Point Leader Lemke Wins Nail Biter At Elko Speedway
July 24, 2004
 
Elko, MN - Jon Lemke somehow managed to hold off a determined Donny Reuvers and a hungry Brian Johnson in the Lehman’s Garage 40 Saturday night at Elko Speedway.  Lemke picked up his fourth feature win of the year in the Budweiser Super Late Model division in a contest that had the large crowd continually on the edge of their seats.  Steve Schultz withstood a furious charge from Duane Halvorson to collect the checkers in the Elko Sportsmen Lehman’s Garage 30 lap contest while Conrad Jorgenson collected his third win of the campaign in the Lehman’s Garage Coca-Cola Thunder Car 25 and Brock Weber took top honors in ACDelco Power Stock Lehman’s Garage 20 with Todd Wilson and Phil Jones winning in Figure 8 action.

Lemke, Reuvers, Brian Johnson and Jake Ryan staged a four car battle that produced some of the best racing Elko Speedway has seen all year. Lemke started on the pole but it didn’t take Reuvers long to make his presence felt after starting in the fifth position, getting by Lemke 15 laps into the race. The deciding moment of the race came on a lap 19 restart as Lemke surprisingly chose the inside groove and was able to fend off Reuvers and a hard charging Johnson. Ryan finished fourth, while Jacob Goede was able to best Steve Murgic for fifth spot.  Lemke not only picked up the winners share, but also was awarded a $500 DuPont certificate from Lehman’s Garage.  “It’s been a bit of a struggle the past few weeks and we finally got back here (to victory lane)”, remarked an elated Lemke.  I really have to thank Leman’s for the added incentive tonight.  Our team already has plans for the bonus.”

Steve Schultz used the pole position to his advantage and was able to avoid a first lap crash that wounded the cars of point’s leader Doug Brown and contender Greg Bieber to pick up the victory in the Elko Sportsmen feature. It wasn’t easy for Schultz though as both Mike Skaja and Duane Halvorson filled his rear view mirror throughout the 30 laps.  Both Brown and Bieber were relegated to the pits after the first lap incident.  Brown came out at the back of the field while Bieber re-entered the track as the field took the green. Skaja, Halvorson, Paul Neisius and Brown rounded out the top five while Bieber battled back to a sixth place finish.

Matt Carlander gave it all he had but it wasn’t enough as Conrad Jorgenson, the defending Coca-Cola Thunder Car Champion, was able to claim his third victory of 2004 in the Lehman’s 25. Carlander worked his way up from the sixth starting position and dogged Jorgenson both high and low as the laps wound down, but Jorgenson was able to hold on to pick up the checkers. Kevin Lutz was third, Joe Garofalo came in fourth and Jerry Thomsen completed the top five.

Brock Weber made it a clean sweep by winning both his heat race and the feature in ACDelco Power Stock action. In the Lehman’s 20-lap feature Weber muscled his way around Leon Doherty on lap 14 for second and then one lap later passed the first place car of Scott King on the outside. From there Weber had clear sailing on his way to picking up the victory, while Dustin Tuma was able to get around King for second, with King settling for third.  Joe Fierst finished fourth and Richard Salvesen came home in fifth.

In the Winged Figure 8 features, Todd Wilson dominated race number one, but in race number two Wilson came up just a bit short to winner Phil Jones.

NASCAR Dodge Weekly Series action resumes next Saturday night with Keyland Homes presenting the NASCAR Budweiser Super Late Model, Elko Sportsmen, Coca-Cola Thunder Cars and ACDelco Power Stocks plus Mini-Cup Cars.  Gates open at 5:30, Qualifying begins at 6:15 with the first big race at 7.  Adult general admission tickets are $12 day of the race or $10 in advance, ages 5-12 are $5 with children 4 and under admitted free.  Elko Speedway is located one mile west of I-35 exit 76, ten miles south of Burnsville.  For additional information call the Elko Speedway Box Office at 952-461-RACE or visit www.goelkospeedway.com.