By Jason D Searcy
August 6, 2016 – Elko, MN
The MN Lottery presented an Eve of Destruction with NASCAR Whelen All American Series racing in front of a huge crowd of race fans at Elko Speedway on Saturday night.
The Hiway Federal Credit Union BIG 8 style Late Models were the premiere division and they raced two 20 lap features. Dylan Warner #11 jumped out to an early big lead in race number one, Bryan Wrolstad #13 tracked him down and then made a pass on the high side for the lead with 5 laps remaining. Wrolstad from Northfield (MN) never gave up the top spot and won his first trophy of the year, he ended up winning by 1.535 seconds over #4 Grant Brown who was celebrating his 16th birthday. Michael Beamish #40 finished third, Ryan Kamish #42 was fourth and Warner dropped back to fifth at the finish line.
The second Big 8 feature saw #17 Jon Lemke take the early lead. Todd Kamish raced Lemke side by side and then overtook him in the top groove with 12 laps remaining. Kamish #5 from Farmington (MN), won the race by .808 seconds and scored his second win of 2016. A great battle for the runner-up position was won by Lemke, who held off the other brother, Ryan Kamish by less than a fender. Michael Beamish finished fourth and #19 Michael Haggar rounded out the Top-5.
Dylan Moore #54 had difficult starting positions and finished the two races 8th and 9th but he held on to the point lead. Moore now has an 11 point lead over Lemke in the battle for the Championship.
Conrad Jorgenson #3 came across the finish line first in the Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event but he denied the post-race Technical Inspection request and was disqualified. Dillon Sellner #07 from Farmington (MN) was declared the winner, it was his first win of the season. Adam Wiebusch was also disqualified for the same infraction so, Jeremy Wolff #32 was awarded second, Brent Kane #99 third, Eric Campbell #25 fourth and #20 James Lindgren fifth.
Jeremy Wolff now has a 23 point lead over Brent Kane as they renew their rivalry from last year in the quest for the Thunder Car Championship, Eric Campbell is currently third in points, only 24 out of the lead.
The Pepsi Power Stock main event was a good one as 21 cars raced 20 laps for the honor to take home the hardware. Brandon Petersen #7 held the lead early in the race, he was closely followed by #56 Paul Hamilton and #36 Brandon Olson as the Top 3 checked out on the field. Hamilton put some pressure on Petersen with five laps to go and then passed him on the outside with three laps to go in the main event. “It was getting down to the end,” said Hamilton “I was thinking OK, I’m going to have to try the high-side, and this car usually doesn’t like the high-side, but it stuck and we kept pushing it more and more and more and eventually we ended up getting it.” Hamilton won by .478 seconds over Petersen with Brandon Olson finishing third, #54 Tom Quade in fourth and #62 Tom Doten in fifth. This was the first win of the year for Hamilton who had run a charity half-marathon earlier in the day.
With the good finish for Petersen and #37 Bryce Blohm finishing seventh, Blohm now leads Petersen by only two points in the season-to-date standings. Tom Doten is third in points, 16 behind the leader.
Brady Fox-Rhode #4 from Loretto (MN) spent his birthday week in Rome Italy on vacation, he rushed back just in time to get his Great North Legends car ready to race on Saturday night. It turned out to be well worth the effort as Fox-Rhode led every one of the 20 laps and held off some big names to take the win, his second of the year at Elko Speedway. Shon Jacobsen #22 finished 1.028 seconds behind Fox-Rhode with #13 Tim Brockhouse finishing third, Matt Allen #16 fourth and #7 Jackson Lewis in fifth out of the 21 cars competing.
Two time defending Champion #71 Derek Lemke had bad luck again, he finished dead last for the second week in a row, this time due to an engine failure and fire. Lemke still leads in points, but now by only 15 over Matt Allen in the race for the Championship.
The Hornets main event was won by #89 Michael Weiss from Bloomington (MN). Weiss had to get past #41 Ashley Bell, who led for a majority of the race. Weiss made the winning pass with five laps remaining and won by .963 seconds over #36 Brandon Olson, #55 Brandon Plekkenpol finished third, Ashley Bell fourth and 2014 Champion Brian Adams #0 in fifth out of the 17 cars in the field. This was the first win of the year for Weiss.
Justin Schelitzche from Lester Prairie (MN) had a tough night and finished 7th, reducing his lead to only 9 over Brandon Olson in the point standings.
All results and points are unofficial at this time and may be revised later in the week. Check ElkoSpeedway.com or the new ELKO! Racing app for updates.
The Green Mamba Jet Car thrilled the crowd on Eve of Destruction night, as did stuntmen Clay Gallagher and captain crash. The Flippen-out Extreme Trampoline show entertained pre-race and at intermission, as did the Skyview Ranch pony rides and petting zoo. J.J. Romans did freestyle MX, we had school bus races, spectator drags and Hitchville put on a great show at Champions Entertainment Center.
Up next at Elko Speedway is more NASCAR Whelen All American Series racing on Saturday night August 13th. It is tribute night as we honor both Dwain Behrens and Scott Kingery with special memorial races.
Gates open up at 5pm with action beginning at 6pm at Elko Speedway a 3/8th mile progressive banked asphalt oval located in Elko (MN), 30 minutes South of downtown Minneapolis just off of I-35 and County Road 2.
Get more information by following Elko Speedway on Social Media, go to ElkoSpeedway.com, download the free ELKO! Racing App or call (952) 461-7223.