By Jason D Searcy

Elko, (MN) – September 23, 2017

The ninth annual Thunderstruck93 race event in memory of Dan Ryan to support the battle against ALS was held at Elko Speedway featuring many of the top racers in the country in attendance.

The 125 lap and twenty-six car Super Late Model main event from the ARCA Midwest Tour thrilled the crowd as #119 Dalton Zehr from Daytona Beach (FL) charged up from his twelfth starting spot and took the win.  Dennis Prunty #42 from Knowles (WI) led the race early, then former ELKO Thunder Car Champion #77 Jonathan Eilen from Hampton (MN) took over the lead on lap ten.  Ty Majeski #91 from Seymore (WI) is a Roush-Fenway developmental driver and just flew in to race ELKO after competing at Kentucky Speedway the night before, he started eleventh and moved up to take the lead on lap 66.  There was furious side by side action as drivers swapped the top spots, Dalton Zehr then made his move and passed Majeski on lap 107.  Majeski fought back hard and nearly got the lead back numerous times but Zehr held on for the win.

“It was a great race, it was a good show” said Zehr “it’s hard racing between us every time, we know how to race each other, he made it hard and then on that last restart I made it really hard but we had a little bit quicker car in the end so we were fortunate enough to come home with the win.” Zehr was presented the traditional Thunderstruck93 guitar trophy after the race.

The second place finish locked up the Midwest Tour title for Majeski, it is his record fourth consecutive title.  Jonathan Eilen held on for third and #8 Billy Mohn from New Market (MN) had a great run to finish fourth, #72 Jacob Goede, who won this race in 2009, rounded out the TOP 5 finishers.  Dan Fredrickson #36 is a five-time Thunderstruck winner, he raced near the front the entire race until getting caught up in an incident with only six laps remaining, he finished fifteenth.

Full results can be found at Midwesttour.racing

Chris Marek from Lakeville (MN) won the Big 8 Late Model series event at Elko Speedway during Thunderstruck93.

The 58 lap race provided constant excitement with no interruptions, twenty-five of the top Late Models in the region raced under the green light from start to finish.  Chad Walen #52 was the early leader, #13 Bryan Wrolstad raced him side by side and finally took over the top spot on lap eighteen.  Chris Marek then charged up from his fifth starting spot to challenge for the lead with twenty-five laps to go, Marek grabbed the lead with twenty to go and fought back ELKO point champion #72 Jacob Goede for the win.

“The car was really solid all day, we knew we weren’t the fastest car on the short run, but we had a pretty good long run piece and it payed off for the end,” said Marek “going cautionless really helped us.”

This is the second time that Marek has won at Thunderstruck93, a race that is in memory of Dan Ryan, a former ELKO racer and car owner who passed away from ALS in 2009.  Marek also won the Big 8 series race in 2013.  “This race is extra special because Dan was a good friend of my whole family and he was a mentor to me” said Marek.

Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) started tenth and finished second in his first ever Big 8 race, Bryan Wrolstad from Fairbault (MN) was very happy to hold on and finish on the podium for third.  Series point leader #2 Michael Bilderback from South Beloit (IL) started eleventh and moved up to finish in the fourth position and nine time ELKO champion #41 Donny Reuvers from Dundas (MN) rounded out the TOP 5 finishers. 

Full results can be found at Big8series.com 

Conrad Jorgenson #3 from Lakeville (MN) won the Genz-Ryan Thunder Car Championship, it was his fifth Championship at Elko Speedway.  “This is probably my favorite year, I’ve never won nine features before, we have had so much fun and racing one of the best competitors ever Jeremy Wolff (for the title), it was a blast” said Jorgenson.

Jorgenson won the first Thunder Car twenty lap main event.  Brent Kane #99 was the leader but with a few laps to go he started having transmission problems and Jorgenson got past him for the win and clinched the title.  Ted Reuvers #8 finished second, #32 Jeremy Wolff was third, #5 Todd Kamish fourth and #13 Colin Neisius finished fifth of the nineteen cars racing.

The second Thunder Car feature saw #09 Matt Wiebusch from Shakopee (MN) take the lead off the start and never look back, it was his first feature win at ELKO since 2009 and the big guns were right behind him.  Jeremy Wolff finished second, Jorgenson was third, Ted Ruevers fourth and #28 Michael Homan rounded out the TOP 5 finishers.

Jorgenson ended up winning the point title by 52 points over Wolff with Reuvers finishing third, Kane fourth and #07 Dillon Sellner fifth in points.

Joe Prusak #66 from Clayton (WI) won his fourth Pepsi Power Stock main event on Saturday night at Elko Speedway, it was his 189th victory in his career.  Julie Jorgenson #83 led early until Prusak took over the top spot and never gave it up even though #10 Dusty Mann was charging up from his tenth starting spot to challenge for the lead late.  Nick Oxborough #88 finished third, #27 Darin Patnode was fourth and #8 Taylor Goldman finished fifth of the eighteen cars racing.

Taylor Goldman #8 was the winner of the second Power stock twenty lap main event, it was her third victory of the year.  Ryan Barbaro #74 led early then #24 Jason Machaud grabbed the stop spot until Goldman took over on lap seven and held on for the win.  Dusty Mann finished second place again with Nick Oxborough coming home with another third place finish, #62 Tom Doten was fourth and Darin Patnode rounded out the TOP 5 finishers.

With the two second place finishes Dusty Mann increased his lead to 33 points over Tom Doten in the race for the Championship which will be decided on the final night of racing at Elko Speedway on September 30th.

Thirteen year old Tristan Swanson #91 from New Market (MN) won his first career Eternity Homes Great North Legend feature at Elko Speedway.  Tim Brockhouse #13 held the lead until Swanson passed him with four laps to go, Swanson then ran to the checkers for the win.  “We were really battling on the outside, I heard on the scanner it was five laps to go and I knew it was going to be really close” said Swanson who was both shocked and excited in victory lane.  Tim Brockhouse finished second, #75 Baiden Heskett was third, #8 Cole Klein fourth and #3 Dirk Henry rounded out the TOP 5 finishers.

The second Great North Legends feature was won by #71 Derek Lemke from Shakopee (MN) it was his ninth win of 2017 at ELKO.  Lemke led every lap of the twenty lap race but the battle was right behind him as #3 Dirk Henry and #75 Baiden Heskett raced wheel to wheel the entire race.  Henry ended up in second and Heskett third, #8 Cole Klein finished fourth and #13 Tim Brockhouse was fifth of the fifteen cars racing.

With the win Lemke extended his point lead to 264 points and clinched the 2017 Great North Legends point title at Elko Speedway with one race night to go on the schedule.

All the race results and points are unofficial at this time, any updates will be post at ElkoSpeedway.com 

Coming up next at ELKO is the final Eve of Destruction on Saturday September 30th.  The world famous figure 8 trailer race will be held also the Green Mamba Jet Car will be melting a car down to the ground, there will be a burnout contest and the season will end with an incredible Rock-n-Roll Fireworks show.  Also Champions will be crowned in the Legends, Power Stocks, Hornets and Bandolero divisions.  Gates open at 5pm, action begins at 6pm.  Get more information by following Elko Speedway on social media, at ElkoSpeedway.com or by calling (952) 461-7223.

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