Season ending Eve of Destruction Saturday September 27th as Elko Speedway celebrated their 60th season of racing with racing in all 5 divisions plus a Jet Car burn by Magdatude at the end of the evening.
Huge nearly sellout crowd in attendance
Here are the 2025 Point Champion interviews done after the race night:
ELKO Speedway announcers Jason and Dean recap the exciting Thunderstruck93 ASA Midwest tour series race also talk about the drama with the Jacob Goede National Championship in the NASAR weekly series that took place at Elko Speedway.
They also talk about the Championship Night and what to expect plus reaction about the first season with new Owners at ELKO.
Watch HERE
or listen to the audio only version for your car HERE
Here is the Audio of the full race broadcast with Jason and Dean of the Thunderstruck93 ASA Midwest tour race including interviews at the break and after the race.
The 13th Thunderstruck93 event took place Saturday night at Elko Speedway. The ASA Midwest tour Super Late Models were the prime attraction during this event that raises awareness and funds to battle ALS, commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease in memory of ELKO Hall of Fame driver and car owner Dan Ryan who died in 2009 of the disease. The trophy for this event is a unique custom painted electric guitar widely considered the best trophy in all Super Late Model racing across America.
Sixteen year old #36 Ty Fredrickson from Webster (MN) won this prestigious 125 lap event, he started the race 5th on the grid, moved up through the field to take the lead on lap 18 and never gave it up after that, winning by 2.507 seconds. “The whole Ryan family is here and that is really special,” said Ty Fredrickson in victory lane, “I managed my gap and saved the right rear tire, I was starting to lose it at the end but was able to keep the lead.” Ty Fredrickson’s father Dan won this memorial race 5 times in the past and he was joyful during the post race celebration that included the traditional ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. “I couldn’t be more happy,” said Dan Fredrickson “Dan Ryan meant so much to me and this is one of Dan Ryan’s old cars, it is 23 years old, this means the world to our family.”
It is the second win of the season for Ty Fredrickson in the ASA Midwest tour. Another Minnesota driver #72 Jacob Goede finished second place, "It's my best finish in a Super Late Model in a long time, we are getting better, I just need to race this car more and we could be up there too, congrats to Ty he had the best car by far,” said Goede. Goede set the fast time in qualifying with a 13.883 second lap, he started the race in 8th and passed a lot of cars on his way to a second place finish. 3-time ASA Midwest Tour Champion Casey Johnson #5 from Edgerton (WI) finished third, “In the first 93 we were really good but after the restart something started smoking and sparking so at that point we were just trying to finish,” said Johnson. “This is a heck of a facility, (at ELKO) one of the best I’ve been to, it raced great and had two grooves, what more could you ask for,” said Johnson post-race.
Defending Thunderstruck93 Champion #44 Justin Mondiek finished fourth, #23 Levon Van Der Geest led the first 10 laps and finished 5th. Elko (MN) driver #91 Tristan Swanson was 6th, #119 Dalton Zehr was 7th, #77 Jonathan Eilen who won the first ever Midwest Tour event in 2007 was 8th, #30 Joe Valento was 9th and Tour point leader #15 Gabe Sommers led 7 laps early in the race but dropped back with mechanical problems, he did return to finish 10th. An impressive 13 cars of the 23 in attendance did finish on the lead lap.
Elko Speedway announcers Jason Searcy and Dean Reller talk about Local racing in MN, National NASCAR points, Tomah Speedway, Iowa Speedway, Old times at I-94 Raceway, IMCA old timers display, Elko Speedway and much more.
15 year old Joe Gibbs driver #18 Max Reaves won for the first time in the ARCA Menards National series at Elko Speedway during the Shore Lunch 250.
Max Reaves took the lead during the final segment of the race by passing Lavar Scott and he ended up winning by 3.786 seconds.
Brenden "butter bean" Queen #28 was the fast qualifier and finished in second place, it was obvious he had many fans in the Elko Speedway stands.
The weather was unseasonably hot with temperatures in the mid 90's and high humidity. Numerous cars and some drivers had trouble completing the race due to the heat.
16 year old Ty Fredrickson from Webster MN made his ARCA debut at ELKO and finished a very strong 4th place. He gave away 200 kids shirts to fans in attendance.
The on-track driver autograph session was a big success and the crowd was large considering the unusually hot weather.
24 cars entered the race, the largest field in over a decade at Elko Speedway. Drivers from 19 different states raced at ELKO for the Shore Lunch 250, 13 of them were rookies.
Here is the full race replay from announcers Jason Searcy and Dean Reller as heard on the track Public address speakers. Post-race interviews also included.
Speed Talk hosts and Elko Speedway announcers Jason Searcy and Dean Reller talk about the change of ownership at Elko Speedway as well as the Opening Night news and notes.
Just before the 60th season of racing at Elko Speedway long-time owner Tom Ryan has sold the ELKO racetrack to MEGA corp (Make Elko Great Again).
The new management and ownership includes 2009 Elko Speedway Great North Legends Champion driver Jaycen Brockhouse (son of Great North Legends owner Tim Brockhouse), Pat Flynn the owner of Eternity Homes (grandfather of Bando driver Christopher Flynn), and former ELKO driver Wade from Rack Shack Barbecue (his two kids will be racing in the Bando's in 2025). Tim Brockhouse (owner of Tomah WI Speedway) (photo below) will be heavily involved with management and Robin Anderson will continue her role as facility manager.
The 2025 race schedule has been set and will not change. It includes 10 Eve of Destruction nights, 1 ARCA race June 21st and 1 ASA Midwest Tour race night Thunderstruck on September 20th.
Fans can expect some improvements including updated signage, added food options featuring Rack Shack Barbecue, a video and pinball arcade inside the Champions lounge on the West side, new carpet and Wainscoting, updated TV monitors and updates to the Luxury Suites above the grandstand.
New management said they are open to listening to the racers ideas on improving the racing, increasing car count and adding more purse money in the near future and adding more events in 2026. Pit Pay is the new mobile pit pass app used at the track. My Race Pass will also be used for lineups.
It was mentioned that the Eve of Destruction entertainment would continue including School Bus races, Monster Trucks, ATV Big air jumps, petting zoo's, drifters, spectator drags, LIVE music etc.
Other idea's they brought up include: Enduro's, Flag pole races, figure 8 events, music concerts, a rodeo, snowmobile racing in the winter, a drifter event etc. Overnight camping returning was also discussed also Classic car shows at the track.
The idea of racing both heat races and feature events on a nightly basis was discussed (instead of just double features) and moving up the Opening Ceremony to 6pm. The importance of keeping the "Little Elko" quarter midget program strong was emphasized. On-track interviews will return in some fashion and an End of the year Championship banquet will be held. Thursday night practice will return in 2025.
If you have interest in being an Automobile Race Track Public Address Announcer, here is some advice. By Jason D Searcy
#1 - Don't be annoying, Don't be the reason that people dislike a race track. Remember the show is not about you, your job is to enhance the race fans experience, not take away from it.
#2- Preparation is the key, do your homework on the drivers and their stats before arriving at the track, then walk the pits when you get to the track, make yourself available in case a race team has something special that they want communicated to the audience. Also make sure you know how to pronounce each drivers name properly, if you don't know, just ask them.
#3- Don't mess up the starting lineups. Clearly state the car number, drivers name and hometown BEFORE EACH RACE. Not every driver will be mentioned during the race call but every drivers name should be heard by the crowd before the race. For a Mom, a fan, or a sponsor, that moment might be the only opportunity they have the entire night to cheer for their favorite driver.
#4- Do a majority of your talking when the crowd can actually hear you. Inflection means a lot and talking when loud cars are screaming past the crowd is just pointless, timing is important, talk between the races more than during the races.
#5 Be authentic with your enthusiasm. Faking excitement is insulting to the audience. Race fans don't like to be fooled or tricked and they can see through being fake. If you say "this is the greatest thing that has ever happened in the history of Motorsports" and it is clearly not, they won't trust anything you say from that point onward.
#6 The Opening Ceremony is very important. This is the only time the entire evening where you have everyone's attention. This CAN BE an emotionally shared memorable experience for the crowd if it is done right. So be concise and intentional with your wording and respectfulness of the flag and the anthem. Encourage the audience to be proud of our nation without being heavy handed, preachy or long winded, that alone might ruin an otherwise special moment.
#7 Sometimes less words are better, if your thoughts are not organized it is less impactful to be wandering. A dramatic pause can be just as impactful as an inflection change.
#8 Separate your personal opinion from the decisions made by race control. Questioning track personnel decisions looks bad for the track, so just state the facts and more forward, even if you don't personally agree with the decision. You have enough to keep track of, don't try to also do their job.
#9 Try to help the audience anticipate upcoming drama, if you can focus the race fans attention on the building drama of a situation that they might not be aware of, then when that drama finally does happen, it becomes more of a shared experience and might become that memorable LIVE moment that we all strive for.
#10 Have Fun, enjoy the show. There is nothing more cool than the sound of race cars at the track, so add your voice to that atmosphere with relevant information and entertainment. Don't let your voice take away from that awesome atmosphere.
Just my 2 cents, I hope that gives you some insight into how to do the job of a Race Track Announcer. It can be a very rewarding and fun occupation.
Jason D Searcy. Over 30 years experience announcing at various tracks in Minnesota, the last 14 at Elko Speedway in Elko but also at I-94 Raceway Sauk Centre, I-94 Speedway Fergus Falls and Viking Speedway in Alexandria.
NOTE- This article was shared on social media and numerous announcers commented on it and added their own interesting insight, here are a few examples
Jason Searcy Great Job. A couple of other things. Sometimes you have to explain the rules. Keep it short, but explain why things are happening. Rules vary from track to track and it can be a little confusing to the casual fan. And be sure to mention car numbers not just the names during the race. Fans can quickly identify what car you are talking about especially when there is a good battle behind the leaders. And Finally, work the car color into your race call. This is helpful when there are more than 1 car with the same number in the same race.
We do this for fun, so don't forget to HAVE FUN!Eric Huenefeld
Jason Searcy as an announcer, I don’t know if I can bring anyone to the track, but I know I can drive them away.
Also…calling races is one thing. That’s what gets on YouTube and all that. But I think where announcer make their money is what they do when the yellow is out or when there’s no racing. Be good background music and be entertaining and knowledgeable. Have fun. Take a breath. You don’t need to talk ALL the time.
Preparation and pre-event homework is key. It's something a lot of announcers do not do as good of a job as they should. It's ultra important so you can be as prepared as possible. If you save it all for race-day, you will undoubtedly run out of time and not have all your bases covered.
Everyone has their own style, which is cool and is what makes everyone unique, but an announcer not being prepared is something that shouldn't be acceptable to anyone, especially the paying fans.
Mis-pronouncing drivers names, hometowns etc. is never, I repeat NEVER, acceptable. Do your homework.
Personally, I make a point to walk the pits every day and talk to racers to get updates, new storyline etc. Even during multi-day events where the drivers are probably the same as the night before, there are always new pieces of info. to gather. I made sure to walk the pits 15 straight days at Volusia last month to be sure I had all my stuff in order.
Lastly, remember that a majority of events are live streamed these days, so unlike years past when it was 'just' the people in the stands listening to announcers, these days everyone at home can hear every word an announcer says, so it's even more important to have your info correct and be prepared.
