By Jason D Searcy
August 13, 2016 – Elko, MN
The legacy of two former racers was celebrated with NASCAR Whelen All American Series racing Saturday night at Elko Speedway.
The 23rd annual Dwain Behrens memorial MN Corn Growers Super Late Model event was the finale of an awesome night of racing. Behrens was the Late Model Champion at Elko in 1988 and 1992 until a tragic snowmobile accident in December of 1993 took his life, he was later inducted into the Elko Speedway Hall of Fame.
This year the Super Late Model division at Elko races double features every race night, so it was deemed that the driver who scored the most points through the entire race night will be the winner of the event. Jacob Goede #72 from Carver (MN) was declared the winner, edging #36 Dan Fredrickson by only one point. Goede qualified second, finished 7th in the first feature and second in the final feature race for the 100 point total. Fredrickson won qualifying and then finished sixth and fourth in the two feature events for a total of 99 points.
“Dwain was a great guy, it’s a sad deal that he isn’t around here anymore, so this race means a lot to all of us, it’s our division and it was his division,” said Goede.
Jacob Goede also won this race in 2014, so he was presented with his second traditional Clock Trophy in Victory Lane by members of the Behrens and Ostdiek family, “the trophy is unique and is something that stands out compared to a standard trophy, you can hang it in your house and there is a story behind it to tell other people.”
In the first 30 lap feature #12 Nick Murgic from Rosemount (MN) grabbed the lead early by bolting ahead of #41 Donny Reuvers, 9 time Elko Speedway Champion, both at the start of the race and after a restart five laps in to the race. Murgic then held the lead and won by .772 seconds over Reuvers with #28 Matt Goede finishing third, #15 Joey Miller fourth and #8 Billy Mohn fifth. This was the first win of 2016 at Elko Speedway for Murgic.
The second feature saw #02 Joey Garofalo from Lakeville (MN) battle with #3 Chris Marek in the early stages but then Garofalo established the top spot and never gave it up even though Paul Paine and eventually Jacob Goede put on a lot of pressure. Garofalo won by .343 over Goede with Chris Marek finishing third, Danny Fredrickson fourth and #15 Joey Miller fifth in the 20 car field. This was the first career win in the Super Late Model division for Garofalo who was a former Elko Speedway Thunder Car Champion.
Jacob Goede now leads Joey Miller by 25 points in the Championship Standings.
The other memorial races took place in the Genz-Ryan Thunder Car division. It was the 4th annual Scott Kingery memorial race event. Kingery was a long time driver and car owner in the Thunder Car division who died of cancer.
Brent Kane #99 from Lonsdale (MN) and #07 Dillon Sellner tied their point total after the two feature events. Kane was declared the winner via the predetermined tie-breaker which was the fastest time in last practice.
“I want to give all the credit to my brother, we went out and qualified with the best time we’ve got all year, and we beat Dillon (Sellner) by one and at the time we didn’t know if that would matter,” said Kane. Ted Reuvers #8 from Dundas (MN) won the first feature with Sellner finishing second and Kane coming in third.
Going into the second feature Brent Kane met with his brother and crew chief Nate Kane, “Nate told me that you have to beat Dillon (Sellner) and you have to beat Teddy (Reuvers), I went out for the feature, got by Dillon and Teddy was behind me and I started getting happy for the first time all year,” said Kane “I know we didn’t win the race but we won the whole event so I’m a happy guy right now.”
This is the second time Kane has won this event after winning the inaugural race in 2013. Kane raced against Scott Kingery for many years and became close friends with him before his death. The Kingery and Petersen family presented Kane with a unique custom made trophy that lights up and is made from an engine valve cover.
Ted Reuvers from Dundas (MN) won the first feature, it was his fourth win of the year at Elko Speedway. Adam Wiebusch #09 from Shakopee (MN) was the winner of the second feature, it was his second win at Elko Speedway this year in the Thunder Car division, #32 Jeremy Wolff finished second with Brent Kane finishing third in both feature events and scoring the most points after the tie breaker. A season high 21 cars raced Saturday night in the Thunder Car division.
Jeremy Wolff continues to lead in the point standings, he has a 22 point advantage over Kane in the race for the Championship.
Dylan Moore #54 from Northfield (MN) won the first of two Hiway Federal Credit Union Big 8 features at Elko Speedway on Saturday night.
Moore took the lead on the first lap and just set sail, he raced the 20 lap cautionless feature in just over 5 minutes, he won by 2.755 seconds over #42 Ryan Kamish with #4 Grant Brown finishing third and #18 Michael Ostdiek, the nephew of Elko honoree Dwain Behrens, coming across the line in fourth, #40 Michael Beamish was fifth in the large 20 car field.
Four time Elko Speedway Champion #14 Doug Brown won the second Big 8 feature event. Brown fought for the lead with #75 Joe Neisius for the first five laps, but then cruised to victory by .773 seconds, it was his third win of the year at Elko. Michael Ostdiek and Neisius then battled for much of the race for the runner up position with Neisius finally coming out on top, Michael Beamish was fourth and Ryan Kamish finished fifth.
Dylan Moore continues to lead in the point standings, he has a 24 point advantage over Brown in the race for the title.
Paul Hamilton #56 from Hastings (MN) won his second consecutive Pepsi Power Stock main event on Saturday night at Elko Speedway. Hamilton started 6th of the 21 cars entered, Darin Patnode #27 took the lead off the opening green flag and held on until the final lap when Hamilton passed him on the inside. It was a close finish, with Hamilton winning by only .24 seconds over Patnode and #6 Joey Prusak hard charging near the end to finish third, #3 Ryan Varner was fourth and #62 Tom Doten finished fifth after starting 9th.
The second feature saw #54 Tim Hollen jump out to a big lead, he led until mechanical problems slowed him down just 5 laps before the checkers and #99 Dustin Mann from Farmington (MN) grabbed the top spot, Mann then held off #7 Brandon Petersen by .247 seconds for the win, his first win of the year at Elko Speedway. Tom Quade #53 crossed the stripe third, #37 Bryce Blohm was fourth and Hollen dropped back to fifth in the ultra competitive 21 car field.
The point battle in the Pepsi Power Stocks is sure to be a good one up until Championship night. Bryce Blohm and Brandon Petersen are currently tied for the lead in points with Tom Doten still within striking distance, he is now 18 points behind in third.
Tim Brockhouse #13 from Webster (MN) won his 22nd feature event of 2016, but his first of the year at Elko Speedway Saturday night in the Great North Legends main event. Will McCully #26 led the first couple laps of the 20 lap main event until Brockhouse took over the top spot. Derek Lemke #71 challenged Brockhouse late in the race but could not pass him, Brockhouse won by .569 seconds with #4 Brady Fox-Rhode finishing third, #16 Matt Allen fourth and #3 Dirk Henry in fifth.
Lemke extended his point lead to 31 over Allen in the race for his third consecutive Championship at Elko Speedway.
Alex Vincent #36 from Owatonna (MN) won the Hornets main event at Elko Speedway. Vincent led every lap and ran away with the win by 4.193 seconds, it was his second win of the season. Michael Weiss #89 finished second, #3 Michael Wachs Jr was third, Justin Schelitzche #14 fourth after a great battle with #36 Brandon Olson who finished fifth of the 13 cars racing.
Justin Schelitzche holds on to the point lead, he has a 15 point advantage over Brandon Olson in the Standings.
Luke Allen #3 won the Bandolero’s feature at Elko Speedway. Allen had a good battle with #48 Lennon Watkins early in the race but passed him and held on through some lapped traffic late in the race for the win. Allen races a Bando car that was previously raced by former NASCAR Truck Series Champion James Buescher.
Allen now leads in the point standings by 18 over Watkins in the race for the Championship.
Results and Point Standings are unofficial and may be revised later in the week. Go to ElkoSpeedway.com for updates.
Coming up next at Elko Speedway is Kids night at the races on Saturday August 20th, all children get in free but must be supervised by an adult. Free pony rides and a free ride around Elko Speedway in a bus. Get there early, gates open at 5pm, action at 6pm and bus rides will conclude before opening ceremonies at 7pm.
Get more information by downloading the free Elko Speedway app, search ELKO Racing. Go to ElkoSpeedway.com or call (952) 461-7223. Follow Elko Speedway on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, search Elko Speedway.
Elko Speedway is a NASCAR Sanctioned track located 30 minutes South of Downtown Minneapolis just off of I-35 and County Road 2 in Elko, MN.