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Lemke Battles To Behrens Memorial Win At Elko Speedway, Bieber Shoots …And Scores!
Budweiser Super Late Model points leader John Lemke drove the outside groove
to perfection Saturday night at Elko Speedway on his way to the win in the
Dwain Behrens Memorial 40 presented by College City Homes. Hockey phenom
Greg Bieber skated to his first ever feature win taking the checkers in the
College City Homes Elko Sportsmen 30 while Matt Carlander edged out Conrad
Jorgenson at the line for the win in the Coca-Cola Thunder Cars college City
Homes 25, Jeff Partington drove away from the field in the ACDelco Power
Stocks College City Homes 20 and Don McInnis grabbed the honors in the INEX
Legend Cars 12.
An elated Lemke cited the “luck of the draw” in victory lane as a major
reason for his win. “I’ve been lucky on the roll of the dice for a
couple of weeks in a row now, and with the competition level so high here at
Elko, it helps having a front row start”, said Lemke who started on the
outside of the front row. “My car is working so well on the high side
that I just decided to keep it there”. Lemke got past pole sitter
Jacob Goede at the start pulling Brian Johnson with him. Johnson went
right to the inside pulling even with Lemke by the second circuit. The
all green feature would remain that way with Johnson grabbing the lead eight
times. Lemke claimed the win by inches at the line. Jake Ryan had
the best seat to watch the action, but the rookie upstart never got a chance
to make a pass after taking over the third spot. Ryan moved around Steve
Murgic to grab the fourth spot on lap six and took over the third spot from
Goede just two laps later. The rookie showed patience waiting for an
opening, but the veterans Lemke and Johnson never gave the opportunity.
Murgic was able to motor past Goede for fourth while Conrad Jorgenson
made a late pass to claim the fifth spot.
Super Late Model Driver Donny Reuvers had to start at the back of the field
after getting to the track just before the feature rolled off. Reuvers
was welcomed to the track with thunderous applause after flying in from
Nashville after performing crew and spotting efforts for Elko regular Joey
Miller’s stunning victory in his first ever ARCA Racing Series start.
Reuvers was able to move his College City Homes Pontiac to a seventh place
finish.
When the Minnesota lakes begin to thaw, Hockey standout Greg Bieber takes of
the Bauer’s and throws on the Hoosiers. Bieber posted his first ever
Elko win holding off a determined Duane Halvorson in the Elko Sportsmen
feature. Bieber started from the pole and pulled Halvorson with him away
from the rest of the field. Halvorson was able to stick with Bieber but
never got into position to make the pass in the all green event. Steve
Schultz broke from traffic to make a late race attempt at catching the leaders
but had to settle for third while Mike Skaja and Doug Brown were able to get
around Josh Vadnais to claim the fourth and fifth spots.
Conrad Jorgenson used his outside starting spot to grab the lead in the
Coca-Cola Thunder Cars 25 lap feature. Pole sitter Matt Carlander stuck
with Jorgenson throughout and finally took the lead using the inside groove
with only one lap to go. The two battled side by side and inches apart
the final lap with Carlander taking the checkers by inches. Kevin Lutz
moved into third on lap 18 and pulled Joe Garofalo and Brent Kane across the
line at the finish.
It took Jeff Partington just three laps to move his car from third to first in
the ACDelco Power Stocks 20 lap feature. Partington opened a sizeable
lead and withstood two yellow sessions in claiming the victory. Bud Kane
held on for second with Michael Schmitz Cliff Adee and Dustin Mann rounding
out the top five.
Saturday night, August 21st will be the “night the stars come out” at Elko
Speedway. Nextel Cup stars Sterling Marlin, Kenny Wallace and Greg
Biffle will join NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Champion Travis Kvapil for a
special track appearance. Track officials will also add one more Cup
star to the list. Gates will open at 4:30 with fans able to get
autographs from 6pm until 7pm. The Cup stars will then compete in two
grudge races in Elko Sportsmen cars before heading back to their race in
Michigan. Kvapil will race the entire night in the Sportsmen
division. He is being brought to town by Burnsville Toyota where he will
be meeting fans and signing autographs on Saturday from 11am until 1pm.
Tickets, including a VIP dinner package with the stars, are available by
calling Elko Speedway at 952-461-RACE (7223) or 1-800-479-3630.
Visit www.elkospeedway.com
for more information.
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