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.

Elko Speedway Race Story 6/6/2015

By Jason D Searcy

June 6, 2015 - Elko, MN

The rain held off just long enough for the packed house to enjoy the entire NASCAR Whelen All American series race program on MN Corn Growers Tasseldega nights at Elko Speedway.


Nine time Champion Donny Reuvers from Dundas (MN) won the 40 lap MN Corn Growers Super Late Model feature event.  He fought off challenges from defending Champion Jacob Goede who was pressuring him from below "the bottom is so tough to get by, you can only run about 4 or 5 laps down there before you have to cool your tires down," said Reuvers.  Goede eventually slipped back to fourth and Nick Murgic charged to the front and had a great battle with Reuvers, "Nick is a good driver" said Reuvers "you never have to worry about him sliding up and hitting you, it's fun to race hard like that."

Reuvers did win by the slightest of margains, only .143 seconds at the finish line, Murgic finished second with Matt Goede finishing just ahead of his brother Jacob Goede in this 20 car field of Super Late Models in the NASCAR Whelen All American series.

This was the first win at Elko Speedway in two years for Reuvers who has spent some time racing regional touring series recently "it's nice to travel just twenty minutes and be at the race track, especially tonight with how many fans were here," said Reuvers.



Here is an audio interview with Donny and Jason from Victory Lane https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/donny-reuvers-slm-winner-at



Two time defending Champion Chris Marek from Lakeville (MN) won the Hiway Federal Credit Union BIG 8 feature event.  It took a last lap pass for Marek to edge Michael Ostdiek by only .030 seconds at the finish line.  Ostdiek, the 2013 Elko Speedway Driver of the Year, was the fastest in qualifying and lead most of the 25 lap feature event, but he dropped to second by only a couple feet on the last lap.  Ryan Kamish lead early in the race and finished third with Joe Neisus coming across fourth in the sixteen car field.

Its the fourth win in five events for Chris Marek in the BIG 8 division so far in 2015.

Jeremy Wolff from Chaska (MN) won his first Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event of 2015.  Wolff and Tina Davis thrilled the crowd by racing wheel to wheel for half of the 20 lap feature before he finally pulled away and won by 1.759 seconds at the finish line.

Davis finished second in the 19 car field with Michael Gilomen a very close third and three time Champion Brent Kane in fourth.

 

 

 

Sixteen year old Matt Allen from Chanhassen (MN) won his first ever Great North Legends feature event on Saturday night, "It felt amazing" said Allen "I've thought about this feeling for quite a while, it's hard work but awesome."  Allen beat out Derek Lemke by 2.4 seconds with Will McCully finishing third and Shon Jacobsen fourth.

Allen has type 1 diabetes but he has not let it slow his racing career, after some advice from his NASCAR idol Ryan Reed, whom he met at Iowa Speedway last year, he now wears a continuous Glucose monitor to make sure his blood sugar level is OK and in range at all times, he also has a sugar drink in his race car just in case his blood sugar gets low.

Matt Allen races against his father Bruce who finished the race 10th out of the 23 cars in the Legends race.  His younger brother Luke also races at Elko Speedway and is a winner in the Bandolero divison.

 Here is the audio interview with Matt and Jason after the races https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/matt-allen-legends-winner-at

 

Fourteen year old Grant Brown won his second Pepsi Power Stock main event.  Brandon Peterson and Cole Neisius got together while battling for the lead and that opened up the door for Brown who started seventh in the twenty car field.

Once Brown got the lead he had to fight back the many challenges of Dustin Mann to win by .311 seconds at the finish line.  Defending Champion Nick Oxborough finished third and last weeks' winner Tom Doten got fourth.

 

 

Justin Schelitzche from Lester Prairie won the Hornets feature.  Schelitzche is a many time winner at Elko Speedway and a former Flag Pole race Champion.  Alex Vincent finished second 3.405 seconds behind at the finish line and two time winner Ridge Oien finished third in the 16 car field.

Twelve year old Owin Giles from New Market (MN) won the Bandoleros main event passing his main rival Luke Allen on the bottom side of the track, its the second win of the season for Giles.

 

 

For full results go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com/results

Up next at Elko Speedway is an Eve of Destruction event on Saturday June 13th.  In addition to the racing fans can see a woman being shot out of a cannon and a man being blown up by a stick of dynamite, also School Bus races, spectator drags and Doug Rose will drive his 12 time National Champion Jet drag racer the Green Mamba and melt a car down to the ground.  An Elko Drive-in Movie will begin 15 minutes after the races are over.  Gates open at 5pm and action begins at 6pm. 

Get more information by calling (952) 461-7223 or go to ElkoSpeedway.com and follow Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.

Changes at Raceway Park in 2011

Donny (pictured above) and Melissa Reuvers will no longer be promoting at Raceway Park in Shakopee (MN).

In a statement on www.goracewaypark.com they said it was a difficult decision but financial circumstances made it no longer possible for Donny and Melissa to continue operating Raceway Park.  They want to thank all the drivers, fans, staff and sponsors for their support over the last two years.

Previous owner John Hellendrung is now taking back ownership of Raceway Park in 2011.  He wanted to announce that the 2010 Awards banquet will be held on Saturday January 22nd at Treasure Island.  The driver registration and 2011 rules meeting will be Saturday January 8th at Turtles Bar in Shakopee.

Raceway Park has a history of over 50 years of racing in Minnesota, its a 1/4 mile asphalt oval in Shakopee MN.  I am told that John Hellendrung is dedicated to keeping racing going at Raceway Park as he has in the past and the rumors of selling the property for development are false.

On a personal note, Donny Reuvers with Raceway Park was a sponsor of "Speedtalk on 1360" and couldn't have treated us better, he is well respected as not only a driver, but also a promoter and a great person.  The car counts went WAY up during his two years as promoter and the racing was really good.  We wish Donny luck in whatever he chooses to do, hopefully he can eventually get back to racing full-time with the ASA Midwest tour.

Jason Searcy
(http://www.speedtalkon1360.com/)

Donny Reuvers, Martinsville NASCAR preview

Raceway Park owner Donny Reuvers was a great interview on "Speedtalk on 1360."

He said his main focus for 2010 will be Raceway Park but is not ruling out racing the full ASA Midwest tour schedule. He will run the first couple races and make a decision from there.

Raceway Park is adding quite a few Friday night shows in 2010 and will have a 10 race schedule with the crowd favorite Flat Track Motorcycles. Enduro drivers also expressed interest in racing all the Friday night shows.

www.goracewaypark.com


Jordan Bianchi broke the news that Denny Hamlin will be having knee surgery on "Speedtalk on 1360" ... we broadcast that information before Speed Channel.

Both Jordan and Jason are picking Jimmie Johnson to win at Martinsville and Dean will go with Tony Stewart in the race for the speedworksdiecast.com fantasy NASCAR prize.

Donny Reuvers on Speedtalk

Raceway Park owner Donny Reuvers will be joining Jason and Dean on "Speedtalk on 1360" on KRWC radio Saturday (March 27th) 10-11am.

As a driver Donny Reuvers has about 10 track championships total on his resume' when you count both Raceway Park and Elko Speedway. He also has won MN State NASCAR titles and was runner up in the point standings for the ASA Midwest tour in 2007 and 2008.

Donny is just completing his first full year as owner of Raceway Park, the 1/4 mile asphalt track in Shakopee and is known as one of the "nice guys" in MN auto racing.

Listen to that interview on KRWC radio 1360am or http://www.krwc1360.com/ . "Speedtalk on 1360" is every Saturday from 10-11am.