By Jason D Searcy
July 18, 2015 – Elko, MN
At the age of 43 Darrin Giles from New Market (MN) won his first ever MN Corn Growers Super Late Model feature event at Elko Speedway, and he held off Jacob Goede to do it.
Giles and fellow veteran racer Jason Schneider had a great side by side battle for much of the 40 lap main event in the NASCAR Whelen All American series, “Jason is a fellow competitor but also he is my neighbor so, I had to race him nicely,” said a smiling Giles in victory lane.
Giles got ahead of Schneider and then had to stay ahead of current point leader and 7 time winner Jacob Goede, “Goede is definitely the guy to beat this year” said Giles “I didn’t look in my mirror, when I heard he was coming I really had to hit my marks.”
Giles won by .225 seconds over Jacob Goede with Paul Paine in third and Jason Schneider finishing fourth in the 17 car field. Matt Goede had mechanical problems and finished 16th but he hung onto second place in points, 64 markers behind his brother Jacob.
Chris Marek from Lakeville (MN) won his 8th Hiway Federal Credit Union feature event at Elko Speedway. Marek had to come from 7th in the field of 14 cars in the 25 lap main event to take the win. Adam Bendzick lead the first half of the race, Marek then made his way to the front of the pack on lap 15 with Joe Neisius following close behind, Marek won by 1.266 seconds over Neisius at the checkered flag.
Marek now has an big 56 point lead over Ryan Kamish in the point standings.
Brent Kane from Lonsdale (MN) won the Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event, It is his 90th career win, and his 5th win this year at Elko Speedway.
Kane had been borrowing the Scott King car the previous two weeks after a vicious wreck that sent Kane to the hospital and his car in for a total rebuild three weeks ago.
Kane started near the front of the 19 car field but had to get past the point leader Jeremy Wolff who started on the pole. After a long battle and numerous restarts Kane passed Wolff and then had to fight back Devin Schmidt for the top spot, “Devin has really picked up the pace these last couple of years, he has really earned my respect, he got me loose a couple times” said Kane who won by .743 seconds even though his car was smoking the last few laps of the race. “I had tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat on the victory lap, I have so many people I want to thank for the help,” said Kane.
Wolff ended up with mechanical problems and finished 16th dropping him from the point lead, Kane is the new leader with a 9 point advantage over Wolff.
15 year old Grant Brown from Prior Lake (MN) won the Pepsi Power Stock main event, it was his 3rd win of the year. Brown won by 1.969 seconds over Brandon Peterson at the finish line but the story of the race occurred just seconds earlier.
Taylor Goldman had won the previous two Power Stock features and she was leading on the last lap in this race as well. It was a tight 20 lap race throughout, on the last set of corners Goldman dove below a lapped car with Grant Brown immediately behind her fighting for the top spot.
Some contact was made and Goldman ended up by the wall with all the lead lap cars driving past her, she finished the last car on the lead lap and Brown took home the win.
The Point leader Tom Doten finished third in the race, he is now 15 points ahead of Grant Brown in the standings with Taylor Goldman in third in points.
Derek Lemke of Shakopee (MN) won the Great North Legends main event in the National Qualifier race. Lemke beat Jaycen Brockhouse by .913 seconds to the checkered flag in this 20 lap affair that featured State Champion drivers from not only Minnesota but also Wisconsin and Iowa. Lemke was the Pro division winner, Ted Hough was the Semi Pro winner, Shon Jacobsen was the Masters winner and Will McCully was the Young Lions winner. The INEX Legends Asphalt Nationals will take place November 12-14 in Anderson South Carolina.
Lemke now has a 38 point lead in the standings over Matt Allen who finished 7th in the 25 car field.
Ridge Oien from Bloomington (MN) bested 16 cars and won the 15 lap Hornets main event for his third victory of 2015 at Elko Speedway. Oien battled with Ashley Bell and won by 1.132 seconds, Bell also has three feature wins, as does third place finisher Justin Schelitzche. Schelitzche now has a 20 point lead over Bell in the race for the point Championship.
The Bandoleros National Qualifier race was held at Elko Speedway and Owin Giles won the feature race, he was best in the 10 car field and gets a free pass into the National Championship A Main.
Get full Results by going to www.ElkoSpeedway.com and click RESULTS.
Immediately after the races 1980’s tribute band Hairball took to the outdoor stage and entertained the assembled crowd on the concourse.
Up next at Elko Speedway is an Eve of Destruction presented by the Minnesota State Lottery on Saturday night July 25th. Two Monster Trucks, School Bus Figure 8 Races, Spectator Drags, Double features, prize giveaways and much more. Gates open at 5pm and action begins at 6pm. Get more information by calling (952) 461-7223 and follow us on Social Media, search Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Elko Speedway is located 20 minutes South of the Twin Cities just off of I-35 and County Road 2.
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