By Jason D Searcy

July 15, 2017 – Elko, MN

Extremely hot and humid weather over 90 degrees did not prevent a fun night of close and competitive NASCAR Whelen All-American series racing during Eve of Destruction Saturday night at Elko Speedway.

The premiere Hiway Federal Credit Union Late Model division had a great battle of Champions as three-time Legends Champion #71 Derek Lemke and three-time Super Late Model Champion #72 Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) battled for the win in Feature number one.

Lemke overtook #52 Chad Walen for the race lead on lap 12 of 30, meanwhile Goede was moving toward the front, he started twelfth on the grid of nineteen cars and gained positions all the way up to second by lap 17.  Goede stalked Lemke the final five laps, putting immense pressure on from the inside groove, Goede finally edged in front on the last lap and won by only .062 seconds bringing the crowd to its feet.  “I didn’t know if I could catch him,” said Goede “I slowly reeled him in, I was able to work to the inside of him, was trying not to make any mistakes and I was able to just nip him at the line, it was great” said Goede after winning his second feature of 2017.

Veteran driver #26 Mark Lamoreaux finished third, #40 Michael Beamish was fourth and #52 Chad Walen dropped to fifth.

The second Late Model feature had #75 Joe Neisius from Rosemount (MN) take the lead early and never give it up, it was his fourth feature win of the year.  Chad Walen moved up from his seventh starting spot to capture second, former Power Stock Champion Grant Brown #14 scored a third place finish, former Bando Champion #6 Owin Giles was fourth and #13 Bryan Wrolstad rounded out the TOP 5.

Jacob Goede is now leading the point standings by 57 over 16 yr old Grant Brown.  “We are qualifying fast every week and starting in the back, we are getting passing points,” said Goede “it’s hard to win features that way, but we are winning the war that way.”

Dusty Mann #10 from Farmington (MN) won the Pepsi Power Stock main event.  He started eleventh out of the 14 cars entered in the 20 lap race.  Dan Strieff #1 led the first handful of laps before #88 Nick Oxborough grabbed the top spot.  Oxborough then protected the inside and Mann just went up high and took the win away with two laps remaining, Mann won by 1.206 seconds.  Paul Hamilton #56 finished in the third position, defending Champ #62 Tom Doten was fourth and #27 Darin Patnode was fifth.

Dusty Mann now has four wins on the year and he also has the points lead, Tom Doten is currently tied for second with Nick Oxborough 28 points behind Mann.

The Eternity Homes Great North Legends 20 lap main event saw three of the top Legends drivers in the Nation fighting for the win at ELKO.  Current point leader Derek Lemke #71 took the lead early but was feeling the pressure from #75 Baiden Heskett from Fort Worth (TX) by the half-way mark, first they were nose to tail, then Heskett raced Lemke side by side for a few laps until a couple caution periods reset the field.  Heskett got past Lemke off the restart with #4 Brady Fox-Rhode, who started way back in 9th, now right on their tails.  The last few laps were intense but Heskett held on for the win by .370 seconds, it was his second win of the year at Elko Speedway.  Lemke pushed hard to make a pass with a couple laps remaining and gave up a position to Fox-Rhode.  Heskett wins, Fox-Rhode was second, Derek Lemke dropped to third with #22 Shon Jacobson battling some gremlins in his carburetor was fourth and #17 Jon Lemke was fifth.

Derek Lemke now has a 51 point lead over his father Jon Lemke in the ELKO point standings.

The Genz-Ryan Thunder Car features are currently under an official review, an update will be posted when it becomes available.  Official results and point standings are normally posted mid-week on ElkoSpeedway.com

Eve of Destruction also included a great freestyle Monster Truck show by both Jim Bendzick from New Prague (MN) in Thunder 4×4 and Doug Noelke from Union (MO) in Tailgator.  The XPOGO stunt team showed off their award winning action sports talents to a very appreciative crowd.  The Figure 8 Bus races were entertaining as per usual, we had good racing in the Spectator and Outlaw Drags and the BIG AIR stunt motorcycle and quad performers were incredible, they performed tricks seldom seen in Minnesota.

Up Next at ELKO is a fundraising night of Racing and Music on Saturday July 22nd.  Elko Speedway has partnered with Hairball and the Mary Moon Foundation to raise money to benefit Children and families of Children that are critically ill.  All admission proceeds will go to the foundation.  The racing will be earlier than normal with Spectator Gates opening at 3pm, action begins just before 4pm and Opening Ceremony at 5pm.  Music begins with Neptune Cocktail at 7:45pm and Hairball takes the outdoor stage at 9pm, music resumes inside at 11pm until bar close time.

Admission price is $20 in advance at ElkoSpeedway.com or at the gates until 5pm.  Admission goes up to $25 after 5pm.

Get more information by going to MaryMoonFoundation.org or follow Elko Speedway on all forms of social media.  Go to ElkoSpeedway.com, download our free app by searching Elko Racing or call (952) 461-7223.

Elko Speedway is a 3/8th mile NASCAR sanctioned asphalt oval racetrack with stadium seating located 30 minutes South of Downtown Minneapolis or St Paul just off of I-35 and County Road 2 in Elko (MN).