Sports : Urbana 5 Memorial Race held for the 5th year in a Row

Bobbie Cox and Leah Wroten worked to raise $400 in honor of the Urbana 5 for the Iowa Donor Network

The Urbana 5 Memorial Committee sponsored the 5th Annual race on Sunday night at the Benton County Speedway honoring the lives of Nicole Jacobson, Quentin Ary, Triston Randall, Hunter Tuttle and Zoey Tuttle who passed away in a motor vehicle accident on April 9, 2015.

As a result of the accident, the 5 families chose for them to be organ and tissue donors. Because of that, the Iowa Donor Network is also featured in this race.

On behalf of the families and friends of the Urbana 5, Brittany Usher a friend of the Tuttle family, spoke encouraging the fans to sign up to be an organ and tissue donor. She said that to date, Triston has been able to help 102 people through donation. Usher also encouraged the audience to talk with your family about your wishes. She reminded the crowd that by doing this, you can live on through others.

Usher shared a quote, "The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living." She shared a little bit about the memories of the 5 that were lost. The racing community was like family to the 5.

She also shared how Nichole would have been in the stands cheering on the "cute little micro mods" while Triston would have been in the sound chief in the pit choosing the right songs to hype up the drivers and Zoe would have been scraping mud off of the cars or changing a tire by herself. Hunter would have graduated this year and he would have been in the pits drinking Gatorade (then saving the bottles for target practice) and checking body panels to make sure they were straight and Quentin would have also been in the stands cheering.

The race cars as part of tradition take a memory lap around the track. The Urbana 5 Committee chose the following drivers to participate in the lap: Danny Dvorak, Leah Wroten, Shawn Fisher, Curt Hilmer, Brett Vanous, Brandon Tharp and Scott Hogan who were all friends of those that were lost. Some of the family and friends joined the drivers for this lap.

Usher closed with this, " As family and friends of these loved ones, we are left with only memories and pictures of them, but we know they are living through organ and tissue donations."

As a result of the race, the group was able to raise $1,010 for the Iowa Donor Network to continue the work that they do to help others.

Click to find out more about the Iowa Donor Network.