September 13, 2025 - Elko, MN
By Jason D Searcy
The 60th season of racing continues at Elko Speedway through the month of September with an Eve of Destruction on Saturday night September 13th.
The NASCAR sanctioned Late Models raced two 25 lap feature events, the first one had 10-time ELKO Champion #72 Jacob Goede from Carver (MN) starting on the outside pole position. Goede quickly took the lead on the first lap and never looked back, he held onto the top position through a caution period on lap four and raced into victory lane for the fourth time this year at Elko Speedway. Goede won the race by 1.777 seconds, #31 Ryan Varner finished second, #50 Steve Anderson Jr was third, #52 Chad Walen was fourth and #14 Grant Brown finished fifth of the 17 cars competing.
That win for Goede was important because he is racing for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts weekly series Division I title, it was his 9th win of the season overall and put him tied with Chase Johnson who races primarily at Dominion Raceway in Virginia with just one more race night remaining for NASCAR eligible points. Goede is seeking his second National title after also winning it back in 2019.
The second Late Model feature event had lots of action throughout as #42 Ryan Kamish leading the opening lap, #07 Dillon Sellner led the second lap and #94 Hunter Paine from Mound (MN) grabbed the top spot on lap four. A yellow flag flew on lap five and one of the top competitors #8 Billy Mohn dropped from the race. Hunter Payne resumed as the race leader until ELKO point leader and fast qualifier #3 Chris Marek drove up from his 5th starting spot and challenged for the lead. Marek and Paine had contact bringing out the caution with just two laps remaining putting both cars to the back of the pack, Marek gave the gentlemen's "tap out” signal taking responsibility for the incident and then Paine was given his spot back at the front of the field. Paine then held on through the Green-White-Checkers to win by 0.411 seconds, it was the first win at ELKO this year for Hunter Paine who missed a majority of the season recovering from knee surgery. Grant Brown #14 finished second place, #72 Jacob Goede drove up from his 11th starting position to finish third, #50 Steve Anderson Jr was fourth and #6 Owin Giles finished fifth. Marek was able to finish the race 14th.
Chris Marek was the fast qualifier with a time of 14.827 seconds and Marek continues to lead the ELKO Late Model point standings with a 38 point advantage over Grant Brown with two more race nights remaining in the 2025 season.
The Eternity Homes Thunder Cars raced two eventful 20 lap feature events Saturday night at ELKO. The first race had #28 Conrad Jorgenson leading the first half of the race until he experienced problems on lap 11 and dropped from the field. Jason Novak #88 from Elko New Market (MN) took over the top spot and held on for the win, it was his second win of the season at ELKO. All eyes were on #99 Brent Kane who raced up from his 11th starting position and made a furious run towards the front, a debris caution with four laps to go tightened the field and Kane was passing fast cars one after the other, he came up one position short though. Kane finished in second place, just 0.239 seconds behind Novak at the stripe. Ben Gannon #41 was third, #16 Jim OMeara was fourth and #29 Tommy Sorem finished fifth of the 16 cars competing.
The second NASCAR sanctioned Thunder Car feature had just as much drama as the first one did. Michael Gilomen #15 led the opening laps until #09 Matt Wiebusch raced him side by side for numerous laps, Wiebusch finally took over the lead by lap five just before a big wreck that dropped many of the top competitors took place in corners 3 and 4. Michael Gilomen, Jim OMeara #16 and #83 Julie Jorgenson were all involved. Ten laps after the restart another big wreck happened on the front stretch that involved many other top drivers including #13 Matt Frye, #41 Ben Gannon and ELKO point leader #99 Brent Kane whose car was towed off the track but amazingly was able to continue after quick repairs in the pits, albeit from the back of the pack. Tommy Sorem #29 from Northfield (MN) jumped to the lead and won by 0.844 seconds, it was the third win of the season for Sorem. Jason Novak #88 started the race 11th and finished second, Kane raced his damaged car all the way up to finish in third, #16 Jim OMeara was fourth and #20 Spencer Corrigan, who blew out a transmission in prerace practice, rebounded to finish a career high 5th place.
Those two good finishes put Brent Kane just 8 points behind Chase Robertson who normally races at Bowman Gray Stadium in North Carolina in the battle for the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts weekly Division II standings with only one more race night remaining for NASCAR eligible points.
The NASCAR sanctioned Power Stocks raced two cautionless 20 lap feature events during Eve of Destruction at Elko Speedway on Saturday night.
Both feature events were won by #57 Jesse Fischer from Eagan (MN). The first feature he dominated and won by 3.113 seconds, #3 Jimmie Jorgenson finished second place, #45 Gary Stokvis third after leading some laps early, #08 Mike Stoer fourth and #53 Matt Frye was fifth of the 13 cars competing.
The second feature had #57 Jesse Fisher starting tenth, #27 Darin Patnode led the first few laps until #77 Payton King took over at the front of the field. Point leader #08 Mike Stoer jumped to the lead on lap ten until Fischer overtook Stoer with a high side pass on lap 13. Fischer then held on to win by 1.574 seconds.
Fischer now has four feature wins on the season at ELKO after missing a couple race nights earlier in the season with mechanical problems.
Mike Stoer now has a 12 point lead over Jimmie Jorgenson in the race for the 2025 Power Stock point title at ELKO.
The INEX sanctioned Legends cars raced a cautionless 20 lap main event Saturday night at Elko Speedway. Jackson Lewis #7 who is a former INEX Dirt Nationals Legends car Champion and winner of a Late Model race at ELKO in 2023 who now lives in Sun Prairie (WI) was the eventual winner of this exciting race.
New 16 year old race car driver #5 Cole Forland led the first lap of the race until veteran driver #22 Mitch Peterson took over the top spot on lap two, he was quickly gathered up by #64 Tristan Swanson who held the lead until having mechanical problems on lap seven. Jackson Lewis then acquired the lead and won by 4 car lengths. It was the first win at ELKO for Lewis in 2025 in his first attempt. Sixteen year old #13 Dallas Kibbe from Ames (IA) finished second, 15 year old #11 Wyatt Moren was third, Mitch Peterson finished a career high fourth place and #47 Travis Rose travelled all the way from Hartford (WI) to finish 5th.
Jackson Lewis won his heat race and also was the fast qualifier with a time of 15.773 seconds, Tristan Swanson was the heat race #2 winner.
The mechanical bug bit both of the top drivers in the race for the 2025 ELKO Legends car point title race, neither #12 Ayrton Brockhouse or #64 Tristan Swanson finished the race. Brockhouse still holds a 66 point advantage over Swanson with one more points night for the INEX divisions at ELKO.
The INEX sanctioned Bandolero’s raced a 12 lap feature event during Eve of Destruction at Elko Speedway.
Adriana Hawes #11 led the opening lap until #27 Roman Crow from Delano (MN) took over the top spot on lap two. Justice Doubrava #15 shot to the lead after a couple cautions occurred on laps two and four. Crow then showed his strength by battling Doubrava side by side before taking back the lead on lap 8. Another yellow flag flew on lap 10 causing a Green-White-Checkers situation. Crow was able to hang on and won in a close race at the finish line. This was the second win of the season for Roman Crow. Justice Doubrava started 10th and finished second place, #57 Rev Heitkamp was third, point leader #32 Mason Westphal had some bad luck and finished fourth and Adriana Hawes finishing 5th of the 16 cars competing.
Rev Heitkamp and Justice Doubrava were the heat race winners.
Updated Point standings are not available at this time in the Bando division.
Josh Baumgartner drove a 50th anniversary edition of Bigfoot and Kayla Erickson drove the Ghost Monster Trucks and crushed cars doing two freestyle shows during Eve of Destruction
Cory Sampson from St Paul MN won the Spectator Drags in his Green 2015 Dodge Challenger.
Twin brothers Shannon and Sawyer Schmidtmann from Appleton (WI) debuted their new Legends Cars drifter Twin Stunts show thanks to support from the Great North Legends.
Ragtown performed in Rack Shack BBQ after the race night concluded.
All results and points are unofficial for this press release. Get more information at ElkoSpeedway.com <http://elkospeedway.com> or at MyRacePass.com <http://myracepass.com> and search Elko Speedway.
Up next is the ASA Midwest tour 125 during Thunderstruck93 on Saturday September 20th. Gates open at 4:30pm, on track autograph session 4:45-5:45pm. Super Late Models race 125 lap feature, double features for the Power Stocks, Thunder Cars and Late Models. Get tickets at ElkoSpeedway.com <http://elkospeedway.com> or the TicketHoss app.
Elko Speedway is a NASCAR sanctioned 3/8th mile high banked asphalt race track with stadium seating located just 30 minutes South of the Twin Cities in Elko New Market MN.
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