Martin DeFries
By: Kevin Ramsell
Elko, MN – The ASA Midwest Tour returns to the track where the series started in 2007 with the “Thunderstruck 93” Super Late Model event on Saturday, September 21st. The 125-lap race has more meaning than just being a race. It’s to honor a driver and others who have lost a battle to ALS, but will always be champions to their family, friends and fans.
It will be a night where everyone at the track will celebrate and support those family and friends who have been affected by ALS. Especially former track champion Dan Ryan, who’s son Jake Ryan still feel his presence at the track today.
“Everywhere I look at Elko Speedway, when I go out there I am reminded of him,” Jake Ryan explained. “All of the plumbing, heating and HVAC stuff around the track when they re-did was all done by him. Ever since he has passed away, it seems like the water main in the tire shed freezes or blows up cause my dad used to have a guy go out there and winterize it for the track,” he says with a chuckle. “Bob and David Fredrickson put up a flagpole at the pit entrance in memory of my dad.”
“Going to the race track these days are a lot different, some days are better than others, but it is good therapy for me.”
While it affects mostly family, it also affects some close friends, even those who were born after Dan Ryan passed away.
Kulwicki Driving Driving Development Finalist Ty Fredrickson was born just a few months after Ryan passed away. As an honor, Ty Patrick Fredrickson shares the same middle name as Dan Patrick Ryan.
As part of KDDP competition, Fredrickson earns points on community engagement and has been working with local ALS chapters to do something special this Saturday night.
“My aunt (Nichole Fredrickson) and the gang from A Race Worth Winning – ALS have worked closely with the MN Chapter of The ALS Association for years. They have done a lot of great work with them raising awareness for ALS and helped raise a ton of money to help those affected by ALS. So this has always been a big part of my family and meant a lot to us,” the 15-year-old 2024 TUNDRA Series champion said. “To me, I feel like I need to live up to my namesake, make him proud. I sure hope he would’ve been, but unfortunately we lost Dan Ryan Sr to ALS a few months before I was born.”
“Being involved in KDDP has helped me realize that I can make a difference, so I want to make a difference for families dealing with ALS. It’s such a terrible disease. I’ve met with the Associate Director and Chief Community Engagement Officer of MN ALS Association on a number of occasions to let them know what we were thinking of doing, hosting some families dealing with ALS, just kind of give them a night away, to have fun and spend some time with their families…. They were great!
“It turns out we will be hosting about 30 people, a few different families from the metro and southern MN. My goal is to give them the full VIP treatment. They will get comp tickets, climate controlled suites, a behind the scenes pit tour, be first to meet the drivers for the on-track autograph session, dinner catered by my sponsor, award winning Rack Shack BBQ out of Eagan, MN, and of course some Ty Fredrickson merchandise,” Fredrickson explained.
“I hope they can forget their problems for the night and find as much support in the racing community as Dan Ryan and his family did.”
The Muscular Dystrophy Association explains ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis as “a disease of the parts of the nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. In ALS, motor neurons (nerve cells that control muscle cells) are gradually lost. As these motor neurons are lost, the muscles they control become weak and then nonfunctional, thus leading to muscle weakness, disability, and eventually death. ALS is the most common form of motor neuron disease.”
In the United States, it is also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, named after the famous New York Yankee player until he passed away in 1941. Many other athletes and celebrities have also become victims of ALS, including recent Football Hall of Famer Steve McMichael.
Dan Ryan was a dedicated driver at Elko Speedway. He got the itch to race starting in 1991 and was going strong until he was diagnosed with ALS in 2005.
“My dad was a big tough guy and would barely go to the doctor unless he was dying or cut his off arm or something,” Jake Ryan said with a smile. “But I remember when mom and dad built their dream house and dad was moving his toolbox out of our old house and he tore his bicep. He had issues like a weak arm. We would be at the racetrack and he would drop a piece of lead walking to the tech shed with it and we thought it was his bicep. But it was actually the beginning stages of ALS. Once he got with a doctor, which was around the summer of 2005 he was diagnosed with it.”
“They gave him about a three year window and we did everything we could. We went to Tijuana and had some stem cell stuff done, try secondary medicine that wasn’t covered by insurance. But basically its a nervous system disorder that takes away a protein that regenerates your nerve cells, so you basically lose all of your motor skills along with breathing and coughing. Towards the end he couldn’t talk well, he was on a breathing machine.”
Dan Ryan lost his battle with ALS on January 2, 2009. He is survived by his wife Lisa and their three kids Allison, Jake and Dan Jr.
In that same year, Elko Speedway hosted the first “Thunderstruck 93” event in honor of Dan Ryan with Jacob Goede winning the race.
The event name itself has a special personal meaning.
The #93 was one of Dan Ryan’s car numbers along with #39. He competed in lower classes with #39 but when he moved up to Late Models, the #39 was already taken and the track wouldn’t allow duplicate numbers so he used #93.
As far as the “Thunderstruck”?
“He liked AC/DC, his favorite band, but I think his favorite song was ‘Shoot to thrill,’ but anytime Thunderstruck came on when we were racing or out at the bar, he would drag mom out to the dance floor and rip it up. It was pretty funny,” Ryan recalled. “His crew guys Jason Welvaert and Tim Holmes used to call him Thunder. At the end of the year, Conrad Jorgensen would have a big bonfire and we would close out the night with Thunderstruck, and it’s been going on since dad’s been gone. Whenever they play that song, everyone remembers my dad.”
“In 2013, A Race Worth Winning was recognized by the ALS Association MN/ND/SD Chapter as Honoree of the Year,” Ryan recalled. “At that time, we had raised around $300,000 and talking to my mom last year, she said we are close to raising a million dollars of raising money for ALS awareness and research, just for a little group. We haven’t stopped. We are part of a blizzard tour in Minnesota which is about a 350 mile a day snowmobile trek which has raffles, food and prizes at the end. We have done a golf tournament every year and we are happy to get the race back.”
You can learn more by looking up “A Race Worth Winning ALS” on Facebook.
The ASA Midwest Tour will be joined by Late Models, Power Stocks, Thunder Cars, Legends, and Bandoleros. Gates open at 4:30pm CT with racing slated to begin at 7:00.
***CLICK HERE FOR THE EXPECTED ASA MIDWEST TOUR ENTRY LIST***
About Dan Ryan, Sr.: The 125-lap race will honor Elko Speedway Hall of Famer “Thunder” Dan Ryan Sr., who passed away in 2009 after a three-year battle with ALS. Dan was a former racer who became a leader amongst the competitors in the pit area and tutored many young drivers as they worked their way through the racing ranks. The name of the event is named after Ryan’s favorite song, “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. There will be a ten-minute break on lap 93 of the ASA Midwest Tour race to honor him.
Schedule of Events for Thunderstruck 93, Saturday September 21, 2024:
12pm Pit Gate Opens
2pm Practice Begins
4:30pm Spectator Gates Open
6pm Qualifying Begins
Ticket Pricing:
Adults: $25
Senior and Military $22
Kids ages 6-12 $5
Children ages 5 and under Free
Advance discount tickets are available by clicking ************HERE***********
Divisions: The ASA Midwest Tour will be joined by the NASCAR Late Models, Power Stocks, Thunder Cars, Legends and Bandoleros.
Location: Elko Speedway is located at 26350 France Avenue in Elko New Market, MN. For additional information visit www.elkospeedway.com or call 952-461-7223.
Past Winners Thunderstruck 93
2009- Jacob Goede
2010- Dan Fredrickson
2011- Dan Fredrickson
2012- Dan Fredrickson
2013- Andrew Morrissey
2014- Dan Fredrickson
2015- Ty Majeski
2016- Dan Fredrickson
2017- Dalton Zehr
2018- Owen Giles
2019- Jacob Goede
LIST OF CHAMPIONSHIPS
15 Sommers- 2023 ASA Midwest Tour
23 VanDerGeest- 2019 Midwest Truck Series
26 Cornelius- 2003 Raceway Park Late Model
32 Yackey- 2x Colorado National, 2018 KDDP, 9 Track Champioships total
36 Fredrickson- 2024 Tundra Super Late Models
41 Reuvers- 9x Elko Speedway (2000, 05-06-07-08-09-10-11-12)
44 Mondeik- 2022 Tundra Super Late, 3x State Park, 2x Golden Sands, 1x Norway
47 Stenjem- 2021 Tundra Super Late, 3x Legend State Champ
72 Goede- 10x Elko Speedway (2014-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23), 2019 NASCAR Weekly National
77 Eilen- 2012 ASA Midwest Tour, 2002 Elko Speedway Thunder Car
81 Syer-Keske- Elko Speedway 2010 Legend and 2020 Modified
91 Swanson- 2021 Midwest Truck Series, Dells Raceway Park Legends
100 Marthaler- 2023 Tomah Sparta Speedway Modified
