Aug 8th Eve of Destruction

By Jason D Searcy

August 8, 2015 - Elko, MN

  A full crowd was treated to some incredible action at Elko Speedway for the Minnesota Professional Towing Association Eve of Destruction presented by Pepsi.


  Matt Goede from New Germany (MN) started 8th in the 20 car field of MN Corn Growers Super Late Models in feature number one, he drove his way to the front by half way through the 30 lap race and stayed ahead of the trouble to win his 2nd race of the season in the NASCAR Whelen All American series at Elko Speedway.

  In a very unusual wreck the car driven by 15 year old James Wenzel ended up on top of the car driven by Bryan Roach causing a restart on lap 15, that was when Matt Goede took the lead and a trio of Championship cars all battled for the runner up position.  Matt Goede won by 2.274 seconds but the next three cars finished only .12 of a second apart.  Former Minnesota State NASCAR Champion Chad Walen took home second followed by former TUNDRA Champion Nick Panitzke and defending Elko Champion Jacob Goede.

  49 year old Paul Paine from Mound (MN) won the second Super Late Model feature of the night.  Jason Schneider took the early lead until Paine grabbed the top spot on lap 10.  Current Point Leader Jacob Goede then made his way to the front, he got past 2 time Champion Schneider and then tried to catch Paine, Jacob Goede came up just short, finishing second by only .14 seconds.

Jacob Goede, the oldest of the two Goede brothers, still has a commanding lead in the point standings.  Jacob leads Matt Goede by 81 points in the race for the Championship.

Brent Kane from Lonsdale (MN) made it a clean sweep in the Genz-Ryan Thunder Car division at Elko Speedway.  James Lindgren lead the majority of feature race number one, he was passed by Kane on lap 18, two laps before the finish.  Kane won by .629 seconds over Lindgren and David Robinson.

Thunder Car feature number two had a very dramatic finish.  Brent Kane started 13th in the 20 car field, he was making his way to the front but laps were running out, with two laps to go Kane was still in fifth place.  Meanwhile up front there was a furious side by side battle between 3 time Champion Conrad Jorgenson and title contender Jeremy Wolff, contact was made and both cars spun down the front stretch causing a yellow flag and both cars being put to the back of the field.  Suddenly that put Adam Wiebusch and Eric Campbell to the front of the pack on a Green-White-Checkered restart, before the field went back to racing Campbell had to pit and Wiebusch had mechanical problems putting the 5th place car (Kane) on the point.

Kane then held off newcomer Josiah King for the win by .475 seconds and completed the clean sweep of both the Thunder Car features.  The bad luck occurred by Jeremy Wolff dropped him 18 points behind Kane in the race for the Championship.

Defending Elko Speedway Hiway Federal Credit Union BIG 8 Champion Chris Marek from Lakeville (MN) has been on an incredible roll in 2015.  Marek scored his 9th win of the season in feature #1.  Marek got past Ryan Kamish and bested the 17 car field by .957 seconds in the first feature.

  Michael Ostdiek from Lakeville (MN) won the second BIG 8 feature and he led from start to finish in the 20 lap event.  "I got a good draw for the second feature, but the car has been great, just trying to keep the momentum going," said Ostdiek.  Ostdiek held off Cole Anderson and Doug Brown for the win with Chris Marek finishing fourth.

Here is an audio interview with Ostdiek
 https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/michael-ostdiek-big-8-winner

Marek continues to hold onto a 51 point lead in the standings over Ryan Kamish.

Jaycen Brockhouse from Savage (MN) won the Great North Legends feature, that is his second consecutive trophy and third in total for the year.   He started the 20 lap race fourth in the 19 car field, worked his way to the top spot, had a great battle with Brady Fox-Rhode, eventually winning by only .26 seconds.

Point leader Derek Lemke had problems for the second week in a row, came from the back of the pack and finished 8th.  Lemke now holds a 31 point lead over Brockhouse in the race for the title.  Both drivers have won one previous Championship in the Legends division.

Alex Vincent from Owatonna (MN) won his second Hornets feature of the year.  He edged Michael Weiss by .306 seconds with Michael Wachs Jr finishing third and Ridge Oien fourth.  Justin Schelitzche finished 5th and still holds onto the point lead, he has a 19 point lead over Ashley Bell in the race for the Championship.

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

The Spectator drags saw one truck slam the wall in corner number four in the finals race causing a huge reaction from the large crowd at Elko Speedway, the driver was OK but his truck had extensive damage and had to be removed by two tow trucks.


Jim Bendzick in the Thunder 4x4 Monster Truck thrilled fans with his incredible slap wheelies and award winning cyclone spins.  The Dirty Love Drifters and Vertical Mischief put on a great show for the crowd.



The Olate' Dogs, winners of the 7th season of America's Got Talent, performed twice for the gathered fans on the concourse.

The School Bus figure 8 race concluded another thrilling Eve of Destruction event at Elko Speedway.

Up next at Elko Speedway is Kids night presented by Hiway Federal Credit Union, it also will feature the 22nd annual Dwain Behrens memorial event.  Kids get in FREE also bus rides, petting zoo and pony rides for children.  Gates open at 5pm, action begins at 6pm.  Get more information by calling (952) 461-7223 or by following Elko Speedway on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.  Elko Speedway is located 20 minutes South of the Twin Cities just off of I-35 and County Road 2

Elko Speedway Eve of Destruction

May 23, 2015 - Elko, MN

By Jason D Searcy

It was a night full of racing and wrecking at Elko Speedway for the first Eve of Destruction of 2015 presented by KQRS.

MN Corn Growers Super Late Model Defending Champion Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) won the first of two thirty lap feature events in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series.  Goede finished ahead of Joel Theisen by .962 seconds for the win.

Nick Panitzke from Sauk Centre (MN) won the second Super Late Model feature of the night.  Billy Mohn lead most of the race until a late caution.  2013 TUNDRA series Champion Panitzke then took the lead with five laps to go, and held on for the win by .933 seconds.  Nick Murgic finished 2nd and Mohn third in the twenty-one car field.

Goede now leads Panitzke by 9 points in the standings with nine time Champion Donny Reuvers in third, 19 points behind.

Joe Neisius from Rosemount (MN) won the first of two Hiway Federal Credit Union Big 8 Main events.  Neisius beat four time Champion Doug Brown by .404 seconds at the stripe. 

Defending Champion Chris Marek from Lakeville (MN) won the second Big 8 feature, he

passed Dylan Moore with a few laps to go and won by .359 seconds.

Marek leads Moore by 12 points in the standings with Neieius 15 points back.

Brent Kane from Lonsdale (MN) had a great night in the Genz-Ryan Thunder Car division.  He won the first race by edging Jeremy Wolff by .554 seconds.  His car then had motor problems and he was forced to change cars and start at the rear of the field for feature number two.  2014 Champion Conrad Jorgenson is not running for points this year so he loaned Kane his car and Kane drove all the way up through the field to finish second.

Devin Schmidt from Belle Plaine (MN) took the win in feature number two, he bested Kane by 2.470 seconds at the line. 

Brent Kane now leads Jeremy Wolff by 5 points in the standings with opening night winner Tina Davis in third, 17 points behind.

The Pepsi Power Stock main event went to fourteen year old Grant Brown from Prior Lake (MN) he beat Matt Ryan by 2.723 seconds to win his first ever Power Stock feature.  Brown tied for the point Championship last year but lost out on the tie-breaker of most wins.

"Its nice to have the security of a feature win," said Brown "I don't want to possibly lose because of that, it's a big relief off my shoulders."

Here is an interview with Jason and Grant Brown https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/grant-brown-win-at-elko

Opening night winner Cole Neisius finished third and holds onto the point lead by 2 over Tom Doten with 2012 Bandolero Champion Grant Brown only 4 points out of the lead.

Brady Fox-Rhode from Loretto (MN) won the Great North Legends main event.  Rhode started sixth in the twenty-two car field, he battled with Michael Ostdiek for many laps and eventually beat out 2009 Champion Jaycen Brockhouse by 1.320 seconds for the win, his third in a row at Elko Speedway.

"We raced each other pretty hard, I was able to get out in front and set the pace, it was a lot of fun," said Rhode. 

Fox-Rhode leads the season standings by 3 points over Shon Jacobsen and 9 points over Jon Lemke.

Here is an interview from Saturday night with Jason and Brady Fox-Rhode https://soundcloud.com/speedtalkon1360/brady-fox-rhode-at-elko

Ridge Oien from Bloomington (MN) won the 15 lap Hornets main event, he finished the race 1.791 seconds ahead of Brandon Olson for the win in the twenty car field.

Justin Schelitzche finished third and moves into the point lead by 5 over Ashley Bell with Michael Wachs Jr in third 19 points behind.

The new Hornet Figure 8 divison debuted at Elko Speedway and the drivers and crowd both responded in a positive way.  An impressive field of sixteen cars dared to race each other and cross in the X.

Two veteran Figure 8 divers won, Todd Tacheny from Mankato (MN) and Troy Tuma from Waseca (MN) were the two winners.  Tacheny has spent countless hours building cars for other people to race and pushing for the addition of Figure 8 racing to the Elko Speedway race program. 

Troy Tuma is no stranger to the figure 8 division, he won a figure 8 championship at Elko Speedway in 2005 when the cars and rules were much different.

Brian Adams finished second in both the Figure 8 races and he leads the point standings, with Tacheny in second and Tuma in third.  The racing was exciting and the collision in the X never did happen even though it seemed inevitable numerous times during the feature events, the crowd loved it.

Monster Truck driver Jim Bendzick in Thunder 4x4 from New Prague (MN) won both the Wheelie Contest and Freestyle Competition over Devin Jones from Miami (OK) driving the Barbarian truck.  Both drivers put on a great show for the crowd.

Jason Vanberg from Red Wing (MN) won the Spectator Drags portion of the show, he drove a 2015 Polaris Slingshot.  Brian McMenomy from Rosemount won the Outlaw Drags, he drove a modified 1979 Cadillac.

The Timberworks Lumber Jack show entertained the crowd, the Figure 8 Bus races were a big hit as per usual and Scott Turkewitz refered to as the Demolition Devil performed three incredible stunts to thrill the crowd at Elko Speedway.

 

Turkewitz jumped his street car into a stack of cars standing up vertically in a domino formation, then he jumped over another car while his stunt ramp was moving in various directions.  For the finale he jumped 80 feet over a tipped over bus and landed nose first into a pile of crushed cars, amazingly he emerged unhurt.  For video of these amazing stunts follow Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube and search Elko Speedway.

Here is a video of his crazy Bus Jump at Elko Speedway  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hE2njdhGeo

 

Next up is NASCAR Whelen All American Series racing at Elko Speedway, just 20 minutes South of the Twin Cities, Saturday night May 30th, gates open at 5pm and action begins at 6pm.  Get more information at ElkoSpeedway.com or by calling (952) 461-7223.