500th Post

We just completed our 500th post here on Speed Talk on 1360. Jason and Dean are very appreciative of the Motorsports fans who have helped keep this website viable. We have had over 318,000 original views since we started this back in 2009. Here is a listing of some of our most interesting or most viewed posts over the years: 

The Final race at Raceway Park  Click Here

Driver Interviews from Raceway Park 2012 Click Here

Raceway Park final race audio recap Click Here

History of I-94 Raceway Podcast Click Here

I-94 Raceway Obit Click Here

I-94 Raceway history web site Click Here

Local drivers Steal the Show at Monster Jam 2018 Click Here

Camden Murphy dominates Monster Jam 2019 Click Here

Ryan Anderson ushers in new era of Monster Jam Click Here

BIR

New Trans Am era ends Click Here

2017 TA Click Here

2017 TA2 Click Here

2016 TA Click Here

2016 TA2 Click Here

2015  Click Here

2014 Click Here

Shane Stewart wins World of Outlaws STC 2016 Click Here

Tim Kaeding wins WoO at ELKO 2013 Click Here

How fast is an WoO car versus an ARCA car at ELKO Click here

Schatz wins at Granite City 2017 Click Here

How Elko Speedway changes from Asphalt to Dirt Click Here

Dylan Moore wins title in Dramatic fashion at ELKO 2016 Click Here

2006 Labor Day 200 at Elko Speedway Click Here

50th Anniversary night at Elko Speedway Click Here

ARCA at ELKO

2017 race Click Here

2018 race Click Here

Willie Mullins ARCA story Click Here

2014 race Click Here

Iowa Speedway

Buescher wins Xfinity 2015 click here

Oktoberfest 

2010

2011

2013

2015

Thunderstruck93

2016

2015 Final

2015

2014

2013

2012

2010

Indy Car at Iowa Speedway

2018

2017

2016

2014

ARCA at Iowa Speedway 

2018

2016

Xfinity at Iowa Speedway

2018

2017

2016

Spring 2016

2015

2014

2014 Spring

Trucks at Iowa Speedway

2017

Minnesota Asphalt Driver of the Year

2017 Conrad Jorgenson

2015 Jacob Goede

2014 Jacob Goede

2013 Ricky Martin

A Night at Princeton Speedway

Click Here

Scott Speed edges Travis Pastrana at ERX

By Jason D Searcy

A huge crowd of Minnesota Motorsports fans watched racing legend Scott Speed edge iconic action athlete Travis Pastrana in the Supercar Final of the Nitro Rallycross at ERX motor park in Elk River (MN). Teammates Speed and Pastrana were celebrating together in a large group of fans after the race, the joy and excitement was obvious on their smiling faces.

"I don't do it for the trophy, it's a challenge for me, for personal growth and to work for such an amazing team, that's what I do it for" said Speed. "This place is mind blowing, the Carlsons work so hard, I'm so glad the racing was so amazing because of all the effort they put into it."

Travis Pastrana and Scott Speed both won their heat races and started in the front row for the main event, Timmy Hansen and local MN dirt track star Steve Arpin won the semi-final races, Steve Arpin is from Fort Frances Ontario Canada, just across the border of Minnesota. The drivers had nothing but good things to say about the ERX facility, the weather was a perfect 75 degrees,the pits were accessible for fans and numerous food trucks were available providing food and drink. Here are the Final results: 1- Scott Speed 2- Travis Pastrana 0.367 3- Kevin Hansen 4- Timmy Hansen 5- Fraser McConnell 6- Robin Larsson 7- Andreas Bakkerud 8- Tanner Foust 9- Steve Arpin 10-Oliver Eriksson Here is my full interview with Scott Speed  Click Here

https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/scott-speed-erx-winner

Sage Karam won the NRX Next Final, Karam had a problem on the first lap and dropped back to 7th position, Karam then put down some incredible lap times and raced his way through the field, eventully passing the leader and winning by an incredible 9 seconds over George Megennis Here is the full interview with Jason Searcy from Speed Talk on 1360 and Sage Karam  Click Here https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/sage-karam-erx-winner-2021

Karam said his team has been snake bit to start the season with lots of bad luck, it looked like that bad luck would continue when he was stuck in a three-wide situation and spun on the first lap, after the incident Karam started laying down some incredible fast laps "I saw the leaders getting bigger and bigger because they were getting closer to me and I kept pushing," said Karam "I saw a couple of them have some issues and I was praying that they would keep running into each other, it's Rally racing and anything could happen and we didn't quit, that's the big thing never give up and don't quit." Karam was so focused on laptime that he didn't even know that he was the winner "I came across the finish line, got the checkers and I asked my spotter where we finished and he said You Just Won and I was like No Way, I had no idea" said an ecstatic Karam post-race. Karam was a big fan of the ERX Motor Park race facility, "this is an amazing place," said Karam "one of the most rad tracks I've ever driven in a Rally Car, it's definitely designed for cars like this, I LOVE this track, as of today this is the favorite track I've ever gone to."

Tanner Faust won the side by side main event Get more information at NitroRallycross.com Get more information at ERXMotorpark.com *Photos courtesy of Dean Reller and Jason Searcy

Reports are that NASCAR driver Kyle Busch will join Nitro Rallycross at the next event in Mid November.
 

Jeremy Johnson memorial award

The Jeremy Johnson Memorial Sportsmanship award is given annually at Elko Speedway. Jeremy was a crew member at I-94 Raceway in Sauk Centre MN, he was known as "The Tire Guy" he helped numerous drivers in the pits not just one crew, he was known for his good attitude. He was killed by a drunk driver in 2003, a memorial race was held at I-94 Raceway for many years and later a Sportsmanship award was put together in his name. The inagural winner of this award in 2011 was Mark Bronstad a figure 8 driver at Raceway Park (MN).

Mark is pictured here with the parents of Jeremy Johnson. Other winners of this award are: Molly Rhoads, Richard Timm, Adam Brachle, Joe Valento, Faith Olson, Natalie Swedin-Bartyzal, Taylor Goldman, Ellen Wolff. We all miss Jeremy and it is a reminder that driving drunk could have long lasting consenquences

Heim wins ARCA at Elko Speedway

July 10, 2021- Elko, MN

By Jason D Searcy

*Corey Heim and Charles Krall

Excitement has never been lacking at Elko (MN) Speedway, the smallest racetrack on the ARCA Menards series always seems to pack the biggest punch when it comes to exciting finishes and 2021 was no exception.

*Ty Gibbs

NASCAR owner Joe Gibbs was in attendance to watch his grandson #18 Ty Gibbs from Huntersville (NC) dominate a majority of the Menards 250, Ty Gibbs won the General Tire Pole award and he led 236 of the 250 laps.  Corey Heim #20 from Marietta (GA) snuck past Gibbs for a few laps after an early restart on lap 53 but then the two cars had a little contact on lap 62 and Gibbs took back the lead on lap 65.  Heim was not happy with the contact and he had the opportunity for payback late in the race.  

It looked like Gibbs was going to win the Menards 250 by a sizeable margain until #66 Ron Vandermeir Jr spun on lap 243, setting up a restart with just a handful of laps remaining.  Corey Heim lined in the second row directly behind Gibbs and when the green flag was displayed Heim bumped Gibbs and sent him up the track and leaving the door open for Heim to take the lead and then hold back both the #17 of Taylor Gray and #15 of Jesse Love as the cars went three-wide coming out of turn number two.  Heim then shot to the front and ended up winning by 0.593 seconds a couple laps later.  Jesse Love from Redwood City (GA) finished second, crowd favorite #25 Gracie Trotter from Denver (NC) was third and Ty Gibbs finished a disappointing fourth, Taylor Gray from Denver (NC) rounded out the top five finishers.

Here is the Race Call of that exciting finish ARCA 2021 ELKO finish

*Top Jesse Love Bottom Gracie Trotter

Nick Sanchez #2 from Miami (FL) was sixth, Daniel Dye #21 from Deland (FL) seventh, #10 Willie Mullins from Fredricksburg (VA) finished last car on the lead lap in 8th pleasing his many Minnesota relatives that were in attendance.  Richard Petty's grandson #46 Thad Moffitt from Trinity (NC) spun early in the race but raced hard to finish 9th and #30 Adam Lemke from Holister (CA) was 10th of the 17 cars in attendance.  The race had 7 caution periods and took 1 hour and 20 minutes.

*Willie Mullins at driver autograph session 

The Local NASCAR divisions at Elko Speedway also raced one feature event each for the ARCA crowd in attendance.  The Late Models sponsored by The Car Lot in New Prague had an impressive field of 26 cars start the 40 lap feature event.  

Chris Marek #3 and Andrew Schultz #29 went side by side to start the race, Marek finally established himself as the leader on lap three.  Four-time Elko Speedway Champion Marek was then challenged by another veteran driver #52 Chad Walen who worked his way up from the sixth starting position to get alongside Marek on lap 10 and then passed him two laps later.  Chad Walen from Prior lake (MN) weaved through lapped traffic and held on to win by 1.565 seconds during this cautionless race and win for the first time this season at ELKO.  Andrew Schultz finished second, #13 Bryan Wrolstad third, Chris Marek was fourth and #21 Adam Bendzick was fifth.  Owin Giles #6 was 6th, 7-time Champion #72 Jacob Goede started 14th and finished 7th, #8 Billy Mohn 8th, #11 Buddy Kofoid the USAC National Midgets current point leader from Penn Grove (CA) started 23rd and finished 9th and #40 Michael Beamish was 10th.  Fast-qualifier #54 Dylan Moore had mechanical problems and did not finish.  Chad Walen no leads Jacob Goede by 1 point in the Late Model division point standings.

The Genz-Ryan Thunder Car 30 lap feature at ELKO had #75 Keith Paulsrud take the early lead until a caution happened on lap 9 for #25 Eric Campbell who tagged the wall.  After the restart #8 Taylor Goldman fought hard with Paulsrud and took the lead on lap 12, another caution happened on lap 20 when six-time ELKO Champ #3 Conrad Jorgenson had mechanical problems and dropped out.  Dillon Sellner #07 of Randolf (MN) who finished second in qualifying to Jorgenson by 0.001 seconds moved his way up the field from his 10th starting position and challenged Goldman side by side for a few laps and then took the lead just before the white flag flew.  Sellner ended up winning by 0.369 seconds, it was his first win of the season at ELKO.  Taylor Goldman was second, #92 Norm Grabinger finished third, #9 Adam Wiebusch fourth and #14 Tony Holm fifth of the 11 cars competing.  Dillon Sellner is now tied with Conrad Jorgenson for the lead in the season point standings at Elko Speedway.  

The Pepsi Powerstock 30 lap feature event had #19 James Tich take the early lead until #25 Jason Michaud grabbed the top spot with an outside pass coming to lap 2 of 30.  A yellow flag flew slowing the field on lap seven, after the restart on lap 9 #83 Julie Jorgenson (photo above) from Lakeville (MN) drove up from her 6th starting position and took over the lead with an outside pass, Jorgenson then extended her advantage to a full straight away lead.  Fast-qualifier #88 Nick Oxborough, who started 9th, finally made his way up to the front and was close enough to give Jorgenson a couple bumps in the closing laps.  Jorgenson held strong and won by 0.211 seconds at the finish line, it was her first win of the season, Oxborough was second, #62 Tom Doten finished third, #08 Mike Stoer was fourth and #13 Matt Frye fifth of the 13 cars entered.   Oxborough now leads Matt Frye by 29 points in the season point standings at Elko Speedway.

All results and points are unofficial at this time.

Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile asphalt oval race track with

stadium seating located 30 minutes South of the Twin Cities in Elko-New Market

MN.  Get More information at ElkoSpeedway.com

 

Mike Morgan wins Bandit series race at ELKO

June 5, 2021 - Elko, MN

By Jason D Searcy

The Bandit Big Rig series arrived in town just in time for a heatwave as a new Minnesota state record high temperature of 99 degrees was set on Saturday June 5th, not ideal race conditions at Elko (MN) Speedway a 3/8th mile banked asphalt oval, the smallest track on the circuit.  The conditions were so hot in fact, that the track maintenance crew sprayed water in the corners to keep them cool three different times during the race night for fear that the 12,000 lb Iron Giants would damage the asphalt surface of the track.   Truck drivers as a whole are known for their toughness and willingness to get things done no matter the obstacles.  The same can be said for Bandit Big Rig series drivers and their fans who carried on as per normal with no changes to their regular race day schedule including a 90 minute on-track meet and greet where fans took sweat filled selfies with their favorite driver.  Fans in the crowd were also soaked by water cannons during breaks in the racing action.

When the main event 30 lap feature began #88 Mike Morgan from Wartrace (TN) was coming off a thrilling victory in the Bandit Shootout one-on-one grudge match competition where he outgunned Salem Speedway winner #99 Brian Bayer, that win gave Morgan the opportunity to start the race outside of row number two.  Video of Bandit Shootout final

As it turned out, that was the perfect location to witness some three wide craziness on the 3/8th mile oval at Elko Speedway.  At the green flag #9 Jordan Cantrell took the lead after running #51 Luke Whitmire up the track on the first lap, then #66 Austin Hoppe dove down low to challenge for the top spot on lap two but on lap three Whitmire gathered up some momentum and passed both Hoppe and Cantrell making it three wide just inches apart coming out of turn two, not easy to do when each of these trucks are 8 1/2 foot wide so that is over 25 foot of wingspan squeezing out of the corner on the narrowest track on the circuit.  After the pass Whitmire had the lead, but something was about to go wrong.  

Whitmire qualified mid-pack and did not finish in the top 2 in his heat race, so he had to win the Bandit Challenge Race to earn his great starting position, with all those extra laps and the extra hot weather conditions his truck was starting to overheat and spewing water out the overflow, this was not unexpected, the same thing happened earlier in the night, his crew just barely had enough time to cool down his rig before the main event.

Meanwhile #88 Mike Morgan watched the three-wide chaos through his front windshield, let it all sort out and then he set his sites on the leader, Whitmire had trouble navigating some lapped traffic near the halfway mark of the race and Morgan got aggressive and seized the opportunity, the #88 truck driven by Morgan jumped up to the high side, used the slower trucks as a blocker and rocketed to the lead on lap 17 of 30.  Morgan never looked back and took the checkers for his first win of the year in the Bandit series.  "We got out there in front and kept pushing this thing as hard as I could go, I let this dog eat as much fuel as it wanted to eat!" said an enthusiastic Morgan after the race.

The race was cautionless, it went green the entire 30 laps, Whitmire held on for second place with his truck overheating, he just edged the 2021 winner from Five Flags Speedway #4 Scott Treadway who has now finished on the podium at all three races held this year. 

Here is my victory lane interview with 88 Mike Morgan driving the truck they call MACK Vader 

MIKE MORGAN INTERVIEW

Unofficial Results

1- 88 Mike Morgan Wartrance TN

2- 51 Luke Whitmire  Arden NC

3-  4 Scott Treadway  Marshal NC

4-  3 Alan Boles  Weaverville NC

5- 66 Austin Hoppe   Fond du Lac WI

6- 99 Brian Bayer  Birdseye IN

7- 16 Randy Briggs  Kansas City KS

8- 63 Trevor Kruckeberg  Blooming Prairie MN

9- 41 Marshal Davis  Mars Hill NC

10-13 Bob Mitchell  Waupun WI

This was the fourth time Elko Speedway has hosted the Bandit Big Rig series, the previous winners were: Ricky Rude Proffitt 8/25/2018, Mark Noble 10/13/2018, Darren Proffitt 7/27/2019 and now Mike Morgan on 5/6/2021.

It was a pleasure to work my first ever Bandit Big Rig series race as the PA Announcer, PT, Diesel and Little D were fun to work with and props to all the die-hard fans who suffered through a scorcher of a day with not a negative word to be heard.

For more information on the Bandit Big Rig series follow them on Facebook or YouTube.

For more information on Elko Speedway, go to ElkoSpeedway.com or follow them on social media. 

2020 MN Asphalt Driver of the year

Tim Brockhouse of Shakopee (MN) has been named the MN Asphalt driver of the year from Speed Talk on 1360 Radio.

Brockhouse has been racing the motorcycle engine powered Legends cars since 2002 and has accumulated an impressive 213 wins in his career, 14 of those wins occurred in 2020 even though numerous events were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Brockhouse won races at Hawkeye downs (IA), Dells Raceway Park (WI), Jefferson Speedway (WI), Citrus County Speedway (FL), and his hometown track Elko Speedway (MN).

2020 was a big year for Brockhouse because he had 8 wins and won his first track Championship at Elko Speedway just edging his veteran rivals Baiden Heskett and Jon Lemke.  Brockhouse has usually not raced full-time at any one track, his only previous track Championships were both in 2004 at the I-94 Raceway sister tracks in Sauk Centre and Fergus Falls (MN), shortly thereafter he began operating the Great North Legends dealership which took him to a variety of tracks in the North.

Brockhouse also excelled in the INEX Legends National standings as he and Scotty Scott from Colorado both scored the maximum points possible and shared the National points Championship in the Masters (40+) Asphalt division.  Austin Jahr, another MN driver, was the top point scorer in the Nation in the Asphalt Semi-pro division.

The Brockhouse family had a great season all around, Tim's wife Amanda Brockhouse won the Great North Legends Elko Speedway rookie of the year title in 2020 and their 10 year old son Ayrton Brockhouse won seven races on the way to his first Championship in the Bandolero division at Elko Speedway.  This is the first time in the 55 year history of Elko Speedway that a father and son have both won a Championship in the same year.  Tim's son Jaycen Brockhouse also has the family racing talent, he won the Legends title at Elko Speedway in 2009.

When asked about the most memorable moment of the year Brockhouse said when he, his sons Ayden and Ayrton and his wife Amanda drove their cars around the track at Elko Speedway during opening ceremonies displaying the American flag,"it brought tears to my eyes and was a huge honor," said Brockhouse.

This is the second time Tim Brockhouse has won this award, he was also recognized as the MN asphalt driver of the year in 2016.  

The Great North Legends shop and Brock's flooring just moved and are now located at 2401 Hwy 13 West in Burnsville (MN).

Winners of the MN Asphalt Driver of the year:

 

2020- Tim Brockhouse

2019- Jacob Goede

2018- Baiden Heskett

2017- Conrad Jorgenson

2016- Tim Brockhouse

2015- Jacob Goede

2014- Jacob Goede

2013- Ricky Martin

2012- Jonathan Eilen

2011- Chad Walen

2010- Brent Kane

2009- Adam Royle

2004- Dan Fredrickson

Photo- Jason Searcy, Tim Brockhouse and Dean Reller