Most popular interviews of 2015

Jason and Dean interviewed drivers and motor sports personalities every week on Speed Talk on 1360 radio a total of 60 different drivers.

These interviews are broadcast live Saturday mornings 10-11am on KRWC 1360am radio and KRWC1360.com but they are also pod-casted on Soundcloud.

Here is the listing of our TOP 10 most downloaded interviews of 2016.

JASON interviews:

1-Matt Allen (Elko Legends driver)
2-Grant Brown (Elko Power stock Champion)
3-Adam Brachle (Youth Impact Racing)
4-Michael Ostdiek (Elko Big 8 and Legends driver)
5-Tom Doten (Elko Power stock driver)
6-Ted Reuvers (Elko Thunder Car driver)
7-Jon Lemke (Elko Big 8 driver)
8-Matt Peterson (World Racing League)
9-Tina Davis (Elko Thunder Car driver)
10-Darrin Giles (Elko Super Late Model driver)

DEAN interviews:
1-Chris Buescher (NASCAR Xfinity Champion)
2-Matt Panure (TUNDRA Announcer)
3-Dan Fredrickson (Oktoberfest winner)
4-Mitchell Hribar (Princeton driver)
5-Amy Ruman (Trans-Am Champion)
6-Lexi Kastner (Princeton driver)
7-Michael Stien (Princeton driver)
8-Ted Hough (Legends driver & road racer)
9-Dillon Machavern (Trans-Am 2 winner)
10-Tim Olson (ARCA Midwest Tour)

Thank you to everyone who listened to the show LIVE on the radio and those of you who listen to our interviews via pod-cast.  Click the links below and check out what you might have missed in 2015.  Be sure and follow us on Soundcloud and you will never miss and interview and if you want to download and save an interview please do so now, we will be erasing many old interviews as we begin the 2016 racing season.

https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360

https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller

When you see our interviews on Social Media please share then and promote racing in MN!

https://twitter.com/elkojason

https://twitter.com/DeanReller

Elko driver sign-up News and Notes

Dec 5, 2015

By Jason D Searcy

The first Elko Driver sign up was held on Saturday at Turtles bar in Shakopee (MN).

The star of the show was clearly #55 Hornet driver Brandon Plekkenpol's one year old daughter (photo above).

The 2016 schedule was released, the season begins a little later than last year.  The season opener begins on Saturday night May 28th as one of the eight Eve of Destruction shows.  Thunderstruck93 will be on September 24th and the season will end on October 1st.

Here is a link to the season schedule http://www.elkospeedway.com/schedule/

The Super Late Models and Big 8 divisions will both have 4 OFF nights during the season, they alternate being OFF during Eve of Destruction events.   Every time the Super Late Models and Big 8 cars race, they will be racing double features, so barring rain-outs they would get 26 races for NASCAR points (NASCAR only counts features).  So, if the car counts are as good as last year, drivers would have an opportunity to race for a National point title.

The points were changed slightly for 2016.... Last year it payed 10 points to win qualifying, down one point per position to 10th getting 1 point.   In 2016 its 15 points to win down to 1 point for 15th in group qualifying.

The Heat race winners still score 21 points, the point structure changes slightly after that, but very similar to last year.

The Feature event winner gets 51 points, then it drops to 48 points for 2nd, then down by two points per position until 10th place, then down by one after that until 18th.  Last year it was 51 for the winner and 49 for second and then down by one point per position.

This puts more importance on doing well in the the Feature events.

For example;  in 2015 10th place earned 41 points.... now in 2016 10th place only earns 32 points.  It also means a driver can make up points faster if the point leader has a bad night.

Here is the line-up and point explanations http://www.elkospeedway.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/2016-Race-Line-Up-Procedures.pdf


Some interesting driver news...

NASCAR Division 4 National Champion and Elko Speedway Power Stock Champion Grant Brown will be travelling with his family to the NASCAR Home Tracks banquet in Charlotte NC next weekend, he said he has thought about his speech but has not practiced yet.

Don't be surprised to see Grant racing against his dad Doug Brown next year in a Big 8 car at Elko Speedway.  He will join other father/son duo's racing each other on the track including Jon and Derek Lemke in the SLM's and Bruce and Matt Allen and Tim and Jaycen Brockhouse in the Legends also look for a father/daughter pairing of Don Whitebear and Tina Davis in the Thundercars in 2016.

Hornets driver Brandon "positivity" Olson plans on continuing racing in the Hornets division in 2016 but also he has made the first payment to purchase the Power Stock driven by Grant Brown last year.  He will be a great addition to the already strong field of Power Stock cars at Elko.

Super Late Model Champion Jacob Goede and his brother Matt will be racing their snowmobiles again this winter, they are looking forward to the Eagle River (WI) event in early January and also the Viking Speedway event in Alexandria (MN) in late January.  http://alexwinterspectacular.com/

It was also really nice to see one of our great sponsors HIWAY Federal Credit Union in attendance, they are very supportive of Elko Speedway and love the loyalty that race fans have to sponsors.

Great North Legends owner Tim Brockhouse, the only driver to win both the Asphalt and Dirt Nationals events for Legends cars, is attempting to race a Midget car at the Chili Bowl... many Elko Speedway drivers and fans have contributed to the effort.  Here is his GoFundMe page, it appears he is very close to making his goal!  https://www.gofundme.com/9jbhsfbg

The next Driver Sign up event will be held at the Endzone bar in Elko on Saturday February 27th 1-3pm.

For more information go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com 

Fredrickson HOT at Oktoberfest

By Jason D Searcy - Speed Talk on 1360

On a sunny and 80 degree day #36 Danny Fredrickson from Lakeville (MN) won his fourth ARCA Midwest tour event at the 46th annual Oktoberfest 200 at La Crosse (WI) Fairgrounds Speedway.

After spinning in qualifying Fredrickson started the 200 lap race 19th on the grid, he worked his way though the field but had to pit during a caution period because of overheating.  Fredrickson cooled his car enough to make a run at the lead, he took the top spot from Ty Majeski after a wild restart with 10 laps remaining. "

"Everybody's car was real hot, its a common problem on these Sunday afternoon races" said Fredrickson.   "I think the fuel was boiling in the carb because it was so hot, Ty's car started missing down the straight away and I shot under him, actually I got a good run off underneath him then my car started missing and then (Jacob) Goede got along side of me, so we came into number one three-wide.  I think the fans liked it, but I'm glad we came out on top on the other end."

"My motor was running really hot" said #91 Majeski.   "I had a bunch of leaves stuck on the grill, I tried to suck-up on the pace truck but it just wasn't enough, the motor vapor locked on me coming down the front stretch and out of turn two so I didn't have any power and they got around me."  Ty Majeski from Seymore (WI) finished third in the race and won his second ARCA Midwest tour Championship.

"It was one heck of a season, we set the record for the most ARCA Midwest tour wins in a season (5) and had a really good back half, we won 4 of the last 5 races and the sixth one come up just a little bit short" said Majeski who will now return to college in UW Madison studying Mechanical Engineering.  His future racing plans are undecided as of now, but he hopes to come back and win Oktoberfest next year, "we are working on a few things, hopefully something good will come through," said Majeski.

#72 Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) had a great run and finished second to Majeski just as he did a few weeks earlier at #Thunderstruck93 at his home track Elko (MN) Speedway where he had 10 wins and a Championship this year.  Minnesota drivers took three of the top 4 spots with Nick Murgic from Rosemount (MN) finishing 4th and Skyler Holzhausen 5th, Tim Sauter 6th, Natalie Decker 7th.

Here is an audio interview with winner Dan Fredrickson
https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller/dan-fredrickson-wins

Here is an audio interview with ARCA Midwest tour Champion Ty Majeski
https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/ty-majeski-midwest-tour-champ

Here is the YouTube Highlight Video of the Oktoberfest 200
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmnbsMd91lk


Here is the YouTube Video of the starting line-up just before green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuFMfjdljZo

NASCAR Star Johnny Sauter accepted the $5000 Ultimate Challenge to start at the back of the 28 car field.  He advanced up to second by lap 58 but faded back and had mechanical problems resulting in a DNF.

#91 Ty Majeski won the BIG 8 Style JMcK overall title, he tied the record for the best score ever with two wins and a second place finsh (4 points).  Cole Anderson from Northfield (MN) scored the other win.  Michael Beamish from Eagan (MN) finished second in the first segment of the race.

Two Elko Speedway drivers finished out the podium with #3 Chris Marek finishing second and #5 Ryan Kamish coming in third.

Many vintage cars raced, Woody Poole was the winner in the finals.

Season Finale at Elko Speedway

October 3, 2015 - Elko, MN

The 50th season of racing ended with a bang at Elko Speedway on Saturday night with a Rock n Roll fireworks show after the final Eve of Destruction event presented by Leo's South.

It was a night where the Hornets, Bandos and Great North Legends divisions get to shine and take center stage.  #13 Tim Brockhouse from Webster (MN) beat out 20 other drivers to win his second feature of the year at Elko Speedway, it is his 137th career win and he had to hold off the Track Champion by .177 seconds to do it.  

#71 Derek Lemke from Shakopee (MN) finished second in the race and that won him his second consecutive Great North Legends title.  Lemke celebrated with his Father Jon with both drivers doing a burnout near the flagstand.

Derek thanked his family, sponsors and crew for the incredible support they have shown him this season.  He had four feature wins and he finished 24 points ahead of 2009 Champion Jaycen Brockhouse for the title, Robby Carter got third in points, Matt Allen fourth and Brady Fox-Rhode had mechanical problems on Championship night causing him to drop to 5th in points even though he had six feature wins.

#36 Alex Vincent from Owatonna (MN) won his 5th Hornets main event of 2015, he won by only .145 seconds and had a great battle with Thunderstruck93 winner Matt Suhl for the top spot.  Vincent had more wins than any other driver in the Hornets division this year.

#14 Justin Schelitzche from Lester Prairie (MN) finished 5th in the feature and he secured his first Hornets Championship at Elko Speedway.  He finished just ahead of his two teammates in the point standings.  Ashley Bell was 53 points behind and Brandon Plekkenpol was 79 points back.  Alex Vincent finished 4th in points and Michael Wachs Jr was fifth.

Here is an audio interview with Justin Schelitzche https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/justin-schlitzche-hornets

Schelitzche said that consistency was the key to his success this year, he had 18 "top 5" finishes in his 19 starts at Elko Speedway.  He also did well in the NASCAR Home tracks standings, he finished 2nd in the Nation in Division 5.  This is the seventh title in less than 5 years for Schelitzche who races at numerous different tracks during the season, but on Saturday nights he and his crew are always at Elko Speedway.  "There are 10+ cars who could win on any given night at Elko Speedway, and that is one of the most fun parts of this class, it is so competitive" said Schelitzche. 

#3 Luke Allen from Chanhassen (MN) won an exciting Bandoleros main event, it was his 7th win of the season, the most of any Bando driver this year at Elko Speedway.  Allen finished just ahead of his rival #6 Owin Giles from New Market who won his first Bando Championship.  Giles finished with 6 wins and 20 points ahead of Allen in the race for the points Title.  These two young men showed great sportsmanship battling each other for race wins and the Championship during the year.  Lennon Watkins ended up third in points, Coy Wulf won a race and finished fourth in points and Tristan Swanson fifth.

Bob Heine won the crowd favorite spectator drags portion of the race program.  The big crowd also liked the burnout contest, vertical mischief and Figure 8 bus races.

Brandon Olson from Minneapolis showed his off his merging and shifting skills by winning the Flag Pole race and Justin Schelitzche was declared the winner during the World Famous Figure 8 trailer race.  A race in which the object is to knock the trailer off your competitors vehicle, debris was scattered all around the 3/8th mile track at Elko Speedway.

Doug Rose in his 12 time National Champion Jet Car named the Green Mamba melted a Jeep as the on-track finale for the 2015 season.

For full results and final point standings go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com/results

Up next is the season ending Championship Banquet on Saturday evening October 17th in Champions Event Center at Elko Speedway, Johnny Holm will entertain after the ceremony.

Elko Speedway wants to say a big THANK YOU to all it's fans, drivers and sponsors for an entertaining and successful 2015 season.  During the off season check www.ElkoSpeedway.com or follow Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for updates.

2015 Speed Talk on 1360 recap

The 2015 Speed Talk on 1360 radio season was a huge success.  We interviewed 60+ different drivers from all forms of racing.

Many drivers from Elko Speedway including: (31)
Jon Lemke, Doug Brown, Ryan Kamish, Brian Adams, Ted Hough, Michael Ostdiek, Eric Campbell, Jake Ryan, Joey Prusak, Matt Allen, Donny Reuvers, Matt Goede, Jacob Goede, Ty Majeski, Nick Murgic, Nick Barstad, Darrin Giles, Brent Kane, Conrad Jorgenson, Dusty Mann, Dan McCarthy, Alex Vincent, Ted Ruevers, Tom Doten, Paul Paine, Nick Oxborough, Derek Lemke, Brady Fox-Rhode, Grant Brown, Ashley Bell, Tina Davis.

Drivers from Princeton Speedway including: (19)
Dan Rick, Larry Zeller, Brandon Allen, Chris Wark, Ryan Bowers, Brooke Tatnal, Jeff Patchen, Alan Bohlman, Mitchell Hribar, Shawn Fletcher, Dannie Burkholder, Shane Sabraski, Lexi Kastner, Clint Hattelstad, Bud Martini, Chase Viebrock, Justin Henderson, Eric Martini, Michael Stien.

Trans Am racers at Brainerd International Raceway:
Tommy Archer
Amy Ruman
Dillon Machavern

Drivers from Iowa Speedway :
Ryan Reed
Chris Buescher
Bobby Santos
Erik Jones

Announcers:
Ron Krog - Viking, KRA, Fergus Falls
Shane Carlson - Princeton
Matt Panure - TUNDRA

Racing Industry Experts:
Tim Olson (Midwest Tour)
Eugene Dick (Former Champion)
Larry McReynolds (NASCAR on FOX)
Matt Peterson  (WRL)
Gary Fieldseth (Demo Derby, Mud Spectacular)
Doug Selle  (Best Buy racing)
Gary Curtis (BIR)

Our weekly guests:

Jordan Bianchi (SB Nation NASCAR)
Dan Plan  (Midwest racing connection)

A big THANK YOU to our SPONSORS, without these businesses, the show would not continue:

Elko Speedway www.elkospeedway.com
Performance driving School at BIR www.BIRPerformance.com
Lou Fegers Racing Equipment www.LouFegersracing.com
Norm's Wayside just East of Buffalo www.NormsWayside.com
Stockholm Karting Center in Cokato www.stockholmkartingcenter.com
Highway 55 Trailer Sales just East of Buffalo www.highway55trailers.com
Radio Active Mobile Electronics Buffalo http://www.radio-activemobile.com/

If you like the show, please support these sponsors!

We also did live shows at the Mud Spectacular at the Wright County Fair and the Gear Head Get Together in Maple Lake!

Most of all to you loyal Motorsports fans in MN, we love you and will plan to be back in April 2016 on KRWC radio and www.KRWC1360.com

Jason Searcy and Ted Hough at KRWC

 Joey Prusak in Studio







Jason and Shane Carlson at Princeton Speedway

 Dean Reller ready to Talk Racing!

For the archives of some of our radio segments and individual interviews click below
https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360
https://soundcloud.com/dean-reller

We will continue to cover motorsports over the winter months, keep checking back to www.SpeedTalkon1360.com

Majeski wins #Thunderstruck93

By Jason D Searcy

September  26, 2015 - Elko, MN

With one of the most improbable moves ever seen at Elko Speedway Ty Majeski from Seymore (WI) passed both Dan Fredrickson and Jacob Goede in the last three laps to win the 7th annual Thunderstruck93 ARCA Midwest tour race presented by NAPA Auto Parts.

Dan Fredrickson won fast time in qualifying with a lap of 13.595 seconds, Fredrickson is a four time winner of this event, and a two time Midwest tour Champion.  Jacob Goede is the 2009 winner of this event and he dominated racing at Elko Speedway this summer, scoring 10 wins in route to his second MN Corn Growers Super Late Model title. 

Front row starters Steve Apel and Matt Goede battled for the top spot early, but then a spin by Paul Paine brought out the caution at lap 20 of this 125 lap race.  Majeski was involved in the accident and put to the back of the 26 car field.  "I dug myself in a hole early, I had some contact with the 27 car (Paine), just one of those racing deals," said Majeski "I tried to methodically make my way up through the field and I tried not to use too much tire, I knew the two guys I had to beat were up front already."

Dan Fredrickson and Jacob Goede were in the familiar position of racing each other for Thunderstruck glory.  In the 2012 race these same two guys battled throughout and then had contact on the last lap with Fredrickson pulling out the victory. 

Fredrickson took the lead from his 10th starting spot just after the restart on lap 20, he and Goede then swapped the top spot numerous times with frequent side by side and close racing for the lead.

The traditional 10 minute break in the race is at lap 93, the number used by Dan Ryan, an Elko Speedway Hall of Fame member who died from A.L.S (Lou Gehrig's disease) in 2009 and who this race is a memorial for.

At the break and with 32 laps to go Dan Fredrickson was the leader with Jacob Goede second, Ty Majeski had made his way back up to fifth on the board.  On the restart Goede shot to the lead and the battle with Fredrickson continued.

Meanwhile Majeski was ready to pounce "When I got into third they were at least a straightaway in front, I didn't know if I would have enough time to get them but they started battling, they got into lapped traffic and I was able to make some ground up and make the move for the win" said Majeski.

Fredrickson and Goede raced so hard for the lead that they both wore out their tires and that opened up the door for Majeski to make one of the most epic runs to the front ever seen at Elko Speedway.  "I saw the top two were sliding each other up in the 3rd and 4th groove and I got underneath Fredrickson and cleared him and then got a good run on Goede, I got to the inside of him, trying to get at least even with him, I used him up a little bit in 3 and 4 and it was enough at the line" said Majeski.

It was the closest finish in Thunderstruck93 history, Majeski beat Jacob Goede by only .054 seconds with Fredrickson a car length behind rounding out the podium trio.

"I've wanted this guitar (trophy) for a while, I almost had it last year and really wanted it this year," said Majeski "I'm really thankful for the Ryan family, its really special to win on this night, it means a lot to me for sure."

Here is a YouTube video of the wild final few laps of #Thunderstruck93 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLCe-bxDGSI

Here is the audio interview with Ty Majeski after the races https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/ty-majeski-wins

Chris Weinkauf had a consistent run finishing 4th with veteran racer Tim Sauter in 5th and Jonathan Eilen finished 6th even though he had a tire slowly going down.

Full results can be found at www.arcamidwesttour.com

Austin Nason from Roscoe (IL) won the 68 lap BIG 8 Late Model series race at Thunderstruck93 he took the lead on lap 26 and held off numerous charges from Elko Speedway Hiway Federal Credit Union 12 time winner and BIG 8 Champion Chris Marek for the win.  Michael Beamish finished third in this impressive 23 car field.

Full results can be found at www.Big8series.com

#99 Brent Kane from Lonsdale (MN) held off a great challenge by Jeremy Wolff to win his fourth Genz-Ryan Thunder Car title at Elko Speedway.

Both drivers won their heat races, Wolff won his heat in spectacular fashion, going three wide in the closing laps not once but twice bringing the large Thuunderstruck93 crowd to its feet.

The two drivers started the feature side by side in the fifth row.  Kane had a 9 point cushion so Wolff had to get to the front and hope that Kane had problems.  Wolff did his part, weaving through traffic and passing cars left and right, but Devin Schmidt from Belle Plane (MN) ran away from the field, took a big lead, and won his second feature of the year by 1.978 seconds.

Wolff finished second and Kane did the smart thing, held his position, finished 6th and won the Championship by 5 points.  Kane was emotional in victory lane thanking his crew, sponsors and all the people who had helped him win 9 races in 2015. 

Eric Campbell finished third, Tina Davis fourth and Dillon Sellner fifth in points.

15 year old Grant Brown from Prior Lake (MN) won his first ever Pepsi Power Stock Championship at Elko Speedway.  Brown finished the feature in second place and won the title by 56 points over Tom Doten with Taylor Goldman third, Brandon Peterson finishing fourth and Paul Hamilton fifth.

The 20 lap and 22 car feature had a wild ending.  Joey Prusak from Hopkins (MN) was declared the winner.  Paul Hamilton led most of the race, he was caught by Brandon Peterson on the last lap and the two had contact through turns 3 and 4.  Hamilton ended up with heavy damage and into the wall and Peterson was disqualified giving Prusak his first ever win at Elko Speedway.

It has been a challenging season for Prusak who has struggled with mechanical problems and bad luck all year long, but his luck changed at the right time.  "I told my dad that I didn't care if I won a race all year long just as long as I win Thunderstruck93!" said Prusak.

It was a big week for #14 Grant Brown who got a phone call from NASCAR telling him he was declared the National Champion in Division 4.  "I didn't know until Friday, during my fourth hour biology I got the call from NASCAR that I had won."  Grant and his crew will be honored by NASCAR as National Champions at the awards banquet in Charlotte (NC) this winter.

Derek Lemke from Shakopee (MN) won his 4th Great North Legends feature of the year, he beat 16 year old Wil McCully by 2.044 seconds at the line, it was a career best finish for McCully.  Shon Jacobsen finished third, Brady Fox-Rhode fourth and Jaycen Brockhouse fifth.

With the win Lemke extended his lead to 25 points over Brockhouse in the race for the Championship.  The Great North Legends will crown their Champion next Saturday night October 3rd at Elko Speedway.

Matt Suhl from Richfield (MN) won his second Hornets feature of 2015.  Suhl started up front and stayed there the entire 15 lap race.  Alex Vincent gave Suhl a good run but Suhl ended up winning by .226 seconds with Craig Allers finishing third and Ashley Bell fourth.

Justin Schelitzche finished the race in 7th but still has a sizeable lead in the race for the Hornets Championship.  Schelitzche leads Ashley Bell by 49 points going into the final night of racing next Saturday October 3rd.

For full results and point standings go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com/results

The #Thunderstruck93 event saw a great turnout for the on-track autograph session, over 100 cars participated before the racing began at 4pm.  Thunderstruck93 is in memory of Elko Speedway Hall of Fame racer Dan Ryan who passed away in 2009, it has raised thousands of dollars to help fight ALS, to donate go to www.araceworthwinning.org

Up next at Elko Speedway is the final race of the 2015 season and Eve of Destruction presented by Leo's South on Saturday October 3rd.  Champions will be crowned in the Hornets, Great North Legends and Bandoleros divisions plus entertainment by the Green Mamba Jet car, Burn out contest, the world famous Figure 8 trailer race and much more.  The evening will conclude with a huge Rock n Roll Fireworks show.  Gates open at 5pm, action begins at 6pm.

Elko Speedway is located 20 minutes South of the Twin Cities just off of I-35 and County Road 2, get more information by calling (952) 461-7223, go to www.elkospeedway.com or follow Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

#Thunderstruck 93 Incredible entry list

By Jason D Searcy

September 23, 2015 - Elko, MN

The seventh annual #Thunderstruck93 presented by NAPA event is bringing out an incredible list of short track racing stars to compete for the coveted guitar trophy in the 125 lap ARCA Midwest Tour race at Elko Speedway (MN) on Saturday September 26th.

Topping the 31 car entry list is Four time winner of this event Danny Fredrickson from Lakeville (MN), he won a track Championship at Elko Speedway in 2003 and has been a Midwest tour Champion twice, in 2008 and 2013.  Fredrickson has more wins than anyone in the history of the Midwest tour (14). 

Keep your eye on two time defending Elko Speedway Champion Jacob Goede from Caver (MN).  He won the inaugural #Thunderstruck93 event in 2009, the same year he was the Midwest tour Rookie of the Year.  This year he dominated the MN Corn Growers Super Late Model racing at Elko Speedway with 10 wins and he set fast time in qualifying every race night the entire year.  Matt Goede also had a great year, finishing second in points behind his brother Jacob, scoring 3 feature wins.

Ty Majeski from Seymore (WI) is one of the most talked about young drivers in the nation.  He is the the defending ARCA Midwest tour Champion and he leads in points again heading into this race, last year he almost won #Thunderstruck93, he finished runner up to Fredrickson by only .326 seconds after a furious battle for the top spot.

Skyler Holzhausen from Bangor (WI) has won at Elko Speedway before, on July 9th 2011 he won a 250 lap Midwest tour race edging Chris Wimmer, he then went on to win the Midwest tour Rookie of the year.  He is currently second in ARCA Midwest tour points.

Andrew Morrissey from Deforest (WI) is entered in this event, he won the Midwest tour Championship in 2011 and he won #Thunderstruck93 in 2013.  He won the Chicagoland Showdown earlier this year.

Three time Slinger (WI) Super Late Model Champion Steve Apel from West Bend (WI) will also be racing at #Thunderstruck93, he is a Kulwicki Driver Development racer and the Red White and Blue series Champion at WIR.  This is his first trip to the Twin Cities to race.

Another hometown hero is former Elko Speedway Thunder Car champion Jonathan Eilen from Hampton (MN) he won the first ever Midwest tour race, it took place at Elko Speedway on April 28th 2007, over 50 cars tried to qualify for the event and Eilen was the unlikely winner.  He has been a regular on the tour ever since, even winning the Championship in 2012.

Nick Murgic from Rosemount (MN) won the biggest race of his career just last month, he took home a $10,000 check by winning the Dixieland 250 at WIR, unfortunately he lost brakes and nearly totaled his car after taking the checkered flag.  The 2008 Midwest tour Rookie of the year now has the car back in shape and looking to contend for the win, he finished third last year.

2013 TUNDRA Super Late Model Champion Nick Panitzke from Sauk Centre (MN) has rebounded from a health scare earlier this year, he scored a feature win at Elko Speedway on May 23rd. 

Natalie Decker from Eagle River (WI) is a member of the NASCAR Dive for Diversity program, she won a track championship in the Limited Late Model division at State Park Speedway in 2013, and she won a TUNDRA Super Late Model race at Golden Sands last year.

#Thunderstruck93 is very pleased to see that a couple veteran super stars are entered in this race including driver Jamie Iverson from Escanaba (MI) he is a many time track champion at Norway (MI) Speedway and has 4 career wins in Midwest tour competition. Also Tim Sauter from Necedah (WI) who is a member of Wisconsin Racing Royalty, he is the brother of Johnny, son of Jim and father to Travis Sauter.  He was the 1999 ASA National Champion and he made over 100 starts in what is now called the NASCAR Xfinity series.

Other drivers who have won at Elko Speedway this year that are entered into this race include:  Billy Mohn from Lakeville (MN), Nick Barstad from Prior Lake (MN) and  Paul Paine from Mound (MN).

A full list of entrys can be found at www.arcamidwesttour.com and you never know what other stars will show up on race day, the weather forcast is perfect!

#Thunderstruck93 will take at Elko Speedway on Saturday September 26th beginning with an on-track driver autograph session at 3pm.  Qualifying and heat races will begin at 4pm.  The ARCA Midwest tour 125 lap finale will take place after a full day of racing including a 68 lap BIG 8 late model feature, also Champions will be crowned in the Genz-Ryan Thunder Car and Pepsi Power Stock divisions, plus racing in the Great North Legends and Hornets as well.  The Pink Flamingo party will take place in Champions event center following the races, no camping is permitted.

#Thunderstruck93 presented by NAPA auto parts is a race day designed to benefit the fight agains A.L.S. better known as Lou Gehrig's disease, it is in memory of long time racer and Elko Speedway Hall of Fame member Dan Ryan who passed away in 2009.  Go to www.araceworthwinning.org

Elko Speedway is located 20 minutes South of the Twin Cities, just off of I-35 and County road 2.  For more information follow Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com or call (952) 461-7223.

Goede repeats as Champion at Elko Speedway

By Jason D Searcy

September 19, 2015 - Elko, MN

Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) capped off an incredible NASCAR Whelen All American season with his 10th feature win and second consecutive Championship in the MN Corn Growers Super Late Models at Elko Speedway.

2003 Champion Danny Fredrickson led most of the 40 lap main event until getting challenged for the top spot by Matt Goede with 15 laps remaining, after hard racing for ten laps Matt Goede finally took the lead from Fredrickson but contact in corner two sent Goede spinning and then both cars exited the track for the pits.  That put 3rd place runner Jacob Goede to the lead and eventually the win by .725 seconds over Billy Mohn.

Here is the link to the YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzcz7UXHP2o

Jacob Goede won his second Elko Speedway point title by 108 points over his brother Matt Goede.  "It's been a great year, an awesome year" said Jacob "it feels as good as last year, actually better, because the first one was like taking a big weight off my shoulders."

Goede said the key to his championship was having a fast car, he was the fastest of the 19 cars in qualifying with a time of 13.751, "what I'm most proud of is that we set fast-time in qualifying every night, all year, I don't think that has ever been done before," said Goede.

Dylan Moore from Northfield was just one lap short of being the 10th different winner in the Hiway Federal Credit Union BIG 8 Division at Elko Speedway.  A last lap incident between Moore and Chris Marek resulted in Moore finishing in the pits and Marek scoring his worst finish of the year in 16th position.

Michael Ostdiek from Lakeville (MN) took advantage of the top two dropping back to score his third win of 2015, he won by .250 seconds over Michael Beamish in the very competitive 18 car field.

Even with the poor finish, Chris Marek won his third consecutive BIG 8 season Championship, he finished 71 points ahead of Ryan Kamish in the final standings and had a very impressive total of 12 feature wins in 2015.  

Conrad Jorgenson from Lakeville (MN) won his sixth Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event this year at Elko Speedway.  Jorgenson started up front and had a huge lead until Adam Wiebusch spun just before the white flag lap, after the restart Jorgenson slipped in some oil on the final corner but held off a hard charging Jeremy Wolff by a mere .027 seconds to score the win.  It was the 107th career win for Conrad Jorgenson.

Brent Kane started the 25 lap race in seventh in the nineteen car field, he moved up to third at the finish, right behind Jeremy Wolff, his closest competitor in the race for the title.  Kane now leads Wolff by only 9 points going into the final points race in the Thunder Car division at #Thunderstruck93 next Saturday night.

Dusty Mann from Farmington (MN) won his third Pepsi Power Stock feature of the year, he led this impressive 22 car field from start to finish.  The twenty lap race went quickly with no cautions to slow the action.  Tom Doten gave it all he had to finish second, he was .285 seconds behind Mann at the finish.

Point leader and six time winner Grant Brown started tenth and could only work his way up to 6th at the finish, just ahead of four time winner Taylor Goldman.  Brown won his heat race earlier in the night though and they helped him to increase his lead to 30 points over Tom Doten in the race for the 2015 Championship.  The final point race for the Power Stocks will be Saturday night during #Thunderstruck93 at Elko Speedway.

Jaycen Brockhouse was cruising to victory with a big lead in the Great North Legends main event until a caution with five laps remaining closed the gap and opened the door for Brady Fox Rhode to sneak past him and claim his 6th win of the season at Elko Speedway, doubling the win total of any of his rivals.

Rhode won by a whisker, only .069 over Brockhouse at the finish line with Derek Lemke following close behind in third.

Lemke now has a 25 point lead over Brockhouse in the race for the Championship, Fox-Rhode is a distant third after missing a race night earlier in the season to attend his grandparents 60th wedding anniversary.  When asked if he regretted missing a race night and his chance for the point title Fox-Rhode said "family is the most important and it was a fun day" but he added that he might be a little bitter at the awards banquet.

Defending Hornets Champion Brian Adams from Shakopee (MN) has had a season full of mechanical failures and bad luck driving three different cars, but that all changed on Saturday night with his first win of the year.  "This was my Championship car from last year," said Adams "I got an offer last week to buy it back, I got it and I couldn't be any happier to have it back." 

Adams was a part of some great three wide action on his way to the front and then he battled with TJ Christensen for the lead at the end. 

Here is the link to the YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP6seHfKCeo

"It's awesome, its been a really tough year, I've struggled all season long, its been an uphill battle and it just feels good to finally redeem myself with a win" said Adams.  Nine different drivers have now gone to victory lane this season in the Hornets division at Elko Speedway.

Here is my audio interview with Brian Adams after the race https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/brian-adams-hornets-winner-at

Justin Schelitzche started 11th and moved up to finish fourth, he now has a 52 point lead over Ashley Bell in the race for the Championship.  

Luke Allen from Chanhassen (MN) won the Bandoleros main event, he and Owin Giles now both have six feature wins on the season.  Giles has a 21 point lead over Allen in the point standings.

For Full Results go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com/results

The Great North Legends, Bandoleros and Hornets will all decide their Champions during Eve of Destruction October 3rd at Elko Speedway.

Up next a Elko Speedway is the 7th annual #Thunderstruck93 event presented by NAPA auto parts on Saturday September 26th, a race in memory of Dan Ryan and to benefit the fight against A.L.S. better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.  Get more information atwww.araceworthwinning.org 

Thunderstruck93 on Saturday September 26th will feature racing in the ARCA Midwest tour Super Late Model series, the BIG 8 series, the Thunder Cars and Power Stocks will both crown their Champions and also racing in the Great North Legends and Hornets divisions.  Gates will open at 3pm with an immediate on-track autograph session, followed by qualifying beginning at 4pm with feature races in all divisions to follow.  The famous Pink Flamingo party will take place immediately following the races in Champions event center.

Elko Speedway is located 20 minutes South of the Twin Cities just off of I-35 and County Road 2 in Elko (MN).  Get more information by following Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube or go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com or phone (952) 461-7223.