Legends and Bandoleros raced double features on Saturday, July 8, at Elko Speedway in Minnesota. Feature winners were Tristan Swanson and Colin Stocker in the Legends features, with Jackson Kottschade and Bentley Thompson in Bandoleros. Race story below, as provided by Jason D Searcy.
The INEX sanctioned Legends division had 25 cars entered Saturday night July 8th during Eve of Destruction at Elko Speedway. The Legends cars raced two 20 lap feature events.
The first race had #3 Dirk Henry lead until a yellow flag was displayed on lap five. After the restart #66 Tristan Swanson from Elko (MN) grabbed the top spot on lap 6, held on through a caution on lap 17 and raced his way to his first win at Elko Speedway in many years. “There are a lot of great drivers here. It felt good to be home, racing with all my good friends that I grew up watching and racing with,” said Swanson. Swanson last raced a full season at ELKO in 2018, in the years between, he toured the country becoming a Midwest Truck series Champion in 2021 and just recently became a winner in the Super Late Model division. Swanson was racing a new car owned by longtime Power Stock drivers Prusak racing. 2018 ELKO Champion and fast qualifier #75 Baiden Heskett finished second, Dirk Henry was third, #87 Robby Carter was fourth, #8 Colin Stocker finished fifth and point leader #12 Ayrton Brockhouse was 7th of the 26 cars entered.
The second Legends feature event had an all-star front row as defending ELKO Champion #8 Colin Stocker and 2021 Champion #87 Robby Carter battled for the top spot for much of the race. They raced side by side for numerous laps as they weaved through lapped traffic swapping the lead. Stocker established himself as the leader after a caution on lap 14. “Robby and I were side by side for a long time, he was really fast and I was getting super tight so it’s always super close, we can race within inches of each other here,” said Stocker. Carter got shuffled back after the restart and Stocker ended up winning by 0.462 seconds, it was his third win of the season at ELKO. Baiden Heskett finished second, Tristan Swanson third, Robby Carter fourth and Dirk Henry finished 5th, 13 year old Ayrton Brockhouse was 6th of 26 cars entered.
Colin Stocker has now taken over the point lead in the race for the 2023 Legends cars title at Elko Speedway.
The INEX sanctioned Bandoleros raced two feature races at Elko Speedway on Saturday night.
The first feature event was won by Jackson Kottschade #07 from Ramsey (MN), the race was shortened to three laps after numerous caution periods marred the early portions of the race and the on-track running time was at the 20 minute limit. Logen Carter #75 led the first lap, Kottschade started inside of the fourth row and grabbed the lead by the end of the second lap, he then held on to win by 0.467 seconds. It was the third win of the season for Kottschade who was also celebrating his 13th birthday. Bentley Thompson #22 was second, Leighton Rose racing the red #32 car because his primary car had mechanical problems was third, #29 Alex Oldenhoff was fourth and #64 Jaden Miller-Schmitz was fifth of the 15 cars entered.
The second Bando feature was won by #22 Bentley Thompson from West Salem (WI). Leighton Rose raced his normal #18 car in this race, he took the lead at the start but then had mechanical problems on lap two and dropped out causing a yellow flag. Thompson then grabbed the top spot, held on through a couple more restarts and won by 0.92 seconds. It was the third win of the season at ELKO for Thompson. Alex Oldenhoff finished second, Jackson Kottschade third, Ace Oldenhoff #62 fourth and Jaden Miller-Schmitz fifth of the 15 cars entered. Second in points #32 Colton Roe Pershall had mechanical problems and did not start either race. Jackson Kottschade continues to lead in the 2023 Elko Speedway Bando point standings.
