Elko, MN June 16, 2012—Lonsdale’s Adam Royle powered around pole sitter Billy Mohn as the tandem exited turn two on the opening lap of the NASCAR Super Late Model 40 and steadily pulled away for a 1.245 second victory in a “caution free” headliner Saturday June 16, 2012 at Elko Speedway.
Royle began the night just inside of the top five in points and since an opening night runnerup finish, had been searching for consistency. At the drop of the green, Royle and Mohn led the 19 starters into turn one and two, with Royle powering by Mohn on the outside. As Royle continued to set the pace over Mohn, Matt Goede, Joel Theisen and point leader Jason Schneider joined the top five. With the action remaining “clean and green”, battles for position behind the leader kept the fans interest high as Nick Barstad and Donny Reuvers bypassed Schneider’s ailing mount, with Barstad then challenging Goede. Over the final 20 laps, Royle kept a smooth, steady line in earning his first win of 2012, with Mohn, Goede, Barstad and Reuvers earning top fives.
In the Big 8’s, a similar storyline played out as Prior Lake’s Travis Stanley charged to the early lead over Lawrence Berthiaume, Michael Beamish, Darren Wolke and Nick Beaver. As Stanley and Berthiaume played a bit of “cat and mouse” over the first seven laps in front of Beamish and Wolke, Steve Schultz and Beaver headed to the pits with mechanical issues, moving Jon Lemke and Chris Marek into the top five, with Jake Ryan also closing fast.
As the field raced past the midpoint of the 25 lapper, Lemke bypassed Beamish for third with Ryan making a bold charge by Wolke and then Marek to close on Beamish in fifth all while Stanley continued to show impressive horsepower in keeping Berthiaume at bay. Over the final 10 laps, Stanley drove a steadly line in earning his first feature win of the season, with Berthiaume second, Ryan a hard fought third, Lemke fourth and Marek fifth.
The Thunder Cars saw 17 drivers charge to the green flag with Kyle Sellner pulling away for the early lead, with Scott King and Conrad Jorgenson fighting for runnerup honors. As Sellner continued to set the pace, King worked to second on lap six, with Dustin Mann charging around Jorgenson for third on lap 14 of 25 before the caution flew for a spinning David Robinson on lap 16 to tighten up the field. On the restart, Lakeville’s King got a great run off of turn two to take the lead, with Mann working by Sellner, but with the action remaining caution free to the checkers, King scored his second win of the year, with Mann, Sellner, Jorgenson and Michael Gilomen in the top five.
The Legends division has seen one driver not only “emerge from the pack”, but flat out dominate and he was at it again as Alexandria’s Tyler Sjoman took an early lead over the 18 car starting grid and after early charges by Pat Zandstra and Kyle Hansen drove to his fourth consecutive win, with Hansen and Derek Lemke working around Zandstra for second and third while Michael Ostdiek charged home fifth. With the win, Sjoman was awarded with the MONSTER Performance of the Week.
Topping off the action were the Power Stocks and Josiah King charged by Bryan Wrolstad and Darren Waltermann to take the early lead, with Paul Hamilton, John Lebens and Taylor Goldman also on the move. As King set the pace it was Waltermann who was on the move, sliding under Wrolstad for second on lap five, with Lebens charging by Hamilton and Wrolstad to move to third by lap seven of 20. As Waltermann continued to close on King and Tom Doten moved by Wrolstad and Hamilton, the action was stalled on lap 16 as Goldman lost a wheel entering turn three to force a caution. During the caution, Waltermann experienced electrical issues and was unable to continue moving Lebens and Doten in position to challenge, but on the restart it was King taking control and charging to the win, with Lebens, Doten, Hamilton and Wrolstad in the top five.
The action continues at Elko Speedway on Saturday June 23, 2012 with a FREE PETTING ZOO AND FREE PONY RIDES for the kids, the BEST NASCAR Whelen All American Series Racing and the Johnny Holm Band post race.
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