole-sitter Michael Peterson would lead the way on lap one and when third-starting Jay Schmidt tried to go under him entering turn one on the second lap, he spun out and was sent to the rear of the field for the restart. 

Jason Doyle would swipe the lead from Peterson on lap three and he would soon have Jacob Ellithorpe and Jeff Mueller in hot pursuit. The caution would wave again on lap six when Ian Huff and Mitchell Evens spun in turn one and soon after this restart Ellithorpe would drive under Doyle to lead lap eight. This would quickly become a classic battle with Doyle nosing back ahead on lap nine, Ellithorpe would lead lap ten and then Doyle's high line would prevail as he went back to the front on lap eleven.

The caution would wave again with just two laps to go when Tobie Talk went over the top of turn three and on the restart Mueller would now make a run at Doyle for the lead. That challenge would go awry though as Mueller spun in turn three, but the caution had already waved for two cars that had become hooked together and stopped in turn one. It was again Huff and Evens involved and they were stuck together long enough for announcer Jerry Vansickel to play both Baby Shark and Sweet Caroline to entertain the crowd while crews worked to separate the cars. It was a tough night for Evens who also barrel rolled off the top of turn three in his heat race, but still came back to start the feature.

Five cars piled up on the restart in turn one, so yes I may have placed too much of the blame on the Sport Mod qualifying races for the late night, but once finally back to green we were in for a thriller. Mueller was poised to make a run on the bottom entering turn three only to have his right front tire go flat sending him up and over the banking. The green light stayed on and as the white flag waved there was Jay Schmidt all the way back into second and primed to make a run at Doyle. And just as he did four weeks earlier, Schmidt was able to drive under Doyle to steal the win on the final lap in dramatic fashion again collecting the Christie Door Company Last Lap Pass Bonus of $150 added to the winner's check. Doyle is seeing the 19J in his nightmares as he finished second, Ellithorpe was impressive in third while both Buck Swanson and Hannah Chesmore posted their first top five finishes of the season in fourth and fifth.

The fifteen lap Hobby Stock feature was up next and after leading the opening lap Scott Siems would spin in turn one. He would not have the same storybook ending as Schmidt.

Kaden Reynolds would take the lead from Eric Knutson on the restart and would be in control most of the race. A couple of late cautions would setup restarts and one of the things that I love about the racing at Vinton are the rivalries that have developed and get the fans stirred up, and none seem to be bigger right now than Kaden Reynolds vs. Nathan Ballard. Ballard was right on the bumper of the leader for those last two restarts and when Reynolds pushed a bit entering the turns the place was electric as Ballard was poised to make a move if he was willing to trade some paint. Not on this night though as Reynolds would hang on to take his nineteenth win of the season ahead of Ballard and Knutson. East Moline regular Andrew Burk showed that short fields are not the only reason why he currently ranks third behind Daniel Wauters and Reynolds in the All Iowa Points as he finished fourth just ahead Brett Vanuos.

Dylan Thornton brings the field to green

Rod Clement's spin on lap one would be the only caution in the $1,200-to-win IMCA Modified feature that saw pole-sitter Dylan Thornton lead the way early on. The young driver from California is here in Iowa for the second summer in a row to race often and to learn, and on this night he got a lesson from one of the best as Cayden Carter sized him up while approaching traffic. Riding the bottom for the first ten laps, Carter went up to check out the top as the leaders closed in on the back of the field and when Thornton had to check up for a split second behind a lapper, Carter zipped around him on the outside and was then gone, the first to become a two-time winner of the Urbana Five Memorial in the Modifieds. Ethan Braaksma was able to slip by Thornton late to take the runner-up position, Joel Rust came from the fifth row to finish fourth and Todd Shute finished where he started in fifth. 

Dave Eberle of Freeport, Illinois, came from the back to win his heat race and then won the Legend Car feature from tenth.

Congratulations  and Thank You to all of the volunteers with the Urbana Five who make this event an incredible success each year as well as to promoters Rick and Corey Dripps for making it happen. Race fans, check the Benton County Speedway schedule for 2022 and make sure that this night is marked on your calendar. A big thanks as well to both Ryan Clark and Jerry Vansickel for their promotion of Positively Racing and the Back Stretch. Always remember that we retain Ryan's In Staging blog at there for your reading pleasure! 

I am back to watching the weather this week and hoping for a trip to the Cedar County Fair in Tipton on Wednesday night followed by the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at 34 Raceway on Thursday night. Perhaps I will see you there!