VINTON, Iowa (July 9, 2023) – It took Lukas Rick a little longer than normal to get there, but by night’s end he again stood victorious in victory lane at Benton County Speedway.
With Sunday’s win, the Mach-1 IMCA Sport Compact driver accomplished something that had only been done once 44 years ago at The Bullring.
Colton Stewart was the early leader in the iHeart Radio 12-lapper. Stewart quickly pulled away from the 18-car field, leaving the rest of the pack to battle two and three-wide behind him.
A pair of stoppages kept the field tightly bunched, allowing Rick and Devin Jones to work through traffic from mid-pack starts. The pair of pursuers kept pace with Stewart until Rick was able to make the pass for the lead with only a couple laps to go. He held off pressure from Stewart late to score his fifth straight win in weekly racing to open the season.
The only other time a driver won the first five points races of a season at the speedway was Dave Venenga in the Sportsman division in 1979.
Stewart, Jones and Matt Miller chased Rick across the checkers.
Three other drivers earned their second straight wins in weekly racing Sunday night.
Joren Fisher chased Cory Vanderwilt throughout much of the 15-lapper for IMCA Sunoco Hobby Stocks presented by Vermedahl Trucking. Fisher swept around the outside of Vanderwilt following a late restart to earn his second straight win. Justin Wacha, Vanderwilt and Jacob Floyd completed the top four.
Joel Rust dominated the Friesen Performance IMCA Modifieds presented by Beaty Excavating. After a couple cautions slowed action early, Rust powered ahead of the field and ran away to the impressive win by 8.25 seconds ahead of Jacob Snyder. Patrick Flannagan and Luke Bird rounded out the top four.
In the INEX Legends presented by Legends.Direct, Jordan Miklas stole the top spot from Robby Morrison midway through that 20-lapper and then held off pressure from Michael Weber to earn his second straight win. Kacey Korsmo and Morrison ran third and fourth, respectively.
Kaden Reynolds raced the high side around Jeff Wollam midway through the feature for IMCA Sunoco Stock Cars presented by Christie Door Company, and then held off Nathan Ballard to score his first win of the season at The Bullring. Ballard, Wollam and Braxton Franks rounded out the top four.
Seventh-starting Sam Wieben won an entertaining Friesen Performance IMCA Northern SportMod feature. After the lead pack went nearly five-wide in a battle for the lead, Wieben came out at the front of the field in the Houdek Auto Center 15-lapper. He raced to victory ahead of Brady Hilmer, Kyle Olson and Robert Patava.
Next Sunday, July 16, is the annual Urbana 5 Memorial race, with increased prize money up-for-grabs in all six divisions, along with numerous prize giveaways. Details of that event will be released later this week.