(RACE RECAP) September 11th, 2021 Eve Of Destruction

By Jason D Searcy

Twenty years after the 911 tragedy Elko Speedway honored Heroism and celebrated Patriotism and Freedom with Music, Flags and Fireworks during the Eve of Destruction event on September 11th.

The NASCAR Sanctioned Late Model division sponsored by The Car Lot of New Prague had two 25 lap feature events. Twenty of the top Late Model racers in the Nation took the green flag and #21 Adam Bendzick of New Prague (MN) took the lead from the start and never looked back, he won the cautionless race by 0.377 seconds, it was his third win of the season at ELKO. Steve Anderson Jr #50 finished second, #19 Michael Haggar was third, #41 Donny Reuvers fourth and #52 Chad Walen fifth. Point Leader #72 Jacob Goede finished 8th and Fast Qualifier #18 Michael Ostdiek finished 11th.

In the second Late Model feature event #40 Michael Beamish and #13 Bryan Wrolstad raced side by side until Beamish established himself as the leader on lap 8. A caution occurred on lap 15 and after the restart #3 Chris Marek drove up to the lead, on lap 18 a big wreck occurred in corner #1 and a red flag was displayed as numerous cars were involved. Seven of the twenty cars who started the race could not continue including 9 time Champion Donny Reuvers #41 and #8 Billy Mohn who is currently 5th place in the National NASCAR Advance Auto Hometrack Points. After the restart #72 Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) went to the inside and took over the top spot, he then went on to win by 0.691 seconds, it was his 4th win of the season at Elko Speedway. Chris Marek finished second, #52 Chad Walen was third, Michael Beamish fourth and #14 Grant Brown fifth.

Jacob Goede now has a 110 point lead over Chad Walen and 162 over Adam Bendzick in the race for the 2021 Late Model Championship at ELKO.

The NASCAR sanctioned Genz-Ryan Thunder Cars raced two 20 lap features on Saturday night at ELKO, a season high 17 cars were entered. In the first feature #92 Norm Grabinger and #20 Devin Schmidt raced wheel to wheel for the first few laps until Schmidt took over the top spot on lap three. A caution occurred on lap five as Norm Grabinger had mechanical problems, he was already driving a backup car after his primary vehicle had transmission problems during practice laps, he did not finish the race, Brandon Peterson #7 was also having mechanical problems, he was racing for the first time this year at ELKO. After a couple attempts to get the race resumed Devin Schmidt from Elko (MN) continued as the leader and held back the many challenges presented by former 4 time ELKO Thunder Car Champion #99 Brent Kane who was racing for the first time this year after nearly a 3 year hiatus. Schmidt protected low and won the race by just 0.199 seconds over Kane, fast qualifier #3 Conrad Jorgenson was third, point leader #07 Dillon Sellner fourth and #09 Matt Wiebusch fifth, #9 Adam Wiebusch finished 6th, it was the first time the entire year that he finished outside of the Top 5 at ELKO.

In the second Thunder Car feature #14 Tony Holm had the early lead until a caution occurred on lap 9 of 20. After the restart 2016 Champion #32 Jeremy Wolff who was racing for the first time this year in this division took over the top spot, he led until #07 Dillon Sellner from Randolf (MN) passed him on the outside on lap 17, cars got sideways but everyone continued racing without a caution. Sellner retained the lead and won by 0.688 seconds, it was his 4th win of the season at ELKO, #9 Adam Wiebusch was second, #99 Brent Kane third, Jeremy Wolff fourth and #20 Devin Schmidt fifth. Former point leader #3 Conrad Jorgenson continued his bad luck, he had mechanical problems and ended up 13th of the 16 cars entered.

Dillon Sellner now has a 34 point lead over Adam Wiebush and 44 point lead over Conrad Jorgenson in the battle for the 2021 Thunder Car Championship at ELKO.

The INEX sanctioned motorcycle motor powered Legends cars raced two 20 lap features Saturday night at Elko Speedway. Justin Kimball #89 took the early lead in the first feature event, #2 Rob Thurston then grabbed the top spot until veteran driver #71 Jon Lemke from Savage (MN) took over the lead on lap six. Jon Lemke then fought back the hard charges from young gun #8 Colin Stocker for the win, Lemke won by just 0.223 seconds at the finish line, it was his fourth win of the season at ELKO. Stocker finished second, #33 fast qualifier Ryan Rose was third, Rob Thurston fourth and point leader #19 Robby Carter finished fifth.

The second Legends feature had 20 year veteran driver #43 Bruce Allen taking the early lead until #19 Robby Carter from Lakeville (MN) shot up to take the lead on lap two. Carter had a challenging day, he blew up his motor in practice and then wrecked his backup car by impacting the wall during qualifying so he was racing the #19 car usually driven by his teammate Mike Hanson. In this unfamiliar car Carter got the lead early then held the top spot, weaved through lapped traffic and won by 0.296 seconds, it was his fourth win of the season at ELKO. Colin Stocker #8 finished second, #33 Ryan Rose was third, #71 Jon Lemke fourth and #2 Rob Thurston fifth.

Robby Carter now has a 35 point lead over Jon Lemke in the race for the 2021 Legends Championship at ELKO.

*All points and results are unofficial

Russell Olson from Shakopee (MN) won the Spectator Drags in his 1994 Ford Mustang.

Two Mega Trucks made their Eve of Destruction debut at ELKO Dusty Ramacher from Hillman (MI) in his truck named Above All and Nick Madison from New Prague (MN) in his truck named Almost Famous.

School buses raced Figure 8 style and Drifter cars entertained the large Eve of Destruction crowd at ELKO.

The Evening was capped off with an amazing Fireworks show in memory of the 911 tragedy.

Next up at Elko Speedway is an Eve of Destruction on Saturday September 18th, in addition to racing in the Late Models, Thunder Cars, Power Stocks, Legends cars and Bandoleros. Two Monster trucks will perform car crunching antics as well as a petting zoo from Barnyard Buddies and Music by Marv and Kate. The movie at Elko Drive-in will be Fast and Furious. Gates open at 5pm, get more information at ElkoSpeedway.com

Elko Speedway is a NASCAR Sanctioned 3/8th mile asphalt oval race track with stadium seating located in Elko-New Market Minnesota. Get more information by following Elko Speedway on social media, downloading our free app by searching Elko Racing or going to ElkoSpeedway.com