July 6, 2019- Elko, MN
By Jason D Searcy
A full grandstand of fans enjoyed celebrating their Independence day
holiday at Elko Speedway during Eve of Destruction presented by
T-Mobile.
In the first Genz-Ryan Thunder Car main event #92 Norm Grabinger took
the early lead, five-time ELKO Champion #3 Conrad Jorgenson from
Lakeville (MN) passed for the top spot on lap two of twenty.
Jorgenson then ran away from the field as a great race ensued for the
runner-up position. Defending Champion Bryce Blohm #37 was able to
edge 2016 Champion #32 Jeremy Wolff by just .222 seconds at the finish
line to finish second, Wolff was third, #25 Eric Campbell fourth and
Grabinger fifth of the ten cars entered. It was the sixth win of the
season for Jorgenson.
The second 20 lap Thunder Car feature had #75 Keith Paulsrud take the
lead until #25 Eric Campbell took over the point on lap five. Bryce
Blohm #37 from Lakeville (MN) started seventh and moved his way up to
challenge for the lead on lap eight and finally took over the top spot
on lap eleven. Blohm beat #3 Conrad Jorgenson to the finish line by
1.21 seconds and took home his sixth trophy of the season. Jorgenson
was second, Jeremy Wolff #32 was back in a Thunder Car for the first
time this year and he finished third, #25 Eric Campbell was fourth and
#75 Keith Paulsrud finished fifth.
Conrad Jorgenson still has a slim 6 point lead in the point standings
in the race for the Championship.
The first Pepsi Power Stocks feature had #13 Matt Frye take the early
lead until 2016 Champion #62 Tom Doten from St Paul (MN) got beside
Frye and passed him for the lead on lap 3 of 20. Doten then extended
his lead as the race progressed eventually winning by .874 seconds
over 2014 Champ and fast-timer #88 Nick Oxborough, defending Champion
#8 Taylor Goldman finished third, #27 Darin Patnode fourth and #66 Joe
Prusak finished fifth of the 12 cars entered. It was the first win of
the season for Tom Doten.
The second Power Stock feature had #71 Tom Quade from Bloomington (MN)
take the lead and never give it up, the race went 20 laps caution-free
and Quade led from flag to flag even though he was pressured by #83
Julie Jorgenson numerous times, she finished .319 seconds behind Quade
for second place. Joe Prusak #66 was third followed by #8 Taylor
Goldman and #08 Michael Stoer. Tom Quade is 68 years old and has a
car painted up as a tribute to former NASCAR legend Dave Marcis, this
was his first win in over a decade.
Nick Oxborough still has a sizeable 44 point lead over Michael Stoer
in the race for the 2019 Power Stock Championship.
The first Great North Legends feature had #21 Hans Roeschli lead until
the half-way mark, on lap 11 of 20 #47 Austin Jahr took the lead and
held it until the last lap. Fast-qualifier Cole Klein #8 from Rogers
(MN) had an incredible run coming into the final set of corners and
beat Jahr to the finish line by just .091 seconds, Jahr finished
second followed by two-time Late Model Champion #71 Jon Lemke, #16
Matt Allen and #91 Tristan Swanson. An impressive field of 19 cars
raced this event. This was the second win of the season for 16 year
old Cole Klein.
The second Great North Legends feature had former Bandolero Champion
#3 Luke Allen lead a majority of the race. On lap 15 of 20 #91
Tristan Swanson grabbed the top spot and he held it until a restart
with two laps to go put him to the back. Jon Lemke #71 then took the
lead and had to hold off a hard charging #47 Austin Jahr, Lemke won by
just .244 seconds. Jahr finished second followed by #03 Robby Carter,
#3 Luke Allen finished fourth and #8 Colin Stocker was fifth of the 18
cars entered in the race. The defending point leader Baiden Heskett
wrecked last week and did not have his car fixed in time to return to
ELKO this week.
This was the second win of the season for Lemke.
All Points and Standings are unofficial at the time of this release.
The huge Eve of Destruction crowd at Elko Speedway was treated to a
great drifting competition. Matt Markason #2 from Apple Valley (MN)
driving a Nissan 240SX was declared the winner via fan vote.
The spectator drags winner was Nate Icaza from Cannon Falls (MN)
driving a 2001 Pontiac Trans-Am. This is his second consecutive
victory in the spectator drags at ELKO.
A team of BMX action athletes provided second to none entertainment on
the concourse.
A Jet powered Semi-truck thrilled the crowd as did the Figure 8 School
bus races that ended in a rollover and was won by Craig “the animal”
Shingledecker via fan vote for the second time this season.
Up Next at Elko Speedway is the ARCA Menards series racing on Saturday
July 13th. Spectator gates open at 2pm, ARCA Qualifying is at 5:15pm
followed by Elko Local classes features, then an on-track autograph
session and the race beginning at 9pm. Elko local divisions racing
will be NASCAR Late Models, Thunder Cars and Power Stocks. Get more
information at ElkoSpeedway.com or ARCAracing.com
Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile asphalt oval race
track with stadium seating located just 30 minutes South of the Twin
Cities in Elko-New Market (MN).
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