Reuvers wins Behrens memorial race

By Jason D Searcy

August 15, 2015 - Elko, MN

It was a night to celebrate both youth and history at Elko Speedway on Saturday night.

The 22nd Annual Dwain Behrens memorial MN Corn Growers Super Late Model event was raced on Hiway Federal Credit Union "Kids Night" at the races.  

Nine time Elko Speedway champion Donny Reuvers from Dundas (MN) took home the traditional clock trophy going to the winner of this annual event.  "This one means a lot with the history of it, and how much he still means to the sport here, it's awesome," said Reuvers.  Dwain Behrens was an Elko Speedway Champion and eventual Hall of Famer who was killed in a snowmobile accident in 1993.

Here is an audio interview with Reuvers after the races https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/donny-reuvers-slm-winner-at-1

Reuvers started the 40 lap race on the third row but made his way to the top spot by lap 14, he won by .781 seconds over Bryan Syer-Keske and the rest of this impressive looking field of 21 NASCAR All American Series drivers.  It was his second win of the season.  Current Point Leader Jacob Goede started in the 11th position and moved up to 4th by the end of this cautionless race.  Goede still leads in the point standings, he has a 94 point lead over his brother Matt Goede who finished 12th.

Here is a link to a YouTube video of the Reuvers pass for the win.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYy6TEdGMOY

Chris Marek from Lakeville (MN) won his 10th Hiway Federal Credit Union BIG 8 feature event this year at Elko Speedway.  Marek got out front early and never looked back, winning by 1.118 seconds over Jake Ryan and the 15 car field.  Marek now has a 62 point lead in the standings over Ryan Kamish.

Conrad Jorgenson from Lakeville (MN) won the 20 car Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event. Eric Campbell had the early lead until Jorgenson took the top spot with 19 laps to go in the 30 lap cautionless feature.  "The key moment for me was passing Ted Reuvers early," said Jorgenson "then I just had to look at what Dan Plan put on my dash... C.P.R which stands for Calm, Patient and Relax."  The three time Elko Speedway Champion won for the 4th time in 2015.

Point leader Brent Kane started 10th and finished 4th, he now has a slim 12 point lead over Jeremy Wolff in the standings.

The most dramatic race of the night was in the Pepsi Power Stock division, 21 cars raced 20 laps capped off with an exciting finish.  Colin Neisius led the first half of the race until defending Champion Nick Oxborough Challenged for the top spot.  15 year old Grant Brown from Prior Lake (MN) then came up from his 4th row starting position and passed Neisus on the high side for the lead but also opening the door for Oxborough to fight for the win.  Oxborough tried everything possible to muscle his way past Brown, even a last corner jab to the inside, nothing worked.  Brown emerged with a battered car and another trophy for his collection, this was his 5th win of 2015.  Tim Hollen finished 2nd only .366 behind Brown with Ryan Varner third and Oxborough dropping to 4th on the last lap.

In the race for the Championship Grant Brown now has a 17 point lead over Tom Doten who started 12 and finished 8th on Saturday night.

Here is a very interesting audio interview with Brown after the race https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/grant-brown-power-stock-winner

Brady Fox-Rhode from Loretto (MN) won the Great North Legends feature at Elko Speedway.  Fox-Rhode took the lead from 3 time winner Jaycen Brockhouse with just 4 laps to go in the 20 lap race.  He then had to endure a Green-White-Checkerd finish and a broken oil line on the last lap to grab his 4th win of the season.  

"I was hanging-on at the end just hoping the car wouldn't blow up," said Rhode.  Jaycen Brockhouse finished second and made up a lot of points on Derek Lemke who finished 10th in the feature.  Brockhouse is now only 11 points behind Lemke in the race for the Championship.

Here is an audio interview with Brady https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/brady-fox-rhode-wins-at-elko

Alex Vincent from Owatonna (MN) beat out 12 other cars to win his third Hornets feature of 2015, Vincent topped Michael Wachs Jr by 1.140 seconds for the win.  Justin Schelitzche finished third and holds onto the point lead, he now leads Ashley Bell by 19 points in the race for the Championship.

Owin Giles from New Market (MN) won his 5th Bandolero feature of the year, he finished just ahead of Tristan Swanson for the win, he also extended his point lead to 23 points over Luke Allen in the race for the Point Title.

To get complete results go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com/results

Over 700 kids participated in the School Bus rides around the track, a very popular portion of the Kids Night activities, kids also enjoyed the petting zoo and free pony rides.

Up next at Elko Speedway is racing in the NASCAR All American series on Saturday August 22nd, gates open at 5pm with action beginning at 6pm and opening ceremonies at 7pm.  Get more information by following Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube or by calling 952 461-7223.  Elko Speedway is located 20 minutes South of the Twin Cities just off of I-35 and County Road 2.

Here is a photo of the vintage 1993 Chevy Lumina Dwain Behrens race car.