By Jason D Searcy
June 1, 2018 - Elko, MN
As the calendar turns to June the 54th season of racing at Elko Speedway is fully underway with a full night of action and double features in every division.
The NASCAR Late Models sponsored by the Car Lot in New Prague had a big field of 20 cars entered, Joe Neisius #75 took the early lead in the first feature, #18 Michael Ostdiek from Lakeville (MN) took over the top spot on lap 3. Ostdiek is a former 2013 Great North Legends Champion at Elko and has spent the last few years traveling and racing regionally all across the Midwest. Adam Bendzick #21 put a lot of pressure on Ostdiek for the top spot and raced him side by side for numerous laps but Ostdiek was able to hold on for the win by .468 seconds. Bendzick was second, #51 Justin Neisius third, Joe Neisius #75 fourth and fast qualifier #3 Chris Marek finished fifth.
The second Late Model feature had 2016 ELKO Big 8 champion #54 Dylan Moore lead the first portion of the race until he had mechanical problems and former ELKO Thunder Car Champion #32 Jeremy Wolff grabbed the top spot on the high side. Wolff then had problems of his own, he fell back and eventually went to the pits. Seventeen year old Owin Giles #6 from New Market (MN) is a former Bando Champion at ELKO, he took over the top spot at about the halfway mark of the 30 lap main event. Giles extended his lead as the battle ensued behind him. Five time Champion #72 Jacob Goede finished 1.128 seconds behind Giles, Michael Hanson #19 was third, #3 Chris Marek fourth and #42 Ryan Kamish was fifth.
The Genz-Ryan Thunder Cars division was dominated by former 5 time ELKO Champion #3 Conrad Jorgenson from Lakeville (MN), Jorgenson had a clean sweep of the night winning both features and had fast time in qualifying. The first 20 lap feature had a big wreck down the front stretch sending three top cars to the pits, #92 Norm Grabinger, #07 Dillon Sellner and #25 Eric Campbell were involved. Bryce Blohm #37 had the lead early but #3 Conrad Jorgenson jumped up eight spots and took over after a restart and won by an impressive 1.999 seconds. Blohm finished second, #75 Keith Paulsrud third, #28 Colin Neisius fourth and #6 Robert Michaels fifth.
The second Thunder Car feature had #55 Jack Larson lead the first half of the race until #3 Conrad Jorgenson worked his way up to the top spot. Jorgenson cruised to his second victory of the night by 1.951 seconds over #37 Bryce Blohm, #25 Eric Campbell was third, #75 Keith Paulsrud fourth and #1 Dan Streiff fifth.
This was the first night of racing in the Great North Legends this year at Elko Speedway and 20 cars competed for the win. In the first 20 lap feature #21 Hans Roeschli led lap 1 until #3 Dirk Henry took the top spot. An incident on lap 6 sent three top cars to the back and #87 Robbie Carter was the leader until fast qualifier and defending ELKO Champion #75 Baiden Heskett moved up seven spots and grabbed the lead at the halfway point of the race. Heskett won by .432 seconds over Robbie Carter, #8 Cole Klein was third followed by #16 Matt Allen and Roeschli.
The second Great North Legends feature had #3 Dirk Henry take the top spot with #91 Tristan Swanson from New Market (MN) closely following, fifteen year old Swanson then passed Henry on lap nine and the two racers battled for numerous laps after that. Cole Klein #8 continued his good night and moved up 9 positions to finish in second place just .404 behind Swanson. Dirk Henry was third followed by #47 Austin Jahr in fourth and #75 Baiden Heskett who moved up 15 positions to finish fifth.
The Pepsi Power Stocks had tons of entertainment packed into the 12 car field racing twin 20 lap features. The first winner was #56 Paul Hamilton from Hastings (MN), he stayed ahead of all the action behind him and won by .928 second over #66 Joe Prusak, this was the second win of the season for Hamilton. Fast qualifier and 2016 Champion Nick Oxborough #88 finished third, #08 Michael Stoer was fourth and #8 Taylor Goldman fifth.
The second feature had #41 Ben Gannon and #40 Josh Gernentz battle for the lead side by side for the first half of the race and the rest of the field anxiously looking for an opportunity to pounce. A series of cautions then occurred that had Ben Gannon, #8 Taylor Goldman and #62 Tom Doten all end up at the rear of the field. That left Josh Gernentz and #41m Jason Michaud to battle for the lead, Michaud grabbed the top spot and crossed the finish line first just ahead of #88 Nick Oxborough from Lakeville (MN) who was declared the winner after Michaud was disqualified after post race inspection. Joe Prusak #66 was second, #08 Michael Stoer third, #56 Paul Hamilton fourth and #13 Matt Fry was fifth of the twelve cars entered.
The Brock’s Flooring Bandolero’s had two feature events. The first had #70 Josiah Kottschade from Ramsey (MN) take the early lead, on lap 3 Kody King #14 took the lead. On the last lap #13 Ayrton Brockhouse and #14 King had contact, King spun and Brockhouse was sent to the back of the field. Kottschade was declared the winner, it was the first Bando win of his career. Alex Hartwin #901 was second, #54 Jenson Vadnais third, #J3 Justin Ziemiecki fourth and #01 Zachary Konop fifth.
The second feature had Kottschade lead early, #13 Ayrton Brockhouse battled and took the top spot until #901 Alex Hartwig from Portage (WI) established himself as the leader. Hartwig won by 2.062 seconds over Brockhouse, #06 Adam Ratliff was third with Kottschade fourth and #56 Clayton Dorner fifth.
Children enjoyed the Chalk Art event held by the ELKO Kids Club and sponsored by Marek’s Towing. All kids who sign up for the kids club receive free admission for the rest of the season (Bandit Big Rig and ARCA event excluded).
All results are not official until being posted later in the week at ElkoSpeedway.com
Coming up next at Elko Speedway is racing on Saturday June 8th, gates open at 5pm action begins just before 6pm. Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile asphalt oval race track with stadium seating located 30 minutes south of the Twin Cities just off of I-35 in Elko-New Market (MN). Get more info at ElkoSpeeway.com, on social media or by downloading our free mobile app by searching ELKO Racing.