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Murgic Tops "Cool Competition" At Elko
By Jim Burns
Elko, MN May 3, 2003--Rosemount's Steve Murgic made a "blue collar" charge, steadily working his way to the front on lap 18, then withstood a lengthy delay and cooling temperatures to capture the BUDWEISER 40 NASCAR Late Model feature, highlighting the NASCAR DODGE Weekly Series action Saturday May 3rd at Elko Speedway.
At the drop of the green, Bloomington's Mark Nesheim fended off Farmington's Jeff Partington to lead the 26 starters, with Northfield's Mike Tuma and Partington doing a great early job of saving their rides after a slight tap as the pair exited the second turn only three laps in, before the first of four cautions would fly on lap five as Adam Royle and Jimmy Robertson collected each other entering turn four. After two attempts at a clean restart, Nesheim would again take the point with New Germany's Jacob Goede and Murgic on the move. Goede would continue his forward progress, taking the lead from Nesheim on lap 13 before losing it just five laps later to Murgic.
Once in the lead, Murgic looked to be pulling away until the caution flew on lap 31 as the lapped ride of Faribault's Scott Kingery and Nesheim came together in turn two, sending both drivers hard into the back straight wall bringing out the final caution, but causing a lengthy delay as first rescue workers then cleanup workers came to the drivers aid. After the debris was finally cleared, Murgic led the field back to the green and pulled away to an impressive win, with Goede holding off a determined pair of Webster drivers in Steve Schultz and Jeff Martin to post his best ever finish of second, with co-point leader Dan Fredrickson closing hard to hold off Jon Lemke for fifth.
In the MILLER LITE NASCAR Sportsman division, the action was fast and furious as Lakeville's Lynn Peterson paced the first six laps, before Hastings' Mike "the asphalt assassin" Felixburger would join Peterson in a game of cat and mouse for the lead. This battle continued until the 10th marker when Felixburger and Paul Neisius would "tag-team" their way around Peterson, with Neisius continuing by Felixburger and to the lead before a spinning Amy Woodward would stall the action. On the restart, Neisuis made sure he was not going to be touched again as he quickly opened up a ten car length advantage over "rookie of the year" candidate Jonathon Eilen and pulled away to the victory. Eilen however had to keep Lakeville's Jake Ryan in his mirror to nail down second place, while Ryan charged from the rear to finish third in his attempt to capture the Eilen and Sons/Twin City Feathlite Ultimate Challenge bonus
COCA-COLA Thunder Car action was again some of the evenings most entertaining as Oakdale's Jeff Choban avoided two early race cautions to take the point on a seventh lap restart. Choban would then look all powerful until lapped traffic brought him back to reality, with Lakeville's Conrad Jorgenson and Kevin Lutz putting on tremendous late race pressure. This pressure would not wear on Choban as he earned the hard fought victory, with Jorgenson edging Lutz for second and third, whileMontgomery's Dave "frantic" Franek and Prior Lake's Brent Kane rounded out the top five.
In the EXHAUST PROS OF NORTHFIELD Street Stocks, 30 daredevils took the green and spent the entire 20 laps chasing pole sitter Daryl Blohm of Elko. Nobody would or could catch the "hometown hero" as he went wire to wire for the apparent victory, but the Elko Speedway tech staff saw things a little differently, disqualifying Blohm in the the post race tech inspection for an illlegal engine. Moving on up were Faribault's Joe Fierst, Apple Valleys' Chase Weber, Lakeville's Scott King and last weeks race winner Clinton Grandal Jr. of Webster.
Topping off the program were the GREAT NORTH Legends and with four different leaders in the first seven laps, who would win was anybody's guess. The drivers however would teach us more as Savage's Tony Brockhouse would drive on the ragged edge to hold off Northfield's Mike Tuma and Bloomington's Lance Groth for the win.
The NASCAR DODGE Weekly Series action continues at Elko Speedway on Saturday May 10th with PAPA MURPHY'S TAKE AND BAKE PIZZA Night, featuring the BUDWEISER NASCAR Late Models, the MILLER LITE Sportsman, the COCA-COLA Thunder Cars and the EXHAUST PROS OF NORTHFIELD Street Stocks, plus a special POWDER PUFF race and a special Mothers Day promotion. For directions, race time or ticket information, contact the Racing Office at (952) 461-7223.
Results from the NASCAR DODGE Weekly Series at Elko Speedway Saturday May 3, 2003
NASCAR Late Models
Waste Management Fast Qualifier Jeff Martin Webster 14.122 seconds
BUDWEISER DASH 1. Jon Lemke Greenfield 2. Jeff Martin Webster 3. Adam Royle Farmington
Heat 1 1. Jason Schneider New Market 2. Dan Fredrickson Elko 3. Dean Cornelius Bloomington
Heat 2 1. Jacob Goede New Germany 2. Mike Tuma Northfield 3. Jeff Partington Farmington
Feature 1. Steve Murgic Rosemount 2. Jacob Goede New Germany 3. Steve Schultz Webster 4. Jeff Martin Webster 5. Dan Fredrickson Elko
MILLER LITE Sportsman
Fast Qualifier Jake Ryan Lakeville 14.432 seconds
MILLER LITE DASH 1. Mike Felixberger Hastings 2. Paul Neisius Hastings 3. Jake Ryan Lakeville
Heat 1. Jonathon Eilen Hampton 2. Greg Bieber Lakeville 3. Matt Marschall Northfield
Feature 1. Paul Neisius Hastings 2. Jonathon Eilen Hampton 3. Jake Ryan Lakeville 4. Mike Skaja New Prague 5. Duane Halvorson Rosemount
COCA-COLA Thunder Cars
Heat 1 1. Dave Franek Montgomery 2. Kevin Lutz Lakeville 3. Matt Carlander Faribault
Heat 2 1. Brent Kane Prior Lake 2. Roger Meyer New Prague 3. Adam Wolfe Rosemount
Heat 3 1. Jeff Choban Oakdale 2. Mark Storlie Lakeville 3. Mike Crilly Lake City
Feature 1. Jeff Choban Oakdale 2. Conrad Jorgenson Lakeville 3. Kevin Lutz Lakeville 4. Dave Franek Montgomery 5. Brent Kane Prior Lake
EXHAUST PROS OF NORTHFIELD Street Stocks
Heat 1 1. Chase Weber Apple Valley 2. Josh Emerson Northfield 3. Dustin Mann Welch
Heat 2 1. Joe Fierst Faribault 2. Tim Hollen Richfield 3. Timm Morovec New Prague
Heat 3 1. Scott King Lakeville 2. Tom Nordwall Lakeville 3. Dusty Parrott Northfield
Heat 4 1. Mike Meszaros Rosemount 2. Bud Kane Morristown 3. Clint Grandahl Jr. Northfield
Last Chance 1. Corey Butler Jr. Rosemount 2. Jon Hoes Northfield 3. Josh Gernetz Red Wing
Feature 1. Joe Fierst Faribault 2. Chase Weber Apple Valley 3. Scott King Lakeville 4. Clint Grandahl Jr. Webster 5. Bud Kane Morristown
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