By Jason D Searcy

September 16, 2017 – Elko, MN

The Safety-Kleen sponsored Late Model Championship night saw Jacob Goede #72 from Carver (MN) win both of the thirty lap Hiway Federal Credit Union Late Model features to wrap up the season with eight wins and his fourth consecutive title at Elko Speedway.

“The competition out here is really stout when everyone shows up and it’s hard to get to the front in thirty laps, a lot of side by side racing and a lot of good cars to pass, so to get both feature wins and the Championship the way it turned out it was a really stellar end of the season,” said Goede.

Goede did it the hard way, he started eighth of the eighteen cars in the first Late Model feature, #13 Bryan Wrolstad led early in the race until Goede worked his way up to the top spot on lap eighteen.  Goede won by 1.351 seconds over #52 Chad Walen, #3 Chris Marek finished third, Wrolstad dropped to fourth and #51 Justin Neisius rounded out the TOP 5.

Goede started back even further in the second Late Model feature, he began the race in thirteenth and amazingly weaved his way up to the lead at the half-way point of the race.  Derek Lemke #71 and #40 Michael Beamish both led laps early in the event but #75 Joe Neisius drove his way to the second position, finishing 2.657 seconds behind Goede.  Justin Neisus #51 crossed the line in third but did not pass post-race technical inspection so #22 Nick Panitzke was awarded third, Kulwicki Driver Development competitor #18 Michael Ostdiek was fourth and Derek Lemke finished fifth of the sixteen cars who started the second feature.

Unofficially Jacob Goede won the ELKO championship by a whopping 291 points over #14 Grant Brown.

Brent Kane #99 from Lonsdale (MN) won his eighth Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event of the season at ELKO.  Kane grabbed the lead early and never gave it up in the first twenty lap feature.  2016 Champion Jeremy Wolff #32 finished second, he was .929 seconds behind Kane at the finish, #8 Ted Reuvers crossed the finish line third, point leader #3 Conrad Jorgenson was fourth and #13 Colin Neisius was fifth of the nineteen Thunder Cars racing in this event on Saturday night.

Dillon Sellner #07 won the second Thunder Car feature event at ELKO.  Sellner found motor problems before practice and was forced to look for a back-up car to race, Conrad Jorgenson suggested that Sellner try the #20 car that was most recently raced by James Lindgren one month earlier, the car was in Jorgenson’s yard.  “There was two flat tires on the thing and leaves in the car from sitting in his backyard,” said Seller “we just kept adjusting small things on it and it came to life that second feature.”  Sellner took an early lead and then had to hold off a hard-charging #8 of Ted Reuvers to win by only .068 seconds “he was coming fast and I knew I was going to have to use him up a little bit, I don’t like to race that way but you do what you have to do to win,” said Seller.  This was the first win of the season for Sellner who had finished second many times, “for the first time in about two years I had fun today, no pressure, no expectations, it was fun,” said Seller.  Michael Homan #28 finished third, #3 Conrad Jorgenson finished fourth and #32 Jeremy Wolff rounded out the TOP 5.

Unofficially Conrad Jorgenson has a forty-six point lead over Jeremy Wolff going into the final points night for the Thunder Car division next Saturday during the Thunderstruck93 event when they will race two feature events.

Baiden Heskett from Fort Worth (TX) won his third Eternity Homes Great North Legends feature at Elko Speedway.  Heskett drove the #16 car usually raced by Matt Allen, he led the race early, lost the lead to #71 Derek Lemke and then took it back in the last corner of the last lap winning by only .109 seconds.  Lemke was on his way to winning his ninth feature of the year until the panhard bar broke on the last lap causing the cars’ rear end to shift and making for a wild final set of corners.  Lemke did hold on for second place he finished just ahead of former ELKO Legends Champion #6 Ryan Johnson, who is now living in Florida and working for Tequila Patron ESM racing, Cole Klein #8 was fourth and #91 Tristan Swanson finished fifth of the eleven cars racing.

Unofficially Derek Lemke has a 263 point lead over Cole Klein in the race for the Elko Speedway Championship which will be determined on September 30th during the final Eve of Destruction.

Dusty Mann from Farmington (MN) won the first Pepsi Power Stock feature event.  Mann started the race thirteenth on the grid of sixteen race cars and worked his way through the pack, he finally took the lead coming out of turn four and won by only .052 seconds for his eighth win of the season.  Julie Jorgenson #83 drove the best race of her short career, the eighteen year old driver led nearly every lap and was just edged at the finish line by inches.  Defending Champion Tom Doten #62 finished third, former Champion #88 Nick Oxborough was fourth and #8 Taylor Goldman rounded out the TOP 5.

In the second Power Stock feature #5 Dustin Tuma led the first four laps until #8 Taylor Goldman from Minnetonka (MN) grabbed the top spot and set sail.  Goldman was never challenged for the lead and won for the second time this season.  Tom Doten #62 was the closest competitor, he finished 2.494 seconds behind Goldman, #88 Nick Oxborough finished third, current point leader #10 Dusty Mann was fourth and #56 Paul Hamilton crossed the finish line fifth.

Unofficially Dusty Mann now has a ten point lead over Tom Doten in the race for the ELKO Power Stock Championship, the winner will be crowned the final race night on September 30th.

Alex Vincent #36v from Owatonna (MN) won the first Hornet feature event, he took the lead from #41 Ashley Bell on lap six and he extended his advantage throughout the fifteen lap race.  Brandon Olson #36b finished second, #3 Michael Wachs Jr was third, Bell finished fourth and #14 Justin Schelitzche, who was racing the car Brandon Plekkenpol usually drives, rounded out the TOP 5.  It was the sixth win of the year for Vincent at ELKO.

Michael Wachs Jr #3 from New Prague (MN) made a bold move passing three cars on the inside of corner one early in the race, then held on to win his fifth feature of the year in the Hornets division.  Alex Vincent made it very close at the end, he finished just .270 seconds behind Wachs at the finish line for second, Brandon Olson was third, Justin Schelitzche finished fourth and #22 Shawn Grabinger was fifth.

Now unofficially Wachs Jr has a 28 point lead over Schelitzche going into the final race night on September 30th at Elko Speedway.

Colin Stocker #8 from Farmington (MN) won his sixth Brock’s Flooring Bandolero feature event on Saturday night, Max Mabee #99 finished second, #01 Zack Konop was third, #88 Christopher Konop finished fourth and #06 Adam Ratcliff was fifth of the ten cars racing Saturday night at Elko Speedway.  Stocker now has a 47 point lead over Christopher Konop in the race for the Bando Championship which will be concluded on the final night of racing September 30th at ELKO.

All results and points are unofficial at press-time, the official results will be posted mid-week at ElkoSpeedway.com

Coming up next at ELKO is the ninth annual Thunderstruck93 event to celebrate the life of Dan Ryan and to fight ALS.  The spectator gates will open at 2:30pm, on-track autograph session from 2:25pm-4pm and qualifying begins at 4:15pm.  Racing with the best Super Late Models in the Nation with the ARCA Midwest Tour 125 laps also BIG 8 Late Models 58 laps, the Thunder Car Championship, Great North Legends and Power Stocks.

Get more information at ElkoSpeedway.com, search 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 with stadium seating located 30 minutes South of Minneapolis in Elko (MN).