Olson tops Dvorak in Urbana 5 Memorial at Benton County Speedway

VINTON — Memorial races are almost always a little bittersweet.

There's absolutely an overwhelming feeling of gratefulness and appreciation from the family and friends of those being honored, but there's also a void that won't ever be filled again.

That was the sentiment again this year at the second annual Urbana 5 Memorial/Iowa Donor Network Night at Benton County Speedway in Vinton. The night honored the five youths killed in a car accident in April 2015, as well as organ donors from all over. Just like last year, it added a lot for drivers — especially those connected to Quentin Ary, Nikki Jacobson, Triston Randall and Hunter and Zoey Tuttle.

'Tonight means a lot because the kids grew up around me and they feel like a big part of me — they're like family. This is a big, big deal,' IMCA Sport Mod racer Danny Dvorak said at the start of the night. 'It's sad they're gone, but they'll always be remembered. Tonight's a hard night because you're thinking more of it. You've always got those memories.'

Dvorak was one among many who felt that way Sunday night.

Every class ran for extra payout, with IMCA Sport Mod topping out at $1,400 to win, with Modifieds racing for $1,000, Stock Cars for $500 and Hobby Stock for $400. The INEX Legends cars were also added to the bill, racing for $300 to win and fittingly supplementing the memorial night by honoring Joan Feller — the racer killed last August at Hawkeye Downs Speedway — in their main event on what would have been her birthday.

It was the Sport Mod race that ended up being most appropriate for the night, with Dvorak and Tony Olson racing for the win. The pair have raced each other for wins at BCS for years, and both acknowledged after the race it seemed fitting they would be the ones to decide it.

Ultimately it was Olson to took the lead on a restart at halfway and pulled away for the win — making it $3,400 for him in winner's checks this weekend.

'I think it's appropriate we raced for this win,' Olson said. '(Dvorak) is one of my favorite people to race with. We race a couple laps side by side, maybe a foot apart and never touched. I think it's appropriate with everything going on tonight.

'There's so much behind the scenes. All the work Iowa Donor Network does and the effort they put into tonight is incredible. They work on it all year. Winning this thing is insane. It just means so much.'

Dvorak led the first half of the race, and said under caution midway through the race, he let himself think about what it would mean to get a win to honor the kids — who helped out when they could on Dvorak's racecar.

While he was disappointed he couldn't get that part done, he was happy he had a shot at doing so.

'I tried my hardest. I wish I didn't have that last yellow, but that's the way it works,' Dvorak said. 'About halfway through, it went through my head, winning this for the kids. It didn't work out that way, and I guess you shouldn't think about something until it happens. I wish I would've won this for the kids. It would've meant a lot to me.'

Dvorak was one among a group of drivers that included Dakoda Sellers, Curtis Roster, Justin Stander, Mike Mitchell and Chris Luloff who took five pace laps to honor the kids before the races were done.

Stander was another who raced up front in his main event – IMCA Stock Car, finishing fourth behind winner Damon Murty – and said he felt a happy note on the night's events, thinking the kids would've loved to have been there to see it all.

'Tonight means a lot to us. Zoey and Hunter helped out on my car a lot,' Stander said. 'I was hoping to pull off a win, but fourth is good enough for tonight. I think it's more happy than sad tonight, because I know the kids would want the races to go on. That's what they were all about was the races. It's happy memories and brings everybody together.'

Memorial races bring out plenty of emotion, and Sunday was no different.

But even among the bittersweet feelings, the families and friends of the Urbana 5 were moved once again by how the racing community came together for the event. A family friend of the Tuttles, Brittany Usher, gave a speech before the night's events, giving the capacity crowd background on the kids.

Iowa Donor Network is part of the memorial night in part because the Urbana 5 were all organ and tissue donors. It added one more layer to an emotion-packed night.

'Their families didn't hesitate in making the decision to allow them to be donors and it has been therapeutic to their families knowing they are still able to help others,' Usher said in her speech. 'The accident left us with a big void in our lives, which may never be filled. Not only did it affect the Vinton, Center Point and Urbana communities, but also the racing community. It's so humbling to see all the love, support and comfort our communities have given the families of the Urbana 5.'

In the other main events, Tony Snyder took the $1,000 for winning IMCA Modifieds. August Bach won IMCA Hobby Stock, Don Erger won BCS MicroMods and Mike Mueller won INEX Legends.

URBANA 5 MEMORIAL/IOWA DONOR NETWORK NIGHT

BENTON COUNTY SPEEDWAY TOP 5 FINISHERS

IMCA Modified

1. 8 Tony Snyder; 2. 505 Racer Hulin; 3. 21k Kyle Brown; 4. 33d Scott Hogan; 5. 20L Zach Less

IMCA Stock Car

1. 99d Damon Murty 2. 19j Jay Schmidt; 3. 6x Bob Ahrendsen; 4. 67 Justin Stander; 5. 15 Norman Chesmore

IMCA Sport Mod

1. T23 Tony Olson; 2. 3r Danny Dvorak; 3. 1jr Ben Chapman; 4. 3t Tyler Soppe; 5. 2xx Troy Hovey

INEX Legends

1. 95 Mike Mueller; 2. 77 Warren Ropp; 3. 80 Craig Peekenschneider; 4. 77s Dave McCalla; 5. 74 Brock Haines

IMCA Hobby Stock

1. 19x August Bach; 2. 79 Benji Irvine; 3. 45 Justin Wacha; 4. 29 Nathan Ballard; 5. 96 Jamie Songer

BCS MicroMod

1. 6 Don Erger; 2. 51 Cole McNeal; 3. 419 Josh Havlik; 4. 64 Matt Post; 5. 13 Scott Beatty

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