Ty Fredrickson wins Thunderstruck93

 By Jason D Searcy

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. 

For ASA Midwest tour results go to    https://starsnationaltour.com/2025-thunderstruck-93-results/

Here is the full race call of the event with Jason Searcy and Dean Reller on the race call.  https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/thunderstruck93-2025-full-race

This is our Speed Talk 5 of 2025 where Dean and Jason recap the exciting Thunderstruck93 ASA Midwest tour race at Elko Speedway. 

Elko Speedway racer Matt Goede recovering from injury

By Jason D Searcy

March 1, 2017

Things were going great for #28 Matt Goede in 2016, he just bought a house in Carver (MN) and at the age of 28 he was ascending to the peak of his racing career.  In auto racing he finished second place to his brother #72 Jacob Goede in the Premiere division at Elko Speedway for the second consecutive year.  In snowmobile racing he had just won his third Vintage World Championship in Eagle River (WI) and moved up to the Elite TLR Cup Tour Championship Ice Oval racing circuit.  The first week out he shocked many people by finishing second place to Cardell Potter in Fargo (ND), confidence was at an all-time high. Then the calendar turned to 2017 and Matt's life changed forever.  

On January 8th while racing in Ironwood (MI) Matt's sled had mechanical problems causing him to slow dramatically coming out of turn number four, with the whole field bearing down on him.  His sled was hit, he slid off and then he was struck by another sled going 80+ mph.  He sustained catastrophic injuries including:  Shattered Kneecap, Broken Pelvis in three places, Dislocated Elbow, Three Broken Toes, Broken Foot and if that is not enough he had Compound Fractures (that means bones poking through the skin) in his Lower Leg, Upper Leg and Arm.

"I was awake the whole time," said Goede "I was aware of what was going on but I was in a lot of pain."  He was transferred to a hospital in Wausau (WI) and then the news started to get out to the racing community.  Prayers were sent over social media and Adam Brachle, the track chaplain at Elko Speedway, rushed to the hospital.  "It was great to see Adam, nice to see a familiar face, I'm glad he was there for my dad and everybody," said Goede.

Shortly thereafter a GoFundMe page was set up to help Matt with his medical expenses, the Goal was to raise $15,000.  The response on Facebook was immediate and impressive, that page has been shared 3,100 times and 282 people donated a total of $32,885... so far.  "I can't thank everyone enough for the support and donations, when things go bad, I guess that is when you find out who your friends really are" said Goede. "I'm not really an outgoing person, so for all those people to show their support is really cool."

Matt's father John Goede also raised $10,000 by donating the sled that Jacob rode to a Vintage World Championship in 2006 and 2011 to a Charity auction.  That $10,000 was donated to Blaine Stephenson, who was also injured in the Ironwood race, and Gavin Bihner, who was injured in a race on New Years Eve.

 

 

 

 

Matt is back home and on his way to recovery now, but there is a long way to go.  He is still in a wheelchair and can't put any weight on his right side.  "Pretty much all I can do is sit in my wheelchair and watch TV all day long," said Matt "This injury sucks but I'm glad to be here, it could've been much worse."  Matt is hoping to be able to walk by May so he can get back to the racetrack, "I want to be at the track every week, my brother (Jacob) plans on racing Elko Speedway and I'm looking forward to watching" said Goede.

Matt is not giving up on racing himself on asphalt or ice, but that is quite a ways off, right now he is just thankful to be alive and looking forward to flipping the calendar to 2018.

Super Late Model Championship preview at ELKO

September 14, 2016

 

By Jason D Searcy

The first of three Season Championship nights is coming up on Saturday September 17th as the MN Corn Growers Super Late Models and the Hiway Federal Credit Union Big 8 divisions will both crown a Champion at Elko Speedway.

The premier Super Late Model division comes down to two heavyweight contenders with similar resumes.  Jacob Goede #72 from Carver (MN) is the two time defending Champion at Elko that returned to his home track after years racing the Regional Touring Series circuit.  Goede has won some very impressive races over the years, including an ASA Late Model event at both Iowa Speedway and Bristol Motor Speedway in 2007.  He also was the Midwest Tour "Rookie of the Year" in 2009 and won races at I-94 Raceway and Illiana while racing the Midwest Tour.

He also has won the most prestigious events at Elko Speedway as well, claiming an overall victory in the Dwain Behrens memorial this year and in 2014.  He also won the Thunderstruck93 inaugural race in honor of Dan Ryan in 2009.

Jacob returned home to race at Elko and has dominated the Super Late Model division, winning the Championship and scoring wins in the double digits the previous two years.  This year has been a little different, he has the point lead, but has scored only three wins at Elko Speedway.

Joey Miller #15 from Lakeville (MN) is looking to take the crown from Goede.  Ten years ago Miller was a rising young star in racing, he raced the National ASA Tour and then scored five wins in the ARCA series before making his way all the way up to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and racing for Darrel Waltrip.  He scored at Top 5 finish in Mansfield OH in 2006. 

Since that time Miller has taken some time off from racing and done just a part-time schedule but just this year he returned to his home track at Elko Speedway in hopes of winning a title.

In his first year back racing full-time Miller hasn't missed a beat, he has scored five wins and is in contention coming into the final night of racing in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series season at Elko Speedway.

Here is the situation-  Goede has a 65 point lead. 

Both drivers will qualify with an opportunity to score 15 points for winning "Fast Time"

second will get 14, third will get 13 points and so on until fifteenth gets 1 point.

They will race Two 30 lap Feature Events.

The winner can score 51 points, second 48pts, Third 46pts, Fourth 44pts, Fifth 42pts, Sixth 40pts, Seventh 38pts, Eighth 36pts, Ninth 34pts, Tenth 32pts, Eleventh 31pts, Twelfth 30pts, Thirteenth 29, Fourteenth 28, Fifteenth 27, Sixteenth 26, Seventeenth 25 and Eighteenth and below all scoring 24 points.

Which means Miller potentially could gain 15 points on qualifying and if both cars start both features that is a maximum of 27 points gained per feature.  If he wins Miller has the potential to gain a total of 69 points on Goede plus Miller has the tie-breaker of most wins (5 to 3). 

Goede will look to take the pressure off by laying down a fast lap in qualifying and then finishing the first feature.  Goede would like to have at least a 28 point lead going into that second feature so just by taking the green flag he would have his third consecutive Championship sewn up.

Another factor on Championship night at Elko Speedway is that #91 Ty Majeski from Seymore (WI) is expected to attend.  Majeski is racing for the NASCAR Hometracks Division I National Championship, coming into the weekend he is only a handful of points out of the lead and if he scores one or more wins at Elko Speedway he could add National NASCAR Champion to his already stacked racing credentials.  This will be the final night of racing in the NASCAR points season.

Majeski is the two time defending ARCA Midwest tour Champion, overall winner of the Kulwicki Driver Development Program award and was recently signed to a development deal by Roush-Fenway racing.  Majeski knows Elko well, he has raced here two weekends this year, he scored a second place finish on September 3rd.  He also won the Thunderstruck93 Midwest Tour race here one year ago.

Race fans should expect twenty or so of the best Super Late Models in the Midwest and some great racing for the Season Championship in the MN Corn Growers Super Late Models Saturday night September 17th.  The Hiway Federal Credit Union Big 8 division will also crown a  Champion that night and racing as well in the Pepsi Power Stocks, Genz-Ryan Thunder Cars, Great North Legends, Hornets and Bandolero's.

Gates open at 5pm and action begins at 6pm.  Get more information by going to ElkoSpeedway.com, or following Elko Speedway on Social Media, or by downloading the free ELKO Racing app.

Elko Speedway is located 30 minutes South of Downtown Minneapolis just off of I-35 and County Road 2 in Elko (MN).