September 2, 2017 - Elko, MN
By Jason D Searcy
A large crowd of race fans witnessed NASCAR Whelen all american series racing over the Labor Day weekend at Elko Speedway.
The first Hiway Federal Credit Union Late Model feature was won by #3 Chris Marek from Lakeville (MN), he started fifth out of the seventeen cars racing and won by only .197 seconds. "Owin Giles was out front and was probably faster than anyone out there," said Marek but with eight laps to go in the race a yellow flag came out and Marek capitalized on the restart, passing both Giles and #14 Grant Brown on the inside. "It was a lot of fun, I was happy we were able to put on a good show for the fans," said Marek. It was the second win of the season for Marek, Owin Giles #6 finished second, Grant Brown was third, #22 Nick Panitzke finished fourth and #72 Jacob Goede rounded out the TOP 5 finishers.
The second thirty lap Late Model feature had #52 Chad Walen lead the early laps until Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) took over the top spot on lap six. Goede withstood a challenge from #22 Nick Panitzke after the restart with five laps remaining and won by .652 seconds. Derek Lemke #71 finished third, #6 Owin Giles was fourth and Walen finished fifth. This was the fourth win of the season for Goede who gave away a special racing themed teddy bear to a young fan in victory lane after the race.
Jacob Goede now has a 188 point lead in the standings over #14 Grant Brown in the race for the Late Model Championship.
Bryce Blohm #37 from Lakeville (MN) won his first career Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event on Saturday night at ELKO. "I won a bunch of races last year in the Power Stocks but this win really means a lot," said Blohm "the competition in the Thunder Car division is really tough." Blohm battled with #09 Matt Wiebusch early in the twenty lap race, he took over the lead on lap seven and never looked back, Blohm won by .698 seconds over #99 Brent Kane who moved up from ninth starting position to finish second. Conrad Jorgenson #3 started the race eleventh on the grid, he ended up third place, Matt Wiebusch came across the line fourth and #13 Colin Neisius finished the race in fifth of the eighteen cars racing.
The second feature was won by #8 Ted Reuvers from Dundas (MN) but it was anything but easy. Norm Grabinger #91, Michael Hanson #19 and Keith Paulsrud #75 led laps during the first half of the race until Reuvers made his charge to the front. Then Reuvers and Paulsrud had a furious battle "we had a good tight race, it was fun" said Reuvers "I maybe got into him a little bit, that was just a racing thing and we came out ahead." The #8 car sustained some damage after tagging the wall while trying to pass the #75 of Paulsrud but it held together enough to win the first feature of the year for Reuvers who said this twentieth season will be his final year racing full-time. Dillon Sellner #07 finished third, #99 Brent Kane was fourth and #37 Bryce Blohm finished in the fifth position.
Conrad Jorgenson finished third and sixth on the night and #32 Jeremy Wolff finished seventh in both of the feature events so, Jorgenson extended his point lead to 44 points over Wolff in the race for the season championship.
Joe Prusak #66 from Clayton (WI) won the first of two Pepsi Power Stock features at Elko Speedway on Saturday night. Prusak passed #93 Matt Ryan on the high side for the lead on lap seventeen of twenty. Prusak beat Ryan to the finish line by .550 seconds to score his third victory of the year. Darin Patnode #27 finished third and #54 Tim Hollen scored a fourth place finish after returning from an epic wreck about a month ago, Taylor Goldman #8 rounded out the TOP 5 finishers.
The second Power Stock twenty lap feature event was won by #88 Nick Oxborough from Lakeville (MN), he won by an impressive 4.038 seconds for this fourth win of the year. The race everybody was watching was for second place as the #10 of Dusty Mann and the #62 of Tom Doten were in a dog fight for the runner up position and swapped positions numerous times. Mann ended up edging Doten by .359 seconds at the finish line. Paul Hamilton #56 finished fourth and #54 Tim Hollen placed fifth of the eighteen cars racing.
Dusty Mann is now a six point leader over Tom Doten in the race for the 2017 Power Stock Championship.
Derek Lemke #71 from Shakopee (MN) won his seventh Eternity Homes Great North Legends feature of the year at ELKO. Tim Brockhouse #6 led early in the twenty lap race, during a caution on lap five Baiden Heskett #75 took advantage of lane choice and moved up three positions, Heskett took the lead on lap seven but then Lemke charged up to challenge for the lead, after racing side by side for numerous laps Lemke took the lead on lap thirteen, there was a caution period with five laps to go but Lemke hung on for the win by .306 seconds over Heskett, Tim Brockhouse finished third, #8 Cole Klein started the race fourteenth and moved up to finish fourth and #26 Wil McCully rounded out the TOP 5 finishers at Elko Speedway.
Derek Lemke now has a commanding 198 point lead over his father #17 Jon Lemke in the race for the Championship.
Alex Vincent #36v from Owatonna (MN) won the first of two fifteen lap Hornets feature event, it was his fourth win of 2017 at Elko Speedway. Vincent beat #0 Brian Adams to the finish line by 1.387 seconds, Brandon Olson #36b finished third with #55 Brandon Plekkenpol coming in fourth and #3 Michael Wachs Jr in fifth, one spot ahead of his rival #14 Justin Schelitzche.
The second feature winner was #3 Michael Wachs Jr from New Prague (MN), it also was his fourth win of the year at ELKO. Justin Schelitzche #14 tried everything to pass Wachs but he finished right behind him again in this race. Alex Vincent #36v was in the mix but finished third, #55 Brandon Plekkenpol charged hard late but came home fourth and #36b of Brandon Olson had to settle for the fifth finishing position out of the nine cars competing.
Michael Wachs Jr now has a thirteen point lead over Justin Schelitzche in the race for the Hornets Championship.
Collin Stocker from Farmington (MN) won his fifth of the six Bandoleros features so far in 2017 at Elko Speedway. Blessing Brewer #7 led the first few laps until eleven year old Stocker took over the top spot and never gave it up, he won by 2.446 seconds over #99 Max Mabee with #88 Christopher Konop finishing third out of the eleven cars racing.
Stocker now has a 37 point lead over Konop in the race for the Brocks Flooring Bando Championship at Elko Speedway.
Results and Point Standings are unofficial at this time, updates will be posted at ElkoSpeedway.com mid week.
Up next at ELKO is Eve of Destruction on September 9th with NASCAR racing, Flippenout Extreme Trampoline Stunts, the Drifters, Dueling Monster Trucks, Figure 8 School Bus Racing, Spectator Drags, JJ Romans motorcycle stunts and much more. Gates open at 5pm and action begins at 6pm.
Get more information by following Elko Speedway on social media, downloading the free Elko Racing app, by going to ElkoSpeedway.com or by calling (952) 461-7223.
Elko Speedway is a NASCAR Sanctioned 3/8th mile asphalt oval race track with stadium seating located approximately 30 minutes South of Minneapolis just off of I-35 and County Road 2 in Elko (MN).