By Jason D Searcy
August 12, 2017- Elko, MN
Anchor Bank presented an action packed Eve of Destruction at Elko Speedway Saturday night featuring racing in the NASCAR Whelen All American series.
The Genz-Ryan Thunder Cars were the premiere division on this night of racing at ELKO. Conrad Jorgenson #3 from Lakeville (MN) won the first 20 lap main event. Jorgenson started the race eighth on the grid of nineteen cars, Colin Neisius #13 and Matt Wiebusch #09 dueled for the top spot side by side until Wiebusch finally established the lead on lap seven, Dillon Sellner #07 then drove up to the point one lap later. It didn’t matter who was up front to Jorgenson, he blasted forward, snatched the lead on lap thirteen and won by 1.673 seconds. Dillon Sellner finished second, Ted Reuvers #8 was third, defending point champion #32 Jeremy Wolff was fourth and #13 Collin Neisius rounded out the TOP 5 finishers. This was the seventh feature win of the year for Conrad Jorgenson.
James Lindgren #20 and #99 Brent Kane from Lonsdale (MN) started on the front row in the second 20 lap feature for the Thunder Cars. The top two had a great battle until Kane edged in front on lap six of twenty. First feature winner #3 Conrad Jorgenson was hoping for a clean sweep, he started the race in the seventh position and had moved up to second by the half-way mark of the race. Jorgenson put a lot of pressure on Kane but just couldn’t quite make the pass. Jorgenson drag raced Kane down the front stretch on the last lap but finished in second place, exactly .1 second behind Kane at the finish line. Bryce Blohm #37 just beat out #07 Dillon Sellner for third and the #32 car driven by Jeremy Wolff finished fifth. With the win Brent Kane joined Conrad Jorgenson as Thunder Car drivers with seven wins on the season so far.
With the two strong finishes Conrad Jorgenson took over the point lead, he now leads Jeremy Wolff by 21 points in the race for the ELKO track Championship.
The Eternity Homes Great North Legends race was full of drama and lots of caution flags. Seventeen cars started the race, veteran driver Tim Brockhouse #6 held the early lead until he was overtaken by #16 Matt Allen just past the half-way point of the twenty lap feature event and then Brockhouse dropped back due to mechanical problems. Matt Allen was challenged by #75 Baiden Heskett who took the lead on lap sixteen. Then bad luck struck for Heskett, the yellow came out on lap 17 and #71 Derek Lemke overtook Heskett for the top spot on the restart. Another caution flag flew and things got worse for Heskett. On the restart somehow his steering mechanism failed and even though he was turning the steering wheel the car car went straight for the wall in corner number one. Heskett jammed on the binders and narrowly missed a very bad situation. Heskett did not finish the race and was accredited with the seventeenth position. On the third restart Lemke held back a hard charging #4 of Brady Fox-Rhode and won by only .182 seconds. Jon Lemke #17 finished third, #8 Cole Klien was fourth and Matt Allen crossed the finish line fifth. This was the fifth feature win of the year for Derek Lemke in this division at Elko Speedway.
Derek Lemke now has a 93 point lead over his father Jon Lemke in the battle for the ELKO Great North Legends Championship.
The Pepsi Power Stock 20 lap main event was a good one, #24 Jason Machaud had the early lead until #88 Nick Oxborough from Lakeville (MN) sneaked past him with an inside move on lap five. Oxborough then had to hold off defending point champion #62 Tom Doten for the rest of the race, he did just that and on the 20th and final lap Oxborough had a 2.65 second lead, scoring his second win of the 2017 season. Doten finished second, #56 Paul Hamilton was third, Jason Machaud fourth and #93 Matt Ryan finished fifth. Point leader Dusty Mann #10 was stuck back in traffic and only finished ninth of the seventeen cars racing in the feature event.
Dusty Mann now has a 21 point lead over Tom Doten in the race for the 2017 Power Stock Championship at Elko Speedway.
Fifteen front wheel driver four cylinder cars raced in the Hornets 15 lap feature event during Eve of Destruction at ELKO. Aaron Reimers #2 led the first couple laps until #55 Brandon Plekkenpol took over the top spot, he then weaved his way through traffic and crossed the finish line first. Brandon Olson from Minneapolis (MN) started the race sixth on the grid, he moved up as the race progressed and ended up winning his second trophy of the year in the Hornets division because the Plekkenpol car did not pass post-race inspection in the Hiway Federal Credit Union Tech Shed. Brandon Olson was declared the winner, #3 Michael Wachs Jr was second, Shawn Grabinger #22 third, #14 Justin Schelitzche was fourth and #36 Alex Vincent was awarded fifth at ELKO.
Justin Schelitzche now has a 28 point lead over Michael Wachs Jr in the race for the Hornets Championship.
Results and Point Standings are currently unofficial, official information will be posted midweek at ElkoSpeedway.com
Clay Gallagher and his son are throwbacks to the classic Hollywood stuntmen, they put on quite a show during Eve of Destruction. First they completed the famous “Triple Car Jump” not only once but twice for the very appreciative crowd at ELKO. Then they thrilled the near capacity crowd by driving an SUV through a RV Camper no less then five times, a display of destruction at its best.
The Spectator Drags and Figure Eight Bus Races were very entertaining as per usual and the two monster trucks tore through smashed cars and displayed incredible driving skill.
Up next at Elko Speedway will be the annual memorial night of racing. Special events will be held in the Late Model and Thunder Car divisions. Gates open at 5pm with action beginning at 6pm. Get more information at ElkoSpeedway.com, follow Elko Speedway on social media, download the free Elko Racing app or by calling (952) 461-7223.
Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile oval asphalt race track located 30 minutes South of Minneapolis or St Paul just off of I-35 and County Road 2 in Elko (MN).