What won the race: Riding the low line to perfection and taking advantage of a mid-race bobble by Kent Robinson to assume command on lap 19, second-starting Rodney Melvin of Benton, Ill., marched on to capture Friday's 40-lap Ultimate Heart of America season opener at Bloomington Speedway. The veteran driver registered his first career series triumph and a $5,000 payday.

Quotable: “The car was good. We’ve been kinda testing and we was hoping the track would slick up a little bit,” Melvin said. “It kinda taught us what we needed to know. I don’t know if I really jumped the (opening) start; maybe we did —we had a lot of traction there — but it worked out. About five or six laps in I ran out of tearoffs, so we was wiping as we were going.”

Key notes: The 50-year-old Melvin notched his first $5,000 payday since his June 20, 2012, triumph at Highland (Ill.) Speedway in DIRTcar Summer Nationals competition. ... Melvin, penalized a row after jumping the initial start, led the final 22 laps. ... The fourth-starting Robinson, of Bloomington, Ind., led 14 laps (3, 6-18) before hopping the turn-four cushion and giving way to Melvin. Robinson lost his right-front nosecap in the track's rough cushion and faded to fourth before spinning while battling Chad Stapleton on lap 30; Robinson recovered to finish sixth. ... Stapleton drew the race's seventh and final caution when he slowed from second on the ensuing restart with left-front suspension damage. ... Seventh-starting Jordan Wever trailed Melvin the final nine laps, finishing 1.901 seconds back. ... Jared Bailey made the outside work, gaining seven spots and placing fourth. ... Reigning series champion Dustin Linville rounded out the top five. ... Christian Hanger slowed from third with apparent right-rear suspension failure on the 13th circuit. ... Polestarting Cody Mahoney led four laps (1-2, 4-5) before pulling off on lap seven with brake failure. ... The season opener lasted 27 minutes, with nine drivers running at the finish. ... Devin Gilpin (second broken rocker arm of the season), Trevor Landrum and Jeffrey Shackelford scratched from the main event lineup.

On the move: Cyle Forgy of Lewsiburg, Ky., started 16th and finished seventh.

Winner's sponsors: Melvin’s Longhorn carries sponsorship from Rick’s Towing, ACE Hardware, Thomason Express, M&M Painting & Construction, Midwest Sheet Metal, Penske Racing Shocks and KBC Graphix.

Points chase: After Bloomington: 1. Rodney Melvin (35); 2. Jordan Wever (34); 3. Tyler Collins (33); 4. Jared Bailey (32); 5. Dustin Linville (31).

Current weather: Clear, 73°F

Car count: 22

Fast qualifier: Kent Robinson

Time: 11.953 seconds

Polesitter: Cody Mahoney

Heat race winners: Cody Mahoney, Rodney Melvin, Shelby Miles

Next series race: June 1, Paragon Speedway (Paragon, IN) $7,500