Sports : Goodno Goes From 10th At Benton County

Riley Goodno in victory lane at Benton County Speedway.

By Bill Wright, Speed Sport

Riley Goodno became the fifth different leader late in the going and captured his second career feature win with the Mohrfeld Solar Sprint Invaders Sunday night at the Benton County Speedway.

The action-packed main event not only saw five leaders, but many changes in position in the top five throughout.

It was the Knoxville, Iowa native's first win with the series since a 2022 triumph at Eldon Raceway in Eldon, Iowa, and earned him $2,000 aboard the Goodno Promotions No. 22.

Alex Vande Voort impressed with his first career win in the Agriland FS Dash, and led from the outset in the 25-lap feature ahead of Tasker Phillips, Paul Nienhiser and Cody Wehrle.

Vande Voort's advantage lasted four laps when he got over the top of turn two and brought a caution as he slowed.

Phillips inherited the lead ahead of Nienhiser, Wehlre, Terry McCarl and Jake Blackhurst.

On lap six, McCarl took third from Wehrle and a circuit later, Vande Voort slowed again to bring a second caution and a trip pitside. McCarl briefly moved by Nienhiser for second on the restart, but the defending champion returned the favor on lap nine.

At that point, McCarl took his own trip over the top of turn two and lost several spots.

Up front, Nienhiser was gaining on Phillips, and he took the lead on the high side of turn four on lap 11, in time for a caution brought by a stopped Lance Fassbender on lap 12.

The restart saw Nienhiser ahead of Phillips, Wehrle, and fifth row starters, Zach Daum and Goodno. Daum challenged Wehrle for the third spot with 10 to go.

Up front, disaster struck for Nienhiser, when he lost a wheel and flipped hard in turn four. He was taken in for observation after the crash.

Nathan Murders spun on the next try at a restart. Phillips had inherited the lead, but Wehrle shot by immediately, becoming the fourth different leader of the event. With seven to go, Goodno got around Phillips for the second spot.

With four laps to go, Wehrle got over the turn two cushion, and Goodno was in the right place at the right time, leading the final four circuits and completing his run from tenth. Wehrle held onto second, ahead of Phillips, Daum and McCarl.

"The track was really good," said Goodno. " We just weren't good at the start. We were probably running about tenth or eleventh. We finally got rolling there about two cautions in, and we started rolling the top really well. We got lucky with a couple of cars falling out. With about five to go, the track took rubber and we were just hanging on from there. We've struggled the last couple years, but we've really gotten better with the car this year. I've been driving better too, and the whole system has been better."

"This has been the story of this year," said a disappointed Wehrle. "We've been good everyplace we've been. We've just had some pretty bad luck and I've made a lot of mistakes. This could have been a whole lot worse than it turned out to be. It's just tough to swallow. Hopefully, we can use this and reset for the year."

The finish:

Feature (25 laps): 1. 22, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (10) 2. 40c, Cody Wehrle, Bulringotn, IA (3) 3. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (2) 4. 5D, Zach Daum, Pocahontas, IL (9) 5. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA (6) 6. 28, Luke Verardi, Taylorville, IL (8) 7. 11, Colton Fisher, Mediapolis, IA (12) 8. 16, Dustin Clark, Agency, IA (7) 9. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (11) 10. 88, Riley Scott, Quincy, IL (13) 11. 7F, Lance Fassbender, Beaver Dam, WI (16) 12. 31, McCain Richards, Burlington, IA (14) 13. 71, Nathan Murders, Burlington, IA (15) 14. 99, Jake Blackhurst, Hanna City, IL (5) 15. 50, Paul Nienhiser, Chapin, IL (4) 16. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (1).