By Jason D Searcy

May 26, 2018 – Elko, MN

The unofficial start of summer occurred Saturday night with racing in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series during a very hot and steamy Eve of Destruction over the Memorial Day weekend at Elko Speedway.

Chad Walen veteran driver #52 from Prior Lake (MN) won the first Hiway Federal Credit Union 30 lap Late Model feature. Walen has spent most summer weekends of his life at the racetrack either watching his uncle Mel Walen win races or driving his own race car, this year his experience seems to be paying off. Walen took the lead from #21 Adam Bendzick on lap 7 and never gave it up as Bendzick and four-time Champion #72 Jacob Goede battled side by side for the runner up position. Walen won by 2.802 seconds over Bendzick with Goede finishing third of the 14 cars entered.

The second Late Model feature was won by #3 Chris Marek from Lakeville (MN) but it was anything but easy. Marek started the race from the third row as #14 Devyn Stocker took the early lead, a wreck occurred back in the pack on lap two as #7 Paul Paine had mechanical problems and spun with defending Champion #72 Jacob Goede and #58 Tyler Kingery getting caught up in the Chaos, none of the three cars finished the race. Shortly after the restart #26 L.B. Berthiaume grabbed the top spot and Marek challenged Berthiaume for the lead on lap 10, those two cars raced inches apart for the rest of the race, it was an epic battle for the final 20 laps. On the final circuit Berthiaume dropped back and Marek took the win by .268 seconds over #6 Owin Giles and #21 Adam Bendzick finished third.

The Genz-Ryan Thunder Car feature number one had #14 Tony Holm lead the early laps until #25 Eric Campbell from Lonsdale (MN) take over the lead on lap 7 and hold on for his second win of the 2018 season at ELKO. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been able to win two weeks in a row, it’s very exciting, it’s good to see a lot of hard work is paying off,” said Campbell “I saw Tony (Holm) and Dillon (Sellner) fighting side by side and I was able to get away from them, halfway through the race I saw Jeremy (Wolff) hot on my tail and luckily we ran out of laps,” said a smiling Eric Campbell after the races. Jeremy Wolff #32 finished runner-up, he was .558 seconds behind Campbell at the finish line and defending Champion #3 Conrad Jorgenson finished third of the 10 cars entered.

The second Thunder Car feature saw #9 Adam Wiebusch take the lead off the start, Wiebusch held the top spot until getting passed by 2016 Champion #32 Jeremy Wolff from Chaska (MN) on lap 15 of 20. Wolff won by .879 seconds over Wiebusch and #07 Dillon Sellner finished in the third position. This is the first win of the season for Wolff who installed a new motor this week after blowing his power plant on opening night. Defending Champion #3 Conrad Jorgenson had mechanical problems and did not finish the second feature.

The first Pepsi Power Stock 20 lap feature was won by #6 Joey Prusak from Minnetonka (MN), Joey passed his father Joe Prusak #66 for the lead on lap 7 and never looked back. Joey won by .479 seconds over #41 Jason Michaud and #8 Taylor Goldman finished the race in the third position of the fifteen cars entered.

The second Power Stock feature was won by #27 Darin Patnode from Lonsdale (MN), he led every one of the twenty laps and took home the trophy for the first time in his racing career. It was a great race behind Patnode as a big pack of cars all battled for the second position. 2014 Champion Nick Oxborough #88 ended up finishing runner-up 1.178 seconds behind the winner, #08 Mike Stoer finished third in a very entertaining race.

Official results and point standings will be posted mid-week at ElkoSpeedway.com

The Eve of Destruction continued with great freestyle performances by Jim Bendzick from New Prague (MN) in Thunder 4×4 and Dave Noelke from Union (MO) in Tail Gator Monster Trucks.

Zach Lovera from Prior Lake (MN) won the Spectator Drags in a 1978 Chevy Camaro Z28.

Twin Stunts brothers Sawyer and Shannon Schmidtman from Valders (WI) did a great acrobatic motorcycle performance.

The crowd was also entertained by the School Bus races, two performances by Timberwork’s Lumberjacks and great music by the Devon Worley Band.

Up Next at Elko Speedway is Fan Appreciation night with $5 admission on Saturday June 2nd, 2018. Gates open at 5pm and action begins at 6pm.

Elko Speedway is located 30 minutes South of the Twin Cities just off of I-35 and County Road 2 in Elko-New Market (MN). ELKO is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile banked asphalt race track with stadium seating. Get more information at ElkoSpeedway.com or follow Elko Speedway on social media or download the free Elko Racing app.