Friday, September 23, 2016

Elko Power Stock/Thunder Car Championship

 September 22, 2016 - Elko, MN
 
By Jason D Searcy
The Thunderstruck93 is Saturday September 24th at Elko Speedway.  The Finale of the long day of racing is the 125 Lap ARCA Midwest tour race and the exciting 58 lap Big 8 Late Model series race.
Elko race fans are also eagerly awaiting two other races being held on that same night.  It's Championship night in the Genz-Ryan Thunder Cars and the Pepsi Power Stocks.
The Genz-Ryan Thunder Car title is up between two heated rivals.  Jeremy Wolff #32 from Chaska (MN) and Brent Kane #99 from Lonsdale (MN). 
 


Jeremy Wolff has been racing since 1989, he started out on dirt racing a Hobby Stock at Arlington Raceway (MN) for four years.  Wolff then moved to the asphalt when the Hobby Stock division began at Raceway Park in 1993.  Wolff drove a Late Model for a few years from 1997-2001 and did quite well, winning races and finishing in the TOP 5 in points.  He then moved back into his familiar Hobby Stock class winning the Championship at Raceway Park in 2008.
This is the third year of racing full-time at Elko Speedway, Wolff has been close to a Championship at Elko, he has finished second the previous two years.  He has had an incredible season, winning five features and leading by 31 points coming into Championship night during Thunderstruck93.
 

The main contender for Wolff is Brent Kane, he is known as the "King of the Thunder Cars" winning Championships at Elko Speedway in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015.  They have similar stories, Kane also raced Late Models for a short time and then moved back to the Hobby Stock/Thunder Car division.  Kane started racing full time in 1999 and won the Hobby Stock Championship at Raceway Park 3 times.  He has an amazing total of 95 career feature wins.
The Thunder Cars are scheduled to race both a heat and a feature event during Thunderstruck93.  So the heat race is very important for points, a driver can earn 21pts for a heat race win, 18 for second, 16 for third, 14 for fourth, 12 for fifth, 10 for sixth, 8 for seventh, 7pts for eighth, 6pts for 9th, 5pts for tenth and 4pts for eleventh and 3pts for all other drivers.
So, with a 31 point lead, Jeremy Wolff can wrap up the point title if he can stay within 4 points of Kane during the heat races.  The last place finisher in the feature earns 24pts and the winner earns 51pts so as long as Wolff can stay 27 points ahead of Kane coming into the feature event he should win the Championship.  Wolff currently has the tie-breaker which is number of wins (5 to 1).
If he were to win, it would be the first career Championship for Jeremy Wolff at Elko Speedway.  Both of these drivers have and large and vocal fan base and they are sure to be loud on Saturday night no matter who comes out on top.

The Pepsi Power Stock Championship is sure to come down to the final race.  The point leader is #62 Tom Doten a veteran driver from St Paul (MN) and second place is a rookie from Lakeville (MN) #37 Bryce Blohm.  They are separated by only 6 points coming into their Championship night at Thunderstruck93.
The Power Stock division has had 11 different winners this year and Bryce Blohm has garnered the most wins at 5.  Tom Doten only has 1 win but has scored the most TOP 5 finishes in the division.
Bryce Blohm is a rookie but he has watched his father score two Thunder Car titles at Elko Speedway (2000, 2009) and he has spent years planning for a night such as this to claim a title of his own.


 
Tom Doten is on the other end of the spectrum, he has raced since about 1990 and off and on at Elko Speedway since 1995.  He was very close to winning the Power Stock Championship in 2013, Jon Lebens was ahead by 2 points coming into the final night of racing and then the season ended with a rain-out.
Thunderstruck93 is sure to be an eventful night of racing.  It all begins at 3pm with a unique on-track autograph session where you can walk the track, talk to the drivers, get autographs and photos before the action begins at 4pm.  The Hornets and Great North Legends will also be racing during Thunderstruck93 and event in honor of Dan Ryan and to support families who are fighting A.L.S.
Get full details by going to ElkoSpeedway.com follow Elko Speedway on Social media or by downloading the free ELKO Racing app.
Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile progressive banked asphlat oval racetrack in Elko (MN) located 30 minutes South of Downtown Minneapolis just off of I-35 and County road 2.

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