VINTON, Iowa (July 10) – Dylan VanWyk won the battle in lapped traffic and then survived a late restart to top the Urbana 5 Memorial Sunday night at Benton County Speedway.
The eighth annual event, held to honor the memory of five area youth who lost their lives in a traffic accident in 2015, boasted increased prize money in all divisions and was headlined by the $2,300-to-win Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMods presented by Christie Door Company.
Braden Richards held the early lead in the SportMod 20-lapper while Logan Anderson gave chase on the top side of the fast quarter-mile. From his third row start, Anderson pressured the race leader and assumed command prior to the midway point.
As Anderson built a one second advantage, VanWyk was racing the low side from the sixth row. He worked his way into second just past midway, then started reeling in Anderson.
Lapped traffic assisted VanWyk as he closed in on Anderson. He reeled in the leader as they battled side-by-side behind lapped traffic that ran three-wide in front of them.
VanWyk swept past the low side of the slower traffic, leaving Anderson to negotiate traffic on the high side of the speedway while Cam Reimers challenged for second.
A late caution reset the field, however VanWyk was too strong on the green, white, checkered finish to race to victory. Reimers ran second ahead of Anderson and Tony Olson.
VanWyk, who advanced nine positions, earned an additional $150 as the event’s hard charger.
Jeff Aikey earned top honors in the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds presented by KISS Country 96.5. Aikey assumed command at the drop of the green, then withstood persistent pressure from Cody Laney to earn the win. Laney ran second ahead of Grey Ferrando and Joel Rust.
The $1,400 payday earned Aikey qualifying eligibility for the Fast Shafts All-Star Invitational.
Kaden Reynolds scored the win in a hard-fought 18-lapper for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars presented by Vermedahl Logistics. From a row two start, Reynolds snared the lead from Jay Schmidt to drive to victory ahead of Dylan Thornton, Dustin Vis and Damon Murty.
Reynolds, who took home $1,750 for his efforts, previously earned qualifying eligibility for the B&B Racing Chassis All-Star Invitational by virtue of his King of the Katwalks win at Boone Speedway last month.
Joren Fisher earned his career first win in the IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stock 15-lapper. Fisher secured the lead at the drop of the green and then denied pressure from Matt Brown to score the milestone win. Brett Vanous and Bradly Graham completed the top four.
Eric Blumer raced the low side to victory in a thriller for the INEX Legends presented by Legends.Direct. Blumer topped a race-long battle with Parker Jones to secure the win. Drew Papke and Jordan Miklas rounded out the top four.
Corey Crispin earned his career first win in the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact 12-lapper. Crispin held off a late charge from Kolby Sabin to take the checkers by a narrow margin. Korey Lana and Steven Schmitz followed at the line.