ELKO! 2018 Season Preview

By: Jason D Searcy

The 2018 NASCAR Whelen All American racing season is slated, to begin with the 53rd Elko Speedway season opener on Saturday, May 19th.

Here is a quick review of 2017 in the Hiway Federal Credit Union Late Model division at ELKO. Twelve different drivers won a feature event with #72 Jacob Goede topping the field with eight wins. Goede won his fourth consecutive Championship.

2017 Final Late Model Points:
1- #72 Jacob Goede
2- #14 Grant Brown
3- #40 Michael Beamish
4- #6 Owin Giles
5- #52 Chad Walen

2017 Late Model feature wins:
8- #72 Jacob Goede
4- #75 Joe Neisius
3- #18 Michael Ostdiek
2- #3 Chris Marek
2- #6 Owin Giles
2- #54 Dylan Moore
1- #14 Grant Brown
1- #40 Michael Beamish
1- #71 Derek Lemke
1- #42 Ryan Kamish
1- #22 Nick Panitzke
1- #41 Donny Reuvers

Some exciting new talent has moved into the Late Model division for the 2018 season including:

#14 Devyn Stocker- has had lots of experience in the Great North Legends
#31 Ryan Varner- many wins in the Power Stock and Bomber divisions
#80 Clifford Adee- former Power Stock driver looking to break into the premier division

Long-time drivers #26 L.B Berthiaume and #27 Paul Paine also were shaking down their Late Model cars at the 2018 Test and Tune day and looking to make a return to ELKO after some time off.

Here is a review of the Elko Speedway Genz-Ryan Thunder Car division. Eleven different drivers won a feature event in 2017 with #3 Conrad Jorgenson scoring the most wins with nine. Conrad also won his fifth title at ELKO.

2017 Thunder Car Final Points:
1- #3 Conrad Jorgenson
2- #32 Jeremy Wolff
3- #8 Ted Reuvers
4- #99 Brent Kane
5- #07 Dillon Sellner

2017 Thunder Car feature wins:
9- #3 Conrad Jorgenson
8- #99 Brent Kane
3- #32 Jeremy Wolff
2- #28 Michael Homan
1- #8 Ted Reuvers
1- #07 Dillon Sellner
1- #37 Bryce Blohm
1- #52 Dave Reed
1- #09 Matt Wiebusch
1- #9 Adam Wiebusch
1- #10 Dusty Mann

Alex Vincent #36 has moved up into the ELKO Thunder Cars in 2018, he won seven features in the Hornets last year.

Here is a review of the 2017 Pepsi Power Stock division at ELKO. Seven different drivers won a feature event with #10 Dusty Mann winning eight times, Mann also won his second Power Stock title at Elko Speedway.

2017 Final Power Stock Points:
1- #10 Dusty Mann
2- #62 Tom Doten
3- #88 Nick Oxborough
4- #8 Taylor Goldman
5- #56 Paul Hamilton

2017 Power Stocks feature wins:
8- #10 Dusty Mann
4- #88 Nick Oxborough
4- #8 Taylor Goldman
4- #66 Joe Prusak
2- #54 Tim Hollen
1- #56 Paul Hamilton
1- #24 Jason Michaud

The Prusak race team plans on fielding three cars in 2018, one each for father #66 Joe Prusak and sons #6 Joey and #66P Max. Taylor Jacobson-Pearson #3 plans on racing when it doesn’t interfere with his National Guard duties. #40 Josh Gernentz will be back after about a ten year absence and #41 Ben Gannon will be racing for the first time in an ELKO Power Stock. Expect to see #33 Craig Wierson on a more regular basis.

Here is a review of the 2017 season for the Eternity Homes Great North Legends division at Elko Speedway. Six different drivers won a feature event with Derek Lemke #71 winning nine times, Lemke also won his fourth consecutive Championship at ELKO.

2017 Final Legends Points:
1- #71 Derek Lemke
2- #8 Cole Klein
3- #75 Baiden Heskett
4- #14 Devyn Stocker
5- #91 Tristan Swanson

2017 Legends Feature wins at ELKO:
9- #71 Derek Lemke
3- #75 Baiden Heskett
3- #91 Tristan Swanson
1- #8 Cole Klein
1- #7 Jackson Lewis
1- #3 Dirk Henry

Many-time Hornets winner Ridge Oien will be racing the #07 car and Jon Kemp #74 will be returning to racing after about a decade away. You never know who might show up to race in the Legends division, ELKO has seen drivers from as far away as Australia try out ELKO.

The Brock’s Flooring Bando’s had only two different winners in 2017 at ELKO with #8 Colin Stocker winning seven times and taking home the Championship. Kody King #14 won one feature last year racing part-time, he plans on racing the full season at Elko Speedway this year.

2017 ELKO Bandolero Final Points:
1- #8 Colin Stocker
2- #99 Max Mabee
3- #88 Christopher Konop
4- #01 Zachary Konop
5- #17 Jessica Ziemiecki

Seventeen different Bando drivers have registered for the 2018 racing season at Elko Speedway so far, including newcomers #07 Teddy and #70 Josiah Kottschade, #33 Leighton Wierson and #13 Ayrton Brockhouse.

The 2018 Racing Season with its 31st year of NASCAR sanctioning at Elko Speedway is scheduled to begin at Elko Speedway on Saturday, May 19th, gates open at 5pm and action at 6pm. Elko Speedway is located 30 minutes South of the Twin Cities just off of I-35 on County Road 2 in Elko-New Market MN. Get more information at ElkoSpeedway.com, follow Elko Speedway on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Twitter and download our free app by searching Elko Racing.