Legends and Bandoleros raced at Elko Speedway (MN) on Saturday, May 25, with double features for both divisions during their 2024 opening weekend of racing action. Tristan Swanson (Legends) and TJ Moon (Bandoleros) won both their features. Race recap by Jason D Searcy below, along with results from the track (Legends and Bandolero portion of race story extracted for posting on LN).
By Jason D Searcy
The 59th season opener at Elko Speedway was Saturday night over the Memorial Day weekend.
The INEX sanctioned Legends division had #66 Tristan Swanson from Elko (MN) winning both 20 lap feature events and was the fast timer in qualifying with a time of 15.603 seconds. Casey Traxler #13 led the first portion of the first race until Swanson took over, a late race caution caused a green-white-checkers situation at the end but Swanson still won by 3.399 seconds. Riley Goodwin #27 finished second, #3 Dirk Henry was third, #75 Baiden Heskett fourth and Traxler finished fifth of the 18 cars competing.
The second feature had Casey Traxler lead lap one and Dirk Henry take over on lap two, Swanson made his pass for the lead on lap 3 and never gave up the top spot. There was one caution period with 3 laps remaining, but Swanson prevailed and won by 0.548 seconds over a hard charging 14-year-old driver #12 Ayrton Brockhouse, who finished second place. Baiden Heskett was third, Dirk Henry fourth and Riley Goodwin finished fifth.
With his two wins on opening night racing for Prusak racing #66 Tristan Swanson is picking up where he left off in 2023 when he won 9 of the 12 races he competed in.
The INEX sanctioned Bandolero division was swept by #9 TJ Moon who traveled all the way from Fayetteville (NC) to race at Elko Speedway Saturday night. TJ Moon took a big lead early in the first 12 lap event and never looked back, he held on through three cautions and won by 4.089 seconds. Bentley Thompson #22 finished second, #9 Jacob Bradley was third of the 14 cars entered in the race.
The second Bando feature had #32 Colton Roe Pershall lead the first lap and then TJ Moon passed him on the inside of corner #1 on the second lap to take the lead. Bentley Thompson challenged TJ Moon for much of the race but could never quite muster up enough speed to pass him as both lead cars weaved through lapped traffic. TJ Moon was the winner by a margin of 0.262 seconds Bentley Thompson finished second and Christopher Flynn #5 was third.
LEGENDS FEATURE 1
Finish Start Diff Driver HomeTown Car Number
1 6 5 Tristan Swanson Elko New Market, MN 66
2 8 6 Riley Goodwin Hudson, WI 27
3 2 -1 Dirk Henry Blaine, MN 3H
4 5 1 Baiden Heskett Hastings, MN 75
5 1 -4 Casey Traxler Pequot Lakes, MN 13
6 7 1 Ayden Brockhouse Shakopee, MN 13
7 3 -4 Gage Schmidt Elk River, MN 24
8 9 1 Jake Baker Saint Paul, MN 97
9 10 1 Zach Geiger South Saint Paul, MN 3
10 11 1 Wyatt Moren Blaine, MN 11x
11 15 4 Camron Benson Bloomington, MN 11B
12 13 1 Gene Traxler Brainerd, MN 9
13 4 -9 Ayrton Brockhouse Shakopee, MN 12
14 17 3 Chris Rowe Apple Valley, MN 78
15 16 1 Clifford Adee Lakeville, MN 80
16 18 2 Chris Benny Burnsville, MN 15
17 14 -3 Justin Ziemiecki Hamel, MN J3
18 12 -6 Chris Henry Staples, MN 15
LEGENDS FEATURE 2
Finish Start Diff Driver HomeTown Car Number
1 7 6 Tristan Swanson Elko New Market, MN 66
2 18 16 Ayrton Brockhouse Shakopee, MN 12
3 3 0 Baiden Heskett Hastings, MN 75
4 4 0 Dirk Henry Blaine, MN 3H
5 5 0 Riley Goodwin Hudson, WI 27
6 6 0 Ayden Brockhouse Shakopee, MN 13
7 2 -5 Casey Traxler Pequot Lakes, MN 13
8 1 -7 Gage Schmidt Elk River, MN 24
9 8 -1 Jake Baker Saint Paul, MN 97
10 9 -1 Zach Geiger South Saint Paul, MN 3
11 11 0 Camron Benson Bloomington, MN 11B
12 12 0 Gene Traxler Brainerd, MN 9
13 10 -3 Wyatt Moren Blaine, MN 11x
14 14 0 Chris Rowe Apple Valley, MN 78
15 17 2 Justin Ziemiecki Hamel, MN J3
16 15 -1 Clifford Adee Lakeville, MN 80
17 16 -1 Chris Benny Burnsville, MN 15
18 13 -5 Chris Henry Staples, MN 15
BANDOLERO FEATURE 1
Finish Start Diff Driver HomeTown Car Number
1 2 1 Tj Moon Taylorsville, NC 9
2 7 5 Colton Roe Pershall Sartell, MN 32
3 4 1 Christopher Flynn Farmington, MN 5
4 12 8 Caleb Hawes Belle Plaine, MN 59
5 8 3 Revelin Heitkamp Shakopee, MN 57
6 5 -1 Logen Carter Lakeville, MN 75
7 10 3 Bentley Thompson West Salem, WI 22
8 14 6 Jacob Bradley Rockwell, NC 9x
9 11 2 Thomas Poretsky Prior Lake, MN 8
10 13 3 George Brochman Hastings, MN 56
11 1 -10 Macie Ryan Elko New Market, MN 11
12 9 -3 Aiden Kubiszewski Ptior Lake, MN 21
13 3 -10 Jaden Miller-Schmitz Lonsdale, MN 64
DNF 6 -8 Roman Crow Sr Plymouth, MN 27
BANDOLERO FEATURE 2
Finish Start Diff Driver HomeTown Car Number
1 3 2 Tj Moon Taylorsville, NC 9
2 4 2 Bentley Thompson West Salem, WI 22
3 7 4 George Brochman Hastings, MN 56
4 12 8 Thomas Poretsky Prior Lake, MN 8
5 8 3 Caleb Hawes Belle Plaine, MN 59
6 2 -4 Colton Roe Pershall Sartell, MN 32
7 10 3 Logen Carter Lakeville, MN 75
8 6 -2 Macie Ryan Elko New Market, MN 11
9 9 0 Revelin Heitkamp Shakopee, MN 57
10 13 3 Jaden Miller-Schmitz Lonsdale, MN 64
11 5 -6 Jacob Bradley Rockwell, NC 9x
12 11 -1 Aiden Kubiszewski Ptior Lake, MN 21
13 1 -12 Christopher Flynn Farmington, MN 5
14 14 0 Roman Crow Sr Plymouth, MN 27
Photo credits: track photos
 on Saturday, May 25, with double features for both divisions during their 2024 opening weekend of racing action.){kind=link}