By Jason D Searcy

July 1, 2017 – Elko, MN

The weather was perfect and the atmosphere was even better as a near sell-out crowd witnessed a Fourth of July Holiday version Eve of Destruction presented by MN Lottery at Elko Speedway on Saturday night.

Double 30 lap feature events were exciting in the Hiway Federal Credit Union Late Model division.  Joe Neisius #75 from Rosemount (MN) won the first feature, even though he started on the front row it was not easy.  Neisius raced side by side with the #17 Jon Lemke car early in the race until Neisius took control on lap four, he had a full straight-away lead at one point until #52 Chad Walen and #7 Hunter Paine tangled and the yellow flag was displayed with six laps remaining.  After the restart Neisius had to fight back the hard charging #71 car of Derek Lemke who drove from his 11th starting position all the way up to second.  Neisius won by only .238 seconds over Lemke with #14 Grant Brown finishing third, #72 Jacob Goede fourth and #42 Ryan Kamish fifth out of the full 22 car field.  This was the third feature win of the year for Joe Neisius at ELKO.

The second feature event had teammates starting on the front row, #7 Tony Brewer led early until a tire problem caused him to tag the wall and the lead was taken over by #33 Rick Burns.  Burns drove a great race and held the lead until lap 17.  Jacob Goede #72 from Carver (MN) is a three-time ELKO Champion, he started the 30 lap race eighth and moved his way to the front with 13 laps remaining.  Goede then extended his lead and won by 2.630 seconds over second place finisher Burns who held off #52 Chad Walen.  Grant Brown #14 crossed the finish line in fourth position and #42 Ryan Kamish finished fifth again, just like the first feature race.  It was the first feature win of the year for Goede.  

The NASCAR Whelen All American Series Premiere division point leader at ELKO changed with Jacob Goede taking over the top spot.  He now leads Joe Neisius by 12 points with Grant Brown in third, Ryan Kamish fourth and #40 Michael Beamish in fifth.

Brent Kane #99 from Lonsdale (MN) ran away with the first Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event, he started up front and led the entire race, eventually winning by .507 seconds.  The battle for the runner-up position was a good one, eventually #8 Ted Reuvers edged #3 Conrad Jorgenson by only .112 seconds with #37 Bryce Blohm finishing fourth and #9 Adam Weibusch fifth out of the strong nineteen car field.

The second Thunder Car 20 lap main event had lots of action as #75 Keith Paulsrud led the entire race until that most important final lap.  Jeremy Wolff #32 from Chaska (MN) weaved his way from the fifth starting position up to second place with five laps remaining, he then set his sights on the leader and finally made the winning move as they were coming to the white flag lap.  Wolff ended up winning by .252 seconds over Paulsrud with #37 Bryce Blohm finishing third, #28 Mike Homan fourth and #8 Ted Reuvers in fifth.  

Defending Thunder Car Champion Jeremy Wolff is the point leader by 6 over Conrad Jorgenson with Brent Kane in third, Ted Ruevers in fourth and Bryce Blohm in fifth currently.

The Eternity Homes Great North Legends main event had #7 Jackson Lewis leading early until a caution reset the 20 car field on lap six.  #75 Baiden Heskett from Fort Worth (TX) then grabbed the lead and never gave it up.  Point leader #71 Derek Lemke started the race seventh and worked his way up to battle for second by mid-race, he finally took over the second position with six laps to go but never did catch Heskett who won by 2.151 seconds.  “Lemke is always a fast guy so you have to watch out for him, I tried to get to the front as quick as I could so I could put some distance between us,” said Heskett “but even when we are racing side-by-side we have a lot of respect with each other.”  Derek Lemke finished second with his father #17 Jon Lemke taking home third, #14 Devyn Stocker was fourth and #7 Jackson Lewis finished fifth.  It was the first feature win at ELKO for Heskett.

Derek Lemke had won the previous three feature events, he is the point leader by 22 over his dad Jon Lemke.  Shon Jacobsen #22 is third in points followed by Devyn Stocker and Jackson Lewis.

The Hornets division had it’s fifth different winner to begin the 2017 season.  This time #41 Ashley Bell from Farmington (MN) won the 15 lap main event.  Ashley took the lead from the start and never gave it up, the battle for position was behind her as #7 Ridge Oien, #36b Brandon Olson and #22 Shawn Grabinger fought for the right to challenge Bell.  As it turned out Olson dropped back with mechanical problems, Oien jumped up to finish second, Grabinger was third, #14 Justin Schelitzche was fourth and #89 Michael Weiss finished fifth.  Amazingly enough, the Hornets division has now raced 5 feature events without a caution.

Five different drivers have won features in 2017 but the guy leading points is still winless.  Defending Champion Justin Schelitzche is at the top of the points board by 3 over Ashley Bell.  Brandon Plekkenpol #55 is third in points followed by Brandon Olson and #3 Michael Wachs Jr.

All race results and point standings will be made official mid-week.  Get more information as they are released at ElkoSpeedway.com

The rest of the Eve of Destruction was filled by Clay Gallagher doing his Elevator of Death stunt, in a car being dropped by a crane.  Two Monster Trucks from Illinois “Ghost Ryder” and “Girl Power” being driven by Larry and Shannon Quick thrilled the crowd by crushing cars, the spectator drags and School Bus Races were great as per usual and the night was capped up with a Salute to America fireworks show.  

Coming up next at Elko Speedway is a NASCAR Whelen All American Series race night on Saturday July 8th, gates open at 5pm and action begins at 6pm. Get more information on ElkoSpeedway.com, follow Elko Speedway on Social Media, download the free Elko Racing app or call (952) 461-7223

Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile asphalt oval race track located 30 minutes South of downtown Minneapolis (MN) just off of I-35 and County Road 2 in Elko (MN).