By Jason D Searcy
June 23, 2018 – Elko, MN
It was a beautiful night for racing in the NASCAR Whelen All American Series at Elko Speedway and it was sponsored by Whelen Engineering on Saturday night.
The first Hiway Federal Credit Union Late Model feature event was won by #18 Michael Ostdiek from Lakeville (MN). Ostdiek was the 2013 Great North Legends Champion at ELKO and has spent much of his time the last couple years in various touring series and participating in the Kulwicki Driver Development Program, but Ostdiek always seems to do well when he races at his home track Elko Speedway. Ostdiek led all thirty laps and had a margin of victory of 2.473 seconds. Chris Marek #3 was awarded second, #52 Chad Walen edged #72 Jacob Goede in the race for third, those two cars raced side by side almost the entire race with fast qualifier #6 Owin Giles finishing fifth of the fifteen cars entered.
Four time Champion Jacob Goede #72 from Carver (MN) won the second Late Model feature event at Elko Speedway. Tyler Kingery #58 led the first few laps of the race until #13 Bryan Wrolstad grabbed the lead on lap four. Goede charged up from his fourth row starting position and when the caution came out on lap thirteen, he capitalized by taking the top spot after the restart. It was the third win of the season for Goede. Chris Marek #3 had another good consistent night, moving up eight positions and finishing in second place, Bryan Wrolstad was third, #31 Ryan Varner finished fourth and #21 Adam Bendzick was fifth.
The Unofficial Point Standings has Jacob Goede leading Chris Marek by 55 points and Chad Walen 56 points out of the top spot in the Late Model division.
The Genz Ryan Thunder Car first feature event had #7 Brandon Petersen lead the first lap and #25 Eric Campbell lead lap number two. The Whelen caution lights came on after lap three and then #32 Jeremy Wolff from Chaska (MN) challenged for the lead, he went side by side with Campbell until taking the top spot on lap five. Wolff then held on to the lead and ended up winning by 1.498 seconds over Campbell with #37 Bryce Blohm finishing third, #07 Dillon Sellner fourth and #9 Matt Wiebusch fifth of the twelve cars entered.
His luck finally changed as four time ELKO Champion Conrad Jorgenson #3 from Lakeville (MN) won the second Thunder Car feature. Jorgenson has been snake-bit this season with all forms of bad luck but Saturday night things seem to be turning around. Fast qualifier Jorgenson led the early laps until a yellow flag flew on lap six and he was challenged by #99 Brent Kane off the restart, Kane and Jorgenson battled side by side until Kane took over the top spot on lap nine. This was the first race night of the season for Kane and he seemed to be cruising for the win until he experienced mechanical problems on lap fifteen and did not finish the race. That opened the door for Jorgenson to retake the lead and take home the win, his first of the season. Dillon Sellner #07 was second, #25 Eric Campbell finished third, #09 Adam Wiebusch fourth and #32 Jeremy Wolff finished fifth.
The Unofficial Point standings has Jeremy Wolff leading Dillon Sellner by 27 points in the race for the Championship.
The Pepsi Power Stock division always seems to entertain the fans at Elko Speedway. Josh Gernetz #40 led the early portion of the twenty lap race until #41 Ben Gannon took over the lead on lap six. Gannon held the point until #83 Julie Jorgenson from Lakeville (MN) made a bold move and passed him for the lead with just three laps to go in the twenty lap race. Jorgenson was winless in her racing career until last week, now she has victories in two consecutive weeks, she won by .897 seconds over #41m Jason Michaud who moved up from his tenth starting position to finish second. Fast timer #08 Michael Stoer finished third, #88 Nick Oxborough had a blown motor in practice so he raced Taylor Goldmans back-up car to a fourth place finish and Ben Gannon rounded out the TOP 5.
The second Power Stock feature saw #27 Darin Patnode take the early lead until 2017 Champion #10 Dusty Mann from Farmington (MN) grabbed the lead on lap five. This was the first race night of the season for Mann who was planning on racing full-time in the Thunder Car division this year, but plans changed after a wreck in opening day practice derailed his season. Dusty Mann did not relinquish the lead and won by 1.172 seconds in the car he built ten years ago and won the Championship with last year. Joe Prusak #66 finished second, #8 Taylor Goldman finished third, #08 Michael Stoer was fourth and Darin Patnode was fifth of the fourteen cars entered in the race.
The Unofficial Point Standings has Jason Michaud leading Taylor Goldman by 12 points.
The first Eternity Homes Great North Legends feature had #91 Tristan Swanson grab the lead from the start, a caution came out on lap fifteen and bunched up the sixteen car field. Jackson Lewis #7 had charged up from his seventh starting position to challenge for the lead on the last lap when his motor blew causing an incident that took out not only his car but also the #8 car driven by Cole Klien. On the Green-White-Checkered finish Swanson won the drag race down the front stretch and won by just .038 seconds over #75 Baiden Heskett. It was the second win of the season for Swanson. Will McCully #26 drove a strong race to finish third, #03 Robby Carter was fourth and #12 Sammy Smith finished fifth.
The second Great North Legends feature had #47 Austin Jahr lead the first half of the race until fast qualifier #75 Baiden Heskett took over on lap twelve. First feature winner #91 Tristan Swanson had mechanical problems and dropped from the race early. Once Heskett took the lead he held on for his fourth victory of the season winning by 1.205 seconds over #12 Sammy Smith, #03 Robby Carter was third, #16 Matt Allen fourth and #26 Will McCully finished fifth. “There is a lot of good equipment out here and a lot of good drivers” said Heskett “we’ve got some of the best talent in the Midwest up here at Elko Speedway, I love this track, I love how racey it is, it’s by far my favorite track.” Heskett is originally from Fort Worth (TX) and has won many big INEX events across the country but now lives in Shakopee (MN).
Unofficially Baiden Heskett has a 99 point lead over Robby Carter in the race for the Championship.
The Brock’s Flooring Bandolero feature had eleven year old #06 Adam Ratliff from Apple Valley (MN) take the lead from the start. The #14 of Kody King took over the point on lap three and he was instantly challenged by #8 Colin Stocker, those two battled until contact with three laps to go brought out the caution. King was then out of the race with damage and Stocker had to go to the back of the field. Ratliff took advantage and held on by .411 seconds for the first Bandolero win of his career. Teddy Kottschade #07 finished second, #99 Max Mabee was third, #56 Clayton Dorner fourth and #13 Ayrton Brockhouse fifth.
Unofficially Max Mabee has a three point lead over Adam Ratliff in the point standings with Colin Stocker, Kody King and Teddy Kottschade all within fourteen points of the lead.
All Results are Unofficial at this time, Official results will be posted mid-week at ElkoSpeeway.com
The first Elko Speedway Kids Club winners were announced and they were Blake Herman and Reese Goede. Those two kids enjoyed the honor of starting the entire race night during opening ceremony, waving the green flag to start a race and getting photos with winners in victory lane. Any kid twelve and under can sign up for the Elko Speedway Kids Club and get free admission for our NASCAR and Eve of Destruction events throughout the rest of the 2018 season.
Coming up next at ELKO is an Eve of Destruction event on Saturday June 30th. Fireworks, the Drifter Cars, the Green Mamba Jet Car, the ATV Big Air Tour, Flippenout Extreme Trampoline Stunts, School Bus Races plus Late Models, Thunder Cars and Power Stocks and DJ Diesel playing music in Champions Bar after the races.
Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile banked asphalt oval race track with stadium seating located thirty minutes South of the Twin Cities in Elko-New Market (MN). For more information follow us on social media, download our free app by searching Elko Racing or go to ElkoSpeedway.com