Bandoleros and Legends raced Saturday, June 17, at Elko Speedway (MN). Race winners were Jackson Kottschade (Bandolero race 1), Leighton Rose (Bandolero race 2), Colin Stocker (Legends race 1), and Baiden Heskett (Legends race 2). For Kottschade, who drives for 7K Racing, it was his first-career Bandolero victory at Elko.
Event race story by Jason D Searcy below. NOTE: An earlier version of this story had results as posted on the track’s website, which has been disputed by several sources. Once we receive the full corrected results, they will be added below.
The INEX sanctioned Legends division raced two 20 lap features during Eve of Destruction at ELKO.
The first feature had a thrilling finish as defending Champion Colin Stocker #8 from Northfield edged 2018 Champion #75 Baiden Heskett by just 0.009 seconds at the finish line. 13 year old Ayrton Brockhouse was the fast qualifier, he set a new track record time of 15.568 seconds, he finished third. Dirk Henry #3 was fourth and #64 Tyler Ledbetter fifth of the 22 cars entered. It was the first win of the season for Stocker.
The second Legends race was won by #75 Baiden Heskett who is formerly from Texas and now lives in Hastings (MN). Ayrton Brockhouse hounded Heskett throughout the race and finished just behind in second. Colin Stocker was third, Dirk Henry fourth and #87 Robby Carter was fifth. This was the third win of the season for Heskett at ELKO.
It’s a tight battle for the early season point lead at ELKO with Baiden Heskett, Ayrton Brockhouse and Colin Stocker all within 10 points of each other.
The INEX sanctioned Bandoleros, a division for kids ages 7-14, raced two 12 lap feature events during Eve of Destruction at ELKO.
The first race was won by #07 Jackson Kottschade from Ramsey (MN), after taking all of 2022 off racing, Jackson won for the first time in 2023 at ELKO. #32 Colton Roe Perschall finished 1.1 seconds behind in second, #18 Leighton Rose was third, #75 Logen Carter fourth and #5 Christopher Flynn was fifth of the 11 cars entered.
The second Bando race was won by #18 Leighton Rose from Elko (MN), Jackson Kottschade was 0.399 seconds behind in second, Colton Roe Perschall third, Logen Carter fourth and #11 Macie Ryan was fifth. It was the first win of the season at ELKO for Leighton Rose.
Jackson Kottschade, Leighton Rose and Colton Roe Perschall are all within 5 points of each other in the early season race for the 2024 Bando point title at Elko Speedway.
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