(RACE RECAP) August 13th, 2022 Eve Of Destruction

By Jason D Searcy

Fans at Elko Speedway have been blessed with good weather so far in 2022, the clouds rolled in and temperatures were mild Saturday night but the action on the track was hot for Eve of Destruction.

The NASCAR sanctioned Late Model division raced two 25 lap feature events, the first race was won by #8 Billy Mohn from New Market (MN). Mohn started the race in the second row outside, Chris Marek #3 led the first few laps and then Mohn took the lead and never looked back, he won by 1.045 seconds, it was the first win of the season for Mohn. Chris Marek finished second, #21 Adam Bendzick third, #19 Jake Ryan fourth and #32 Jeremy Wolff was fifth of the 20 cars entered. Fast-qualifier #72 Jacob Goede finished sixth.

The second Late Model feature was won by #72 Jacob Goede from Carver (MN), this was the first win of the season for the eight-time defending Champion at Elko Speedway, Goede won by 1.346 seconds. Owin Giles #6 finished second, #37 Bryce Blohm led numerous laps and finished third, #31 Ryan Varner fourth and #53 Jared Duda fifth. Coming into the night Chad Walen #52 was the point leader, he had a tough night with finishes of 20th and 9th in the two feature events.

Jacob Goede is the new point leader in the Late Model division, he now has an 11 point lead over Chad Walen in the race for the 2022 Championship.

The NASCAR sanctioned Thunder Car division raced two 20 lap features during Eve of Destruction at ELKO on Saturday night.

Defending Champion and fast-qualifier #07 Dillon Sellner from Randolph (MN) won the first race, his margin of victory was an impressive 2.213 seconds, it was the 5th win of the season for Sellner. Long-time Thunder Car racer #25 Eric Campbell, who lost his car in a residential fire last year, returned on Saturday by racing the Matt Wiebusch car. Campbell led numerous laps and finished in second place. Conrad Jorgenson #3 finished third, #9 Adam Wiebusch fourth and #8 Taylor Goldman fifth of the 11 cars racing.

The second Thunder Car feature was won by #3 Conrad Jorgenson, the 6-time ELKO Champion took the lead on lap 4 and won by 1.966 seconds, it was his fourth win of the season at Elko Speedway. Dillon Sellner #07 was second, #8 Taylor Goldman led some laps and finished an impressive 3rd, #99 Brent Kane was fourth and #25 Eric Campbell was fifth.

Dillon Sellner now has a 19 point lead over Conrad Jorgenson in the race for the 2022 Thunder Car Championship at ELKO.

The INEX sanctioned Great North Legends raced two 20 lap feature events during Eve of Destruction at ELKO. The first race was won by 2018 Champion #75 Baiden Heskett who is originally from Texas but now resides in Hastings (MN). Heskett held off point leader #8 Colin Stocker to win by 0.57 seconds at the finish line, it was his second win of the season. Tim Brockhouse finished third, fast-qualifier #71 Jon Lemke was fourth, #2 Rob Thurston led a lap and finished 5th, Jessie Mahoney #11 led the opening laps and finished 6th of the 18 cars competing.

The second Legends feature had #75 Baiden Heskett winning for the third time this season, Heskett won a drag race to the finish line by 0.204 seconds. Colin Stocker #8 finished second, he and #71 Jon Lemke were battling for the lead with a couple laps remaining, that duo had contact in corner two and both were passed by Heskett who then held on for the clean sweep of the night. Ayrton Brockhouse #12 was third, 2007 Champion #03 Ryan Johnson led a lap and finished fourth, Jon Lemke dropped back to fifth. Gage Schmidt #24 led the opening lap and finished 10th. Ty Fredrickson, son of former ELKO Champion Dan Fredrickson, raced for the first time, started both races at the back of the field and finished 9th and 15th.

The NASCAR sanctioned Power Stocks raced two 20 lap features at Elko Speedway. The first race was won by #08 Mike Stoer from Prior Lake (MN), Stoer moved up from the fourth row at the beginning and won by 0.538 seconds at the finish line. It was the 3rd win of the season for Stoer at ELKO. Joe Prusak #66 led some laps and finished second, #88 Nick Oxborough had mechanical problems in practice, got the car finished just before time trials and was the fast-qualifier, he moved up 7 spots and finished third, #19 Mark Berg finished 4th and #56 Paul Hamilton led some laps and finished 5th.

The second Power Stock main event had an exciting finish with #57 Jesse Fischer from Eagan (MN) edging #88 Nick Oxborough by 0.168 seconds after a great side by side battle. It was the fourth win of the season for Fischer. Oxborough finished in his familiar second position, #13 Matt Frye was third, #08 Mike Stoer fourth and #19 Mark Berg fifth of the 16 cars entered. Eric Montour #8 led some laps and finished 9th.

Defending Champion Nick Oxborough now leads Mike Stoer by 47 points in the race for the 2022 Power Stock title at ELKO.

The INEX sanctioned Bandoleros division is for kids ages 8-14, they raced two 12 lap features on the ¼ mile track which also serves as the pit lane when the ARCA series makes its annual trek to Elko Speedway.

The first race was won by #57 Mark Anderson Jr from Arden Hills (MN), he withstood two different attempts at a green-white-checkered finish and fought back the hard charges of #10 Danny Mann for much of the race, Mann ended up blowing his motor on the last lap coming out of turn #4 and dropped back to finish third. Mark Anderson Jr won by 0.877 seconds over #32 Colton Roe Pershall for his fourth win of the season. Danny Mann was third, Ayden Brockhouse #13 fourth and #89 Mackaydee Konop fifth of the 11 cars entered. Point leader #18 Leighton Rose had mechanical problems off the start and never completed a lap, #32 Jake Lipinski ended up rolling his car off of corner #2, he was OK but his car was retired for the night.

The second Bando feature had Danny Mann winning for the 6th time of 2022 at ELKO, but it was anything but easy. Mann had mechanical problems in the first race and was offered the opportunity to drive the #5 car usually driven by Christopher Flynn, who is much younger and smaller in size. After adjustments to the car Mann started the race mid-pack, he finally caught up to leader #57 Mark Anderson Jr with just a couple laps remaining in the race, after some contact in corner #2 Mann took the lead and held on to win by 0.701 seconds. Leighton Rose #18 was second, Mark Anderson Jr was third, Ayden Brockhouse #13 fourth and #56 Clayton Dorner was fifth of the 11 cars entered.

Danny Mann now leads Mark Anderson Jr by 4 pts and Leighton Rose by 15 points in the race for the 2022 Elko Speedway Bando points Championship.

All results and points are unofficial at the time of this release.

ATV Big Air Tour and BMX put on a great show of Action athletics, Two Monster Trucks thrilled the crowd, Mikalya and Brandon Tulachka in Just Get Er Done and Packer Fastener both did great freestyle runs off the new dirt ramps at Elko Speedway. Hunter Howell Extreme Monowheel drove through a wall of fire wowing the huge Eve of Destruction crowd.

Sam Buckner from Bloomington (MN) won spectator drags in his 1987 Chevrolet Corvette.

The School bus races ended in a roll over and Willie B Blues Band entertained in Champions lounge.

Up next is Back to School night Saturday August 20th at Elko Speedway with Bike Giveaways donated by the drivers at ELKO and free rides around the track in a school bus just before the opening ceremony. Plus Drifters, racing in all 5 divisions, spectator drags, school bus races and much more. Gates open at 4:30pm, action at 5pm.

Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile asphalt oval race track located 30 minutes South of the Twin Cities in Elko/New Market MN.