(RACE RECAP) August 20th, 2022 Eve Of Destruction

By Jason D Searcy

Kids showed up in force for the annual School Pride night at Elko Speedway on Saturday night and enjoyed a full night of entertainment during Eve of Destruction. Just before the opening ceremonies Schmitty and Sons Transportation gave well over 20 busloads of kids a ride around the 3/8th mile high banks at ELKO. During intermission Elko Speedway drivers and their sponsors gave away dozens of bikes to kids. The animals of Walton’s Hollow provided a petting zoo and kids were given the opportunity to paint a school bus that will be used next week during the Figure 8 school bus races.

An incredible field of NASCAR sanctioned Late Model’s raced two 25 lap feature events at Elko Speedway, the first one was won by #8 Billy Mohn from New Market (MN). Mohn had an impressive side by side battle with #21 Adam Bendzick the first portion of the race until he took the lead on lap 7, Mohn then had to hold on after a late restart to win by 1.196 seconds at the finish line, it was his second win of the season at ELKO. Adam Bendzick finished second, #32 Jeremy Wolff was third, #52 Chad Walen fourth and point leader #72 Jacob Goede was fifth. Fast-Qualifier #10 Dusty Mann finished 8th of the 25 drivers who started the race.

The second Late Model feature was a battle of attrition, the race saw 5 caution periods and 6 of the 25 cars who started the race did not finish, many other cars continued to race with damage. Jake Ryan #19 from Elko (MN), was the eventual winner, it was his 3rd win of the season at ELKO. Jacob Goede #72 rushed up to challenge Ryan the last few laps, he finished just 0.084 seconds behind and scored a second place finish. Michael Ostdiek #18 led some laps and finished third, #81 Bryan Syer-Keske was fourth and #10 Dusty Mann was fifth. Bryan Wrolstad #13 led the first 10 laps and finished 8th. Point Championship contender #52 Chad Walen was caught up in a wreck, but raced back with a damaged car to finish 11th.
Jacob Goede now has a 28 point lead over Chad Walen in the race for the 2022 Late Model Championship at ELKO.

The NASCAR sanctioned Thunder Car division raced two 20 lap features at Elko Speedway on Saturday night, the first race was won by #99 Brent Kane from Lonsdale (MN). Kane is a 4-time ELKO Thunder Car champion, he took the lead from the start and never relinquished it, it was his fifth win of the season. Dillon Sellner #07 challenged Kane for the win but eventually had to settle for second place, he finished 0.35 seconds behind. Fast-Qualifier Conrad Jorgenson #3 was third, #8 Taylor Goldman fourth and #14 Tony Holm fifth of the 12 cars entered. Popular driver Tina Lodermeier, formerly Tina Davis, returned to racing for the first time in 5 years and finished 10th.

The second Thunder Car feature was won by Matt Wiebusch #09 from Lonsdale (MN). Wiebusch is a former ELKO Power Stock champion, he took the lead on the opening lap, fought off a furious attack at the end and won by 0.098 seconds at the finish line, it was his first win of the season at Elko Speedway. Matt then jumped at the opportunity and proposed to his girlfriend Kenzie in victory lane, she said “yes” and the celebration was instantly doubled. Jeff Partington #53 had a very close second place finish, #8 Taylor Goldman finished third and #9 Adam Wiebusch fourth. Title contenders #99 Brent Kane finished fifth, #07 Dillon Sellner sixth and #3 Conrad Jorgenson seventh.

Dillon Sellner now has a 20 point lead over Conrad Jorgenson in the race for the Thunder Car points Championship at ELKO.

The INEX sanctioned Legends cars raced two 20 lap feature events at Elko Speedway during Eve of Destruction. The first race had a very exciting finish with a last lap pass, #7 Jacob Tiegen a young driver from Marion (IA) passed veteran driver #71 Jon Lemke in the last corner and edged him by 0.055 seconds at the finish line. It was the first win at ELKO for Tiegen who travels 3 ½ hours from home in order to compete at Elko Speedway. Lemke finished second, fast-qualifier #8 Colin Stocker was third, #12 Ayrton Brockhouse fourth and newly married #75 Baiden Heskett fifth of the 17 cars entered. Nick Johnson #2 led a handful of laps early but did not finish the race.

The second Legends feature was won by twelve year old #12 Ayrton Brockhouse from Shakopee (MN). Brockhouse started in the fourth row but worked his way up to the lead by lap 8, he then held off hard-charges the last few laps and won by just 0.149 seconds. It was the second win of the season at ELKO for the youngest Brockhouse driver. Colin Stocker #8 finished a very close second place, #7 Jacob Tiegen was third, #75 Baiden Heskett was fourth and #87 Robby Carter finished fifth after totally rebuilding his car after a wreck last week.

Colin Stocker now leads Baiden Heskett by 32 points in the race for the ELKO Championship.

The NASCAR sanctioned Power Stocks raced two 20 lap features at Elko Speedway Eve of Destruction. The first race was won by #19 Mark Berg from Corcoran (MN) who led every lap of the race, it was the first win for Berg since 2011. Mike Stoer #08 raced up from his 6th starting position to finish a very close second, he was just 0.309 seconds behind at the finish line. Fast-qualifier Julie Jorgenson #83 was third, #66 Joe Prusak fourth and #88 Nick Oxborough fifth of the 16 cars entered.

The second Power Stock feature had #08 Mike Stoer from Prior Lake (MN) winning for the fourth time this year, Stoer started the race in the fourth row and worked his way up to the lead after a restart with six laps to go, he held on the rest of the way and won by 0.414 seconds. Joe Prusak #66 finished second, #19 Mark Berg was third, #57 Jesse Fischer fourth and #13 Matt Frye fifth. Jimmie Jorgenson #3 led numerous laps but ended up with a DNF, point leader #88 Nick Oxborough was involved in an incident late but drove up to the 8th position at the finish.
Nick Oxborough now has a 28 point lead over Mike Stoer in the race for the 2022 Power Stock point title.

The INEX sanctioned Bando’s raced two 12 lap feature events, this division is for kids ages 8-14 years of age, they race 550 lb cars that have a 30 horsepower riding lawnmower engine.

The first feature had a half-dozen crashes, spinouts and restarts. The race was eventually shortened to 7 laps and was won by #10 Danny Mann from Elko (MN). Mann won the race by 0.249 seconds, it was his seventh win of the season at ELKO. Alex Hartwig #901 finished second, #18 Leighton Rose was third, #57 Mark Anderson Jr was fourth and #13 Ayden Brockhouse fifth of the 15 cars entered.

The second Bando feature event was raced caution free, it was won by #901 Alex Hartwig from Portage (WI), Hartwig was the 2019 ELKO Champion and this year he has already won the Championship at State Park Speedway (WI) and Dells Raceway Park (WI). This is the first win at ELKO for Hartwig on his first race night of the year, he won by 2.064 seconds on the ¼ mile flat oval at Elko Speedway. Penn Sauter #5, the son of NASCAR Truck series legendary driver Johnny Sauter, finished second. Danny Mann #10 was third, Mark Anderson Jr #57 fourth and #27 Riley Goodwin fifth. Bentley Thompson #22 led the first 5 laps and finished 6th.

Danny Mann now leads Mark Anderson Jr by 13 points in the race for the 2022 Bando Championship.

*Results and Points are unofficial at the time of this release.

Ole Ryumshyn from Elko (MN) won the spectator drags in a 1992 Nissan 240.

Brandan Tulachka won the Monster Truck racing event in his truck named Just Get ER Done 2, he tied the track record of 32 seconds. He and Mitch Tulachka, driving the original Just Get ER Done, both did an incredible freestyle that included a Nose Wheelie, big air and Cyclones.

The Drifters put on a great show of precision driving and the School Bus races never fail to entertain the big Eve of Destruction crowd at Elko Speedway.

Up Next at Elko is an Eve of Destruction with 2 Monster trucks, Minnesota Professional Towing Association Spectator Drags, School Bus Races, 5 divisions of Racing, Twin Stunts Motorcycles, Flippenout action athletes, music by Good for Gary, Characters from your favorite Animated movies and much more. Gates open at 4:30pm

Elko Speedway is a 3/8th mile asphalt NASCAR sanctioned race track located 30 minutes South of the Twin Cities in Elko/New Market (MN). Get more information and buy tickets at ElkoSpeedway.com