Race Recap
August 16, 2025 - Elko, MN
By Jason D Searcy
Racing is in full swing at Elko Speedway as summer winds down in Minnesota, kids night is an annual tradition as children are allowed to ride in school buses around the 3/8th mile high banks before the race night begins. Schmitty and Sons sponsored the race night and provided the rides for over 700 youth during this Eve of Destruction event at ELKO.
The NASCAR sanctioned Late Model division had 17 cars competing during the two 25 lap feature events. The large car count was important for #72 Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) who is in contention for his second NASCAR weekly series Division I National title, he won it the first time in 2019. For Goede to score maximum NASCAR points a minimum of 16 cars must start the race. In the first feature Owin Giles #6 took the early lead during this cautionless race, he held the lead until Goede blasted up from his sixth starting position to take the top spot with four laps remaining. Giles held his ground strong but came up just short of the win, Goede won by 0.453 seconds. It was the second win of the season at ELKO for Goede, who is racing at his hometown track for only the second time this year. Giles finished second place, Steve Anderson Jr #50 was third, #31 Ryan Varner finished fourth and #8 Billy Mohn was fifth. Fast Qualifier #13 Bryan Wrolstad started 17th and was only able to move up to 15th position at the checkers. Adding together the race win plus the two bonus points for starting in the 6th position, Goede was able to tie #57 Chase Johnson from Midlothian (VA) for first place in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts weekly series Division I Championship race with about 1 month remaining in the 2025 season.
The second Late Model feature had #52 Chad Walen lead a majority of the race until #14 Grant Brown from Prior Lake (MN) who jumped up to race side by side for a few laps until he took over the lead on lap twenty of twenty-five. A yellow flag tightened up the field with 3 laps remaining but Brown was able to fend off an impressive run by #99 Tommy Peterson to win by 1.052 seconds. Peterson scored a career best second place finish, Walen dropped to third, point leader #3 Chris Marek was fourth and #94 Hunter Paine drove through the field to finish fifth after starting 14th. It was the fourth win of the season for Brown at ELKO.
Chris Marek continues to lead in Late Model points, he is now 31 points ahead of Chad Walen and 36 points ahead of Grant Brown in the race for the Late Model Championship at ELKO.
The Eternity Homes Thunder Cars raced two 20 lap features during the races Saturday night at Elko Speedway.
The first race was an exciting affair in which #89 Allen Royle led the first five laps until #09 Matt Wiebusch from Lonsdale (MN) grabbed the top spot. Former Power stock Champion Wiebusch held the lead until #16 Jimmy Omeara jumped up to the point just past the half-way mark of the race. This race was slowed by a caution three times, Taylor Goldman had a real close call that almost wadded up the entire back half of the field during one of those events. The final yellow caused a green-white-checkerd finish in which Matt Wiebusch scooted past Jimmy Omeara for the lead, he then had to hold off two multi-time champions trying to pass him on either side as he crossed the finish line. Wiebusch won by just 0.122 seconds with #28 Conrad Jorgenson finishing second and 0.023 seconds behind in third was #99 Brent Kane, Omeara dropped back to fourth and #88 Jason Novak finished this wild race in fifth of the 16 cars entered. It was the second win of the season at ELKO for Wiebusch.
The second NASCAR sanctioned Thunder Car race had #13 Matt Frye take the lead off the start, five-time Champion #99 Brent Kane from Lonsdale (MN) did a masterful job of weaving his car from the 8th starting position up through this tough field of cars to catch Frye on lap 12, he faked high and then was able to eventually pass Frye on the low side after racing side by side for numerous laps. Kane then held on to win by 0.962 seconds at the stripe, it was his fifth win of the season at ELKO and that was the 150th win of his storied career. WIth the win Kane was also able to gain some ground on the NASCAR weekly series Division II point standings, he is now in third place Nationally and only 42 points out of the lead. Matt Frye finished the race in second, Taylor Goldman #8 rebounded with her cosmetically damaged car to finish third, #41 Ben Gannon was fourth and #88 Jason Novak scored another Top 5 finish.
Brent Kane now has a commanding 83 point lead over Tommy Sorem #29 in the race for the 2025 Thunder Car Championship at Elko Speedway.
The NASCAR sanctioned Power Stocks raced two 20 lap features during Kids night at ELKO. The first race was won by #57 Jesse Fischer from Eagan (MN), he led every lap and won by 0.759 seconds as he outran a hard charging #88 driven by Nick Oxborough. This was the second win of the season for Fischer who was dogged by mechanical problems earlier in the year but now is on a roll. Oxborough was second, Mike Stoer #08 was third, #3 Jimmie Jorgenson finished fourth and #14 Clayton Dorner finished fifth of the eight cars competing.
The second Power Stock race was hotly contested off the start with #14 Clayton Dorner and #3 Jimmie Jorgenson racing wheel to wheel the first three laps of the race until Jorgenson established the lead. Nick Oxborough #88 from Lakeville (MN) was then able to jump up and challenge Jorgenson for the top spot and finally pass him on the low side on lap 10 of 20. Oxborough won the cautionless race by 1.324 seconds, it was his fourth win of the season at ELKO. Jimmie Jorgenson finished second place, Mike Stoer finished third followed by Clayton Dorner and Jesse Fischer.
Mike Stoer now has a 9 point lead over Jimmie Jorgenson in the race for the 2025 Power Stock title at Elko Speedway.
The INEX sanctioned Legends cars raced a 20 lap feature event Saturday night during Kids night at Elko Speedway.
A nice field of 18 cars started the main event where #27 Riley Goodwin held the lead initially until #12 Ayrton Brockhouse grabbed the top spot on lap two. The 15 year old Brockhouse held the lead until #64 Tristan Swanson from Elko (MN) passed him on lap six, then the racing really ramped up as Swanson and Brockhouse battled each other while also navigating through lapped traffic and two restarts bunching up the field of cars. Swanson was able to fend off Brockhouse and won a drag race to the finish line by 0.094 seconds, it was the fifth win of the season for Swanson at ELKO. Brockhouse finished a close second place, Dirk Henry #3 finished a whisker ahead of 13 year old #22 Cam Panitzke for third place, the transponder readings were only 0.01 seconds apart and #2 Rob Thurston was fifth with #41 Jason Michaud 0.004 seconds behind in 6th. Fast-timer was Cam Panitzke with a time of 15.830, he was also the winner of the second heat race. Jason Michaud edged #15 Tyler Sjoman by 0.014 seconds at the line to win heat race number one. Sjoman is a veteran driver who is preparing the car for young Justice Doubrava who plans on taking over the wheel in the near future.
Ayrton Brockhouse now has a 4 point lead over Cam Panitzke and 14 point advantage over Tristan Swanson in the race for the 2025 Legends division title at ELKO.
The INEX sanctioned Bandoleros raced a 12 lap feature event during Kids night at Elko Speedway. The race had four caution periods including an exciting green-white-checkered finish. Ryan Kamish Jr #42 took the lead off the green flag until #15 Justice Doubrava jumped up to the top spot on lap two. Tenth position starter Christopher Flynn #5 from Farmington (MN) raced up and took over the lead on lap seven and then held them all off after a late caution to win by 0.902 seconds. It was the second win of the season at ELKO for Flynn. Mason Westphal #32 finished second place, Justice Doubrava was third, #27 Roman Crow was fourth and #57 Rev Heitkamp was fifth of the 15 cars competing.
Mason Westphal and Christopher Flynn both also won their heat races and #52 Andrew Brelje won the Beginner Bando 6 lap feature event.
Mason Westphal now has an 11 point lead over Christopher Flynn and 19 point lead over Justice Doubrava in the race for the 2025 Bando Championship at ELKO.
An INEX point night has been added to the schedule for racing in both the Legends and Bandos on Saturday night September 6th at Elko Speedway. The INEX divisions will not be racing at ELKO during the Thunderstruck event ASA Midwest tour race night scheduled for September 20th. The NASCAR divisions will be the support cars on that night.
All points and results are unofficial at the time of this report. Get more information on MyRacePass.com <http://myracepass.com> and search Elko Speedway or ElkoSpeedway.com <http://elkospeedway.com>
Brad Shippert from Dixon (IL) drove Against the Grain Monster Truck and Dan Agosh from Wellsburgh (WV) drove the Raminator in its first appearance at ELKO since 2009. They both thrilled the crowd smashing cars during the freestyle performances.
The race car drivers sent many kids home happy by donating bikes to be given away.
A dozen drifters showed their precision skills during an exhibition of drifting.
The night was capped off with a thrilling figure 8 School Bus race with close calls too numerous to mention.
Up next at Elko Speedway will be an Eve of Destruction on Saturday August 30th with racing in all five divisions of cars plus BMX stunts with MEGA Jump BMX, thrilling tricks with Big Air ATV plus a petting zoo, spectator drags, school bus races and much more!
A race date has been added for Saturday September 6th. More details soon.
Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned asphalt 3/8th mile high banked race track with stadium seating located just 30 minutes South of the Twin Cities in Elko-New Market (MN). Get more information or tickets at ElkoSpeedway.com <http://elkospeedway.com>
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