(RACE RECAP) August 19, 2023 Eve Of Destruction

Race Story
August 19, 2023 – Elko, MN
By Jason D Searcy

The annual Tribute night and Eve of Destruction at Elko Speedway was held on Saturday sponsored by Schmitty and Sons Bus Company.

The first race in the NASCAR sanctioned Late Models had #72 Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) winning, he started on the pole position and led every lap of the 25, it was a cautionlesys race. Goede won by 1.007 seconds, it was his third win of the season for the 9-time defending Champion at Elko Speedway. Another 9-time Champion Donny Reuvers #41 was the fast qualifier and finished second, #18 Michael Ostdiek was third, #3 Chris Marek fourth and #6 Owin Giles was fifth of the 19 cars in attendance.

The second Late Model race was 40 laps, it’s a 30th annual race in memory of 1988 and 1992 Elko Speedway Champion Dwain Behrens. Owin Giles from Elko (MN) was the winner, he led the first lap before ASA Midwest tour alum #75 Joel Thiesen took the lead, Giles then retook the lead on lap 5 with a bold pass and motored his way to the victory. The race went green for 40 laps uninterrupted with some of the best Late Model drivers in the North racing each other hard. Giles won by 1.434 seconds, it was his first win of the season at ELKO, he accepted the traditional clock trophy from the Behrens family after the race in victory lane. Chad Walen #52 finished second, Jacob Goede was third, nephew of Behrens Michael Ostdiek finished fourth and #19 Jake Ryan rounded out the top five.

Rockford Speedway and Big 8 Champion Michael Bilderback from South Beloit (IL) raced and finished 10th and 12th in the two feature events.

With the win in feature number one Jacob Goede has retaken the lead from Jake Ryan by 16 points in the race for the Late Model championship.

The NASCAR sanctioned Thunder Cars raced two feature events Saturday night at ELKO. The first race had #07 Dillon Sellner from Randolph (MN) taking the lead on the opening lap from the second row, he then never looked back and won the cautionless race by 3.725 seconds, it was his third win of the season. Jason Novak #88 was second, #99 Brent Kane third, #83 Julie Jorgenson fourth and #32 Jeremy Wolff fifth of the 11 cars entered.

The second feature was a 30 lap event, it was the 10th annual Scott Kingery memorial Thunder Car race, Scott was a well liked driver and car owner in the Thunder Car division who died of cancer a decade ago. Former two-time winner of this event, Jeremy Wolff #32 led the first five laps but then Julie Jorgenson from Lakeville (MN) took the lead and never gave it up. Jorgenson won by 0.864 seconds, and she adds her name to the list of winners for this event, a list that includes her father Conrad as a three-time winner. It was the second win of the season in the Thunder Cars for Julie Jorgenson. Tommy Sorem #29 was second, Dillon Sellner finished third, Jeremy Wolff fourth and Brent Kane, a three-time winner of this event, finished fifth. Jorgenson was presented with the traditional light-up trophy by the Kingery family in victory lane.

With his first feature win, Dillon Sellner has taken over the lead from Brent Kane by 7 points in the race for the 2023 Thunder Car Championship.

The NASCAR sanctioned Power Stocks raced two exciting 20 lap feature events during the Eve of Destruction Saturday night at ELKO.

The first race had Gary Stokvis #45 take the early lead before #3 Jimmie Jorgenson grabbed the top spot on lap 4. Point leader Dusty Mann #10 from Elko (MN) took over at the mid-race point but he had to fight hard to get the win. Mann had to hold on through a green-white-checkers situation at the end of the race to win by just 0.262 seconds. It was the second win of the season for Mann in the Power Stocks. Julie Jorgenson #83 finished second place by a whisker, Jimmie Jorgenson was third and Stokvis finished fourth. The top 4 were separated by only 1.626 seconds at the finish line. Former Champion #8 Taylor Goldman raced her way up from the 12th starting position to finish fifth of the 13 cars competing. Title competitor #8 Mike Stoer was involved in a wreck and was scored last in this race.

The second Power Stock feature event had 2018 Power Stock Champion Taylor Goldman lead the first six laps until being passed by #3 Jimmie Jorgenson from Lakeville (MN). Jorgenson then had to hold back the hard charges of 5-time Champion #88 Nick Oxborough who raced up from his 12th starting position to challenge for the lead. Jimmie Jorgenson won by 0.599 seconds, it was his third win of the season at ELKO. Oxborough finished second, Julie Jorgenson was third, Gary Stokvis fourth and Dusty Mann was fifth of the 13 cars entered.

Julie Jorgenson and Dusty Mann now have just a handful of points separating them in the race for the 2023 ELKO Power Stock point title, Mann leads by 3 going into the next week of racing.

The INEX sanctioned Legends cars raced two 20 lap feature events at Elko Speedway on Saturday night Aug 19th. Both races were won by #66 Tristan Swanson from Elko (MN), Swanson started racing this car owned by Prusak racing mid-season but has been on a tear ever since, he has won 6 of the last 8 feature events at ELKO.

The first feature event was slowed by four caution flags. Dirk Henry #3 took the lead off the green flag, Robby Carter #87 grabbed the top spot on lap four. Tristan Swanson moved to the point on lap 8 and had to hold on through a couple more yellow flags before finally holding on to win by 0.862 seconds. Robby Carter finished second, Dirk Henry third, defending Champion and fast-timer Colin Stocker #8 had to race up from the back of the pack after a spin to finish fourth and 13 yr old Ayrton Brockhouse #12 finished 5th.

The second race had Casey Traxler #9 lead the first lap, Ayrton Brockhouse leading on lap four and Colin Stocker taking over on lap five of the 20 lap race. Swanson started 8th and worked his way up to the lead just after a caution at the half-way of the race, he then held off a hard charging Colin Stocker to win by 0.24 seconds at the finish line. Dirk Henry
was third, Ayrton Brockhouse finished fourth and Robby Carter was fifth of the 22 cars entered. This was the second race weekend in a row of clean sweeps of the feature events at ELKO for Swanson.

Former Bando winner at Elko Speedway #15 Alex Hartwig from Portage (WI) finished both feature events in the 6th position. Colin Stocker still leads in the race for the Legends division points championship at Elko Speedway, he has a 74 point lead over Ayrton Brockhouse.

The INEX sanctioned Bandoleros raced two features during Eve of Destruction Saturday night at Elko Speedway. The first feature was won by #32 Colton Roe Pershall from Sartell (MN), this race was slowed by caution flags 6 times, it finished after lap 9 because of the time limit. It was the second win of the season for Roe Pershall. Makayee Konop #89 finished second, #8 Thomas Poretsky was third, #07 Jackson Kottschade fourth and #75 Logen Carter fifth of the 10 cars competing.

The second Bando feature was won by Jackson Kottschade from Ramsey (MN) who took the lead from Logen Carter on lap 3 of 12, he then went on the win by 1.239 seconds. This feature event had five yellow flags, it was the fifth win of the season for Kottschade. Leighton Rose #18 was second, #32 Colton Roe Pershall third, Logen Carter fourth and Makaydee Konop
fifth.

Jackson Kottschade remains the leader in the race for the 2023 Bando points Championship at ELKO, he has 36 point lead over Leighton Rose.

For full results and points go to www.ElkoSpeedway.com Brent Kane was presented with the Jeremy Johnson “Tire Guy” memorial sportsmanship award.

Zach Martin from Arlington (MN) won the Spectator drags in his 2019 Hyundai Veloster.

Two Monster Trucks crushed cars during Eve of Destruction including Barely Tame driven by Mike Rowley from Grand Forks (ND) and the classic Carolina Crusher driven by Cameron Tweedy from Jonesboro (IL).

Stuntman Mr Dizzy crashed into a stack of cars in the infield of the track.

The amazing MotoGlobe act took place on the West Concourse.

Figure 8 school bus races thrilled the crowd to finish the entertainment forthe evening.